Localists all over the world believe that:
1. Ownership Matters
With local ownership comes local accountability; when you live in the community where your business decisions are felt, you have the understanding to make better decisions. And having a larger density of locally owned businesses results in higher per capita income, more jobs, and greater resiliency in the local economy.
2. Place Matters
Supply chain decisions based on choosing local resources —vegetables, energy, timber, finance, and other locally made goods and services — engender a natural respect for the environmental and human resources in a place. Also, preserving the diversity of our food and different cultures, is not only smart, but so much more fulfilling!
3. Opportunity Matters
We’re all better off when we’re all better off. With inequality, we miss out on good ideas and relationships, unhappiness increases, and eventually systems collapse. Rather than “everyman-for-himself,” we understand that real security comes from community. We need to rebuild the middle, engage in fair trade, and decentralize power and business ownership.
4. Nature Matters
All wealth comes from nature. Without respecting natural boundaries and renewal rates for the animals, plants, soil and water on which we depend, we will not have wealth or health for our own species going forward.
5. We Measure What Matters
It’s time to start defining our contributions and success by what really matters. Our businesses need to be profitable, but we are motivated by knowledge, creativity, health, happiness, meaningful work, and the ability to provide opportunity to others.
6. Relationships Matter Most
Only through cooperation will we be able to rebuild local food distribution or make renewable local energy affordable. We must re-connect eaters with farmers, investors with entrepreneurs, and business owners with the communities and natural places on which they depend. No one can do it alone. (And why would we want to anyway?)
