Lifeboats & Trolley Cars

“All for One, and One for All”: we discussed the benefits of tight communities–and the disadvantages, such as a loss of privacy, of options, and (sometimes) freedoms. McKibben’s argument is implicitly utilitarian: that local economies produce more satisfaction and less harm for more people than our current economy. How would someone argue with him on this point? Probably, it would have to be done on the basis of showing that his calculation of the benefits and disadvantages left something out.

One such disadvantage (which we did not discuss) is the possibility that tighter communities are related to higher levels of conflict between different communities–nationalism, racism, and the policing of ingroup/outgroup loyalties. 

A question to consider is whether the only way to achieve the postive results that McKibben attributes is to cultivate cohesive communities that are local in geographical terms. Does technology permit us to participate in communities that are tight and supportive but distributed in space? Although McKibben is concerned with the transport of goods and the environmental toll of transportation, our economy is increasingly based in services, and knowledge and communication are no longer bound by space.

Along these lines, I heard a report on NPR yesterday that, for a variety of reasons, local banks are much less affected by the banking crisis than the large conglomerates are. You can listen to the story here.

Tim passed along this interesting timed map of WalMart’s spread.