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True patriotism is close to home
(by Barbara Christian - January 28, 2010)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
True patriotism is close to home
Patriotism. We think we know what it's all about, right? After all, we are Americans. There is a new patriotism you may have hard about, and we're all eligible to enlist, even if we have flat feet.
It's called economic patriotism, and it asks us to salute the flag by pledging allegiance to our mom-and-pop, independently owned Main Street businesses.
Here's the deal, if we buy locally, we preserve the life of our core downtown district, save jobs and retain the self sufficiency we American have prided ourselves on since the beginning.
The assault on these values crept in on little cat feet in the big-box stores which lay in wait just outside of town. They lure us with "deep discounts" and never-ending sales and have given birth a new economic world order that has no space for mom and pop or Main Street.
But we can begin to take back our economic independence by buying from our local independent merchants. We can nation build by rebuilding our economy from the inside out. Just say no to the big-box stores. We can do it. We can live economically patriotic lives if we choose to do so. But it's going to take some retooling of the way we think about where we spend our money.
Enter the 3/50 Project, the brainchild of a Minnesota blogger. Ten months ago, Cinda Baxter, a retail consultant, set in motion an Internet campaign designed to save every Main Street in the country one town at a time. All we have to do is follow the instructions in the project's name.
Think of three locally owned independent businesses you would miss if they disappeared from your town. Then commit to spending $50 in each of them every month. That is not a lot of money to spend for our economic salvation.
According to the folks at 3/50, of every $100 spent in local independent "brick-and-mortar business," more than $68 is returned to the local economy. Spend that same $100 in a big-box store, and the return drops to $43.
There are some who will say this is not economic patriotism but economic idealism. But many folks living in our Chagrin Valley communities have already proven them wrong because this economic policy can and does work.
Just look at all the seasonal farmers markets that have cropped up in recent years. They have been educational too. Now we understand why it is important to eat what is grown here, for better nutrition, our health and the economic health of the small, local and often family farms.
Another new movement which qualifies as economic patriotism is Move Your Money. It promotes the idea of transferring your banking business from the "too big to fail" institutions to community banks which focus on and are responsive to the needs of their customers.
Buying American-made goods is another way to be an economic patriot. This is more difficult, because, while some products may say, "Made in the U.S.A.," their actual lineage is not. Check out the book "How to Buy American," by Roger Simmermaker.
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