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| <back | home Buy Local Month Campaign by Kevin Danaher There is a growing grassroots movement focused on strengthening the local economy and defending it against large corporations. This movement manifests itself on diverse tactical fronts: the anti-sprawl movement is increasingly effective at stopping Wal-Mart and other corporate box stores from entering their communities; the local economy movement is passing a wide array of local legislation that brings greater control of the economy into local hands; the fair trade movement is channeling consumer spending in the global north into the hands of low-income producers in the global south; and the green economy movement is shifting more and more capital into enterprises that believe in doing business without harming nature. Now imagine the popular power that would be unleashed if we could find a theme that would unite all these efforts and combine them with the mobilizing power of the global justice and peace movement that has proven its ability to mobilize millions of people to protest war and institutions such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. Is there some campaign that would unite these many forces but express itself in a positive way that would gain support from mainstream Americans? Is there a campaign theme that could be decentralized around the country, have an inherent critique of corporate power, yet be largely positive in its message, actions and impact? The answer to these questions is yes, if we can develop mass support for designating December 2004 National Buy Local Month. During that month, individuals and organizations will pledge to shop only at locally-owned stores. The campaign can be decentralized in a viral way by spreading the ideas and organizing tools like shareware. Groups such as Global Exchange can produce educational materials explaining how we can fortify local economies by preventing money from being siphoned away by transnational corporations. But the organizing for such a campaign will be decentralized and customized to local conditions and capabilities. We would start a tradition that could grow each year and possibly spread around the world. It would show people the economic power of community organizing. Local merchants would love it and would be recruitable to help with publicity and donated materials. We would get support from associations of small enterprises (e.g., Hemp Industries Association, www.sprawl-busters.com, Co-op America Business Network). And in this U.S. election year, the campaign would have a salutary effect no matter who wins the presidential election: if Bush wins, the next month his corporate pals get hit with a big shift in Xmas spending. If the Democrats win, the Buy-Local Month gets people focused on a positive way to resist corporate power, and reminds them that the real mainstream issues are close to home and economic. We would reach out to large constituencies such as the Sierra Club and MoveOn.org, but we would also appeal to local chambers of commerce and small business sectors that have been hammered by the double whammy of economic recession and the invasion of the large box stores. We would promote it at both Green Festivals and try to get as much national publicity as possible. We would promote it at all the big demonstrations in New York during the Republican National Convention. And because it is a decentralized model, it does not need much money. Existing organizations can incorporate the pledge into their ongoing work with little additional effort or expense. Kevin Danaher is cofounder with his wife Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange (www.globalexchange.org) <back | top^ |