The slogan “Think Globally, Act Locally” has been around for some years now. Only a few decades ago, vibrant local economies were indeed more prevalent: people grew food in their own backyards, local agriculture was thriving, and farmers markets were abundant.

The explosive growth of the global economy has damaged the majority of these local traditions and structures. Humanity is becoming increasingly aware of this fact, but as the knowledge curve about these and other economic and environmental problems has increased, so has the destruction curve caused by the corporate capitalist system.

The worldview of the centralized global economy has been based on the idea of limitless material growth: that nature is a free resource and profit is the primary goal of economic activity. This shallow ideology has led us to the brink of ecological and economic collapse via species extinction, global warming, the energy crisis, and growing economic inequality, to name a few.

Since we have inherited a highly dysfunctional global economic system, a full economic-systems change is the only solution. We need to address the failures of capitalism and its ineffective forms head-on by creating decentralized and cooperative local economies, and emphasizing local production with local resources to meet local needs, and to build local wealth. Below are nine steps we can take toward building such an economy.

  1. Change the concept of ownership
  2. Global decentralized economic planning
  3. Limits on wealth accumulation
  4. Economic structural change towards a post-capitalist economy
  5. Local economic design changes
  6. Cultural benefits of local economies
  7. Environmental benefits of a local economy
  8. Economics for local self-sufficiency
  9. Policies must extend beyond the local area

Read the full article about building a regenerative economy by Roar Bjonnes at Shareable.