I’m posting this here on behalf of Rick Hawksley, who emailed it to me:
A discussion on NPR’s 1A on February 2nd focused on the future of the free press and local journalism. It hardly needs to be stated that an informed public is vital to the life of our communities and how we organize for our common good. The challenge is that local journalism has been ravaged by an extractive business model and by the rise of new technologies that have opened up a torrent of channels that are difficult to sort through. We can learn about something that happens 12 time zones away before we hear about something that happened in our own neighborhoods. Our focus can depend on what we find important that seems beyond our control, while what happens locally will never rise in importance beyond our city limits. It is easy to be paralyzed by propaganda, while what we do day to day will have a lasting impact for generations to come.
Growing up in the 1970s, I was influenced by social activists who made a difference in the lives of people around me. They also contributed to the betterment of the state and nation, changed public policy to be more equitable, and improved the environmental quality of our communities. A popular phrase I embraced as my life mission is “think globally and act locally”. What is interesting about this idea is that it works in both directions. Our local actions can and must inform the global systems. This is particularly clear when it comes to the existential environmental crises that we are facing.
While we all know that we need to consume less, few understand how quickly we must wean ourselves from fossil fuels to prevent catastrophic damage to people and the planet. We are living in a climate emergency, but you would hardly know it. Indeed, political reactionaries, spurred on by funding from the fossil fuels industry, have convinced many in our midst that climate science is “a hoax perpetrated by the Marxist elite bent on undermining our capitalist way of life.” The irony, of course, is that we have known for 40 years that the opposite is true.
So, what does this mean for us here in Portage County? Can we put people and planet before profit? Can we envision a future that puts purpose before convenience? Can we build on the investments we have made to bike more, walk more, take transit, learn to live with one car, drive less, turn down the thermostat, build a community solar farm, build our own microgrids, and eat more local food? Can we create a sharing, caring economy that rebuilds our neighborhoods, plants trees, and grows gardens? I think we can. And that we must.