As you sort through the spoiled food in your fridge and freezer, imagine the scale of the issue for local grocers and restaurateurs whose loses will surely dwarf our own. The weekend storm and power failure is the most recent factor that should motivate us to support local businesses. Trade wars, capricious weather events and general economic malaise only highlight how critical it is to spend money where we live. Research indicates that money spent locally tends to stay local, circling through the community and creating a ripple effect on economic activity known as the local multiplier effect.
The storm also provide an opportunity to focus on what really matters. We saw kindness in friends as well as strangers, a thoughtful sharing of resources and a feeling of unity in the face of a common challenge. Let us hold onto to that feeling for as long we can. It reminds us of a simpler time when we weren’t being challenged to take sides in some existential argument about who’s right and who’s wrong. There was a confidence that we could know the truth, and it would be the same for all of us. In the end we want the same things: safety, security, and an end to the constant posturing and virtue signaling. Supporting our community could be our personal strategic plan.
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