37. #SmallTownRules
1. Plan for Zero
2. Spend Brainpower Before Dollars
3. Multiply Lines of Income
4. Work Anywhere, Anywhen
5. Learn Customer Driven Communication
6. Be Proud of Being Small
7. Be Local
“Everything gigantic in American life is about to get smaller or die.” That’s a pretty dramatic claim by James Kunstler, writing in Business Insider. He says we’re on the brink of scale implosion. While it may be tough to believe that while Oklahoma is experiencing a substantial boom, we’ve learned something from our previous booms. We know that every resource has limits, and that anything that seems like a “sure thing” is sure not to last. We know that every boom is followed by…. a bust. So when Kunstler points to rising fuel costs, global currency conflicts, and tighter limits on revolving corporate credit as strangling the big growth model in retail, I can see what he’s talking about. 4 years after the official end of Great Recession, we’re realizing that the game has changed. The pursuit of “economy of scale” at all costs has proven self-destructive to our society. Efficiency and growth are no longer the paramount values to us. The new game looks a lot more like a small town.
It’s not just business. This is an underlying trend in society. The Guardian news in the UK spotted the art and design trend in November, and called it The New Ruralism: how the pastoral idyll is taking over our cities“Everywhere you look, the countryside has crept into cities and towns – the way we shop, eat, read, dress, decorate our homes, spend our time.” Shopping at farmer’s markets. Planting gardens, keeping chickens and bees and ducks. Canning and preserving food. Decorating with more wood and natural materials. More plants and growing vines. Building rustic playgrounds with wooden toys. Converting open grass lots into “meadows” with wildflowers, shrubs and trees.“We can't get enough nature in our lives.”http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/nov/18/new-ruralism-takes-over-cities?CMP=twt_gu