Micro-Production: Part of the Solution

Umair Haque posted a Manifesto for the Next Indutrial Revolution and people are talking about a lot this morning and over the weekend. I am delighted to see this esteemed academic write such a thoughtful and to the point article about the worlds problems and even more excited that it is gaining so much traction around the web. Alexander Elsas wrote about it here in response to Fred Wilson writing about it here.

Umair's list -

Organize the world's hunger.
Organize the world’s energy.
Organize the world’s thirst.
Organize the world's health.
Organize the world's freedom.
Organize the world's finance.
Organize the world's education.

I add : Organize the world's Production

While Fred Wilson expresses the potential for boredom in Web 2.0, Umair's post seems to come just in the nick of time. His words and ideas may spark that which he has called for; a revolution. Local economies are the backbone of any region. Give away your ability to make and do for yourself and you give away your ability to sustain life. Sustainability has to include strong local economies, perhaps local currencies but most important, the ability to produce the basic needs of a population with in a specific region. The people who will get on the ground and make that happen are the young people working with mentors, locally and experts, perhaps from abroad. But, listening is essential in the process.

Much compost has been laid on these principals over the decades. Yes, the invisible hand may have been an illusion all along. Crafting a life, in community and in a region, these are the issues of our time.

Here is an earlier post of mine, called Techno Swadeshi, that talks about making and connecting.

I am going to start a list of posts around Haques original post, as they are rpoliferating like bunnies! Hooray!! Alan Patrick here and here.

technorati tags: localeconomies, umairhaque, web2.0