One of Benjamin Franklin’s lesser-known kernels of advice is on moving to a new neighborhood—an intimidating time for anyone. He advises that the first thing one should do when moving into a new neighborhood is ‘to ask your neighbor a small favor.’ To most people, doing this may quite be the most awkward and uncomfortable thing one could do when moving to a new neighborhood. So what is the reasoning behind this?
When we ask our neighbors for a small favor, we are inviting them to begin what will be an ongoing relationship with an act of service. There are immense benefits to doing this. By letting our neighbor do a favor, we also in-debt ourselves to them, which will cause us to give in return. This jumpstarts a cyclical relationship of trust and service between us and our neighbors and begins the new relationship with goodwill—providing a firm foundation for a positive relationship.
But this simple act is more than just a nicety. The exchange of favors begins a process of reciprocal trade between households. Trade between households is a somewhat ‘lost’ aspect of the local economy. In fact, American society is on the verge of losing what we had of local economies altogether. To preserve and rebuild what we once had requires immediate change.
Wendell Berry, in Conserving Communities, frames the loss of local economies, and the need for them, as part of a greater economical and societal struggle. He states:
What we have before us, if we want our communities to survive, is the building of an adversary economy, a system of local or community economies within, and to protect against the would-be global economy. To do this, we must somehow learn to reverse the flow of the siphon that has for so long been drawing resources, money, talent, and people out of our countryside with very little if any return, and often with a return only of pollution, impoverishment, and ruin.
Berry illustrates that there is a concrete connection between the health of our local economies and the strength of our communities. To hold against the tide of globalism which is about to completely wash away our local economies, communities must be the starting and end point for an exchange of goods and services, as well as the centers for culture and entertainment. This will take action on an individual level, and it cannot be passed to governmental institutions, which further perpetuate the removal of what should belong to a community to an outside body. I would like to present two scenarios that might represent the local economy better to all of us in our daily lives.
Scenario One
You wake up and mobile order your morning coffee from a name-brand coffee place. You pick it up without any interaction with a barista. Your day job is worked “remotely”; your co-workers are headshots on your computer screen. Later that day you realize you’re missing some key ingredients for your dinner. A few clicks on your phone has it arriving at your door the next day, if not within the hour. A few days later you need a ride to the airport. Uber is there within minutes.
Scenario Two
You wake up and go to your local coffee shop, you know the baristas by name and they know you. They are happy to start your day right. At lunchtime, you are too busy to take a break but your coworker graciously brings back lunch from their favorite local spot for you. At night, you give your neighbor a visit to borrow that one last key ingredient you thought you had. A few days later you ask one of your close friends to give you a ride to the airport and share a great conversation on the way.
There are two takeaways from these scenarios. First, the above quote from Berry shows that the first scenario I’ve presented is part of a larger economical struggle. Mobile ordering your coffee from a big-brand coffee company, ordering groceries from online retailers, and using Uber for your airport trip not only is a lost opportunity to build relationships in your local community but also “siphons” the “resources” out of your local economy, leading to a weaker community and society. Second, the difference between the scenarios illuminates that we are missing opportunities to give people the chance to perform acts of service. Giving others the chance to perform acts of service, and us the chance to return them will allow our communities to exercise virtue, as well as find purpose and fulfillment in our day-to-day lives.
So as we enter the height of the ‘season of giving’, this Christmas we can all try to ‘give by receiving’. The task of restoring our communities through the re-creation of our local economies may seem too tall a task to conquer. But it becomes much easier when we realize that maybe all it takes is letting others perform acts of service, as easy as asking your neighbor for a favor.