It's Your Town Now......

 

 It's Your Town

I used to go out quite a lot,
chase to chase and shot to shot.                                     
I'm all done with that somehow,
and it's your town now.

These days the mighty eagle sings,
of money and material things,
and the almighty Dow,
and it's your town now,
your town now,
it's--

From the mountains to the plains
all the towns are wrapped in chains,
and the little that the law allows,
and it's your town now,
it's your town now,
it's--

Where are the young bands gonna play?
Where're the old beatniks gonna stay,
and not before some corporation bow?
and it's your town now,
it's your town now,
it's--

So be careful everyone,
Cops can get careless with their guns.
And then they slip off somehow,
and it's your town now,
it's your town now,
it's--

You young ones it's up to you
to fight the fight and I hope you do,
Oh I see in your eyes that you know how
and it's your town now
your town now.

Don't let 'em take the whole damn deal,
Don't give up on what you really feel.
Ah, the small and local must survive somehow,
if it's gonna be your town now.
Is it gonna be your town now?
Is it gonna be your town now?
Is it gonna be?
----Greg Brown

My mother taught me long, long ago to not say anything at all if I had nothing nice to say.  So, I put myself on a two week blogging exile.  I've been so overwhelmed with the negative that I was afraid to put pen to paper....ummm....keyboard to screen....oh heck, you know what I mean.  But I'm overjoyed to be back with a more positive outlook, and, hopefully, I can convey what I have to say without being overly dark and depressing.

In this week's post, I'd like to talk about this article in the Washington Monthly, written by Barry C. Lynn and Lina Khan, and its relevance to the song captioned above.  In the article they describe the fact that American entrepreneurship has fallen off precipitously in recent years, and opine the reason for that drop.  Here's a sample, actually the final paragraph of the article:

"Indeed, the decline of small business documented here appears to confirm that the great social experiment undertaken a generation ago—when we allowed our government to cease enforcement of our antimonopoly laws—has had a devastating effect not only on our democracy but also on the ability of ordinary Americans to build their assets and move up the socioeconomic ladder through enterprise. The loss of job creation that comes with the hollowing out of America’s entrepreneurial sector also goes a long way toward explaining why American businesses were creating fewer and fewer jobs even before the Great Recession hit. The founding generation was right: as America’s entrepreneurs go, so goes America’s prosperity and democracy. If we are ever to recapture the promise of this land, we must first break down the great powers that crush the individual citizen’s initiative and ability to create and build what is new and better."

We need our entrepreneurial sector to be able to create more and better jobs.  Without that, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Or some would say, between RiteAid and Walmart.  I'd like you to re-read the words to the song that opens this post.  Is this what we want for our town?  Some would have you believe that yes, this is what we want.  I, and a growing number of people whom I speak with daily are saying NO.  No to the large corporations, no to the chains, no to dead-end jobs that go nowhere.  It doesn't matter if you're reading this and don't live in Altadena.  Something like this can, and probably has, happened where you live.  There's a radical push to open more and more big-box "urban" model stores that are local-washed to fit in your community, but really are just a wolf in sheep's clothing.  Now is the time to say no, not in our neighborhood, not in our town!


Our locally-owned, independent businesses and our local start-ups need your support now more than ever before.  Be a part of the change in your community and start a movement to bring your local businesses to the attention of its residents.  Webster's Fine Stationers is proud to have started such a movement here in Altadena by investing in other local businesses.  We also love that we feature businesses other than ours in our social media campaigns. If you're asking what you can do in your neck of the woods, here are some suggestions.  Start an independent business alliance if you're a small business owner or, if you don't have the funds to do that, ask your Chamber of Commerce.  Do they have a Independent Merchants Committee?  If they don't, suggest they form one and volunteer to be on it.  If you're a concerned citizen, start a cash mob for your local businesses.  We've done this in Altadena and it's working out very well.  Petition your City or Town Councils to keep chain businesses out and to help foster independently owned small business ventures.  The more active we are in our communities, the better we all get along and it's a good feeling to know that we're working toward sustainability, local self reliance and autonomy.

Without the support of the communities across the nation, our independent businesses will be eaten alive by the encroachment of huge corporations.  With no local businesses, a community will wither - property values decrease, individuality lost and nothing left to differentiate it from any other.  Is that what we want?  Is that your town now?

For our local readers, see SaveAltadena.com on the net and SaveAltadena on Facebook for news, meeting times and other information.

Talk to you next week, friends, and until then, be well and happy.

Lori and Scott