Erin Wilson posts essays and media at thevirtualimage.com. Wilson is board president of arts-advocacy organization ArtPeers, and director of Wealthy Theatre. Wilson took part in ArtPrize 2009 and through ArtPeers has been involved with Art.Downtown and ACTIVESITE. He moved to Grand Rapids from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where he met his partner, Amy, who has co-founded groundbreaking Grand Rapids modern dance collaborative Dance In The Annex (DITA).
It is curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want.
- Capt. Spock, 'Errand of Mercy'
The Margin
The art of economics lies in the margin between wholesale and retail. This margin contains two fishes and five loaves of bread -- a meal for a select few or enough to feed the multitudes.
We rocked the margin in the 1950s, an era economist Tom Robbins refers to as the "golden age of America's middle class." Many common people could claim a high standard of living within a reasonable work week. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses thrived in the margin, providing millions of Americans with gainful employment. The nation still had a solid manufacturing base; small businesses stocked domestic product by default, resulting in millions of meaningful manufacturing jobs.
(It's worth acknowledging that these broad strokes don't account for hardships faced by minorities in the 1950s.)
The term "economics" translates from the Ancient Greek: "rules of the house." One rule: the very wealthy make money whether the economy is up or down. Knowledge and connections allow them to take advantage of people less keenly aware of financial realities. In fact, inequity of knowledge may be the most profound argument against the free-market economy.
Fast forward to present day. Consolidation, monopolies, franchises outlets, KFC, Olive Garden, Starbucks, WalMart, Speedway, Target, McDonalds, Dairy Queen, Office Max, Motel 6, Walgreens… the land of the free has become a network of distribution hubs. Once known as "cities," exits on our nation's highways are nearly indistinguishable from another.
The margin has been seized by a select few. They centrally control the distribution of most products sold in the United States. They achieved this through volume purchasing of imported goods at wholesale, allowing them to provide cheaper prices at checkout. Their purchasing power grants them huge influence. They construct bigger and bigger stores -- real and virtual -- with massive inventories of cheaply made products. This strategy directly and systematically decimated the small businesses infrastructure (and its associated manufacturing base) that once thrived in the margin.
Freedom Is Slavery
I've actually witnessed people defend, passionately, their right to shop at WalMart. As if it were a core liberty, something distinctly American. It's like watching someone punch George Orwell in the face. Heroin has more in common with independence than WalMart. Sure, WalMart hangs "MADE IN USA" flags from the ceiling, they play country music and their greeters look like how you remember Grandma. But there's a word for people who stroke your hair as they bind your hands and drive you to your knees.
Most of us were lured into the big-box outlets by the promise of saving pennies on the dollar. We just didn't read the fine print: the discount was a negative rebate. Individuals are paying now, with fewer job prospects and diminished earnings across the board. Municipalities are snared in the downward spiral of closures of small businesses, prompting them to grant tax breaks to big box retail in order to attract them.
We're actively participating in our own decline. It's reminiscent of Soviet soldiers during the Cold War who, being stationed at frigid outposts, discovered they could warm their shivering bodies by standing in front of certain satellite dishes. Microwave transmitters.
The Problem
I'm not saying imported goods are bad for America. Imports produce jobs in countries like Pakistan, which helps create a middle class that does not want to kill us. Which is nice. Furthermore, our dollars allow them to experience real freedom: disposable income to buy crap they don't need, diabetes and So You Think You Can Dance on satellite television.
Back at home, our problem remains the recession. And look, there's really no way out unless we start making stuff. Yet factories won't magically appear. Entrepreneurs won't be emboldened in a vacuum. We cannot simply expect local retailers to "do the right thing" and stock regionally produced goods (although many do).
So let's talk about Wealthy St. and the claim that it's a model for neighborhood revival. The revolution is admittedly missing the part where the consumers actually give a damn.
And it's important to ask: what else could've happened here? There is no highway going into Eastown and parcels of land are relatively small and expensive. Wealthy St. was destined to feature either successful small business or failed small business.
Happily we got the good stuff. Which, in my opinion, raises the bar for what we'd call a revival. Circumstance provided a gift. We have to make most efficient use of this. And it comes down to choice: we have to choose to demand local products wherever they're available. This would demonstrate good intent. It would provide hope to budding entrepreneurs, sparking a new wave of regional manufacturing.
The status quo -- cities as centrally controlled distribution hubs for imported, cheaply-produced goods -- is the enemy of economic recovery. We have to summon the courage of Rosa Parks and the wisdom of Sun Tzu. Strategically spent dollars are louder than bombs.
Throttle The Margin
Shopping local is not enough. Giving good word of mouth to those who stock domestically produced goods is not enough. We need to demand locally made products of high quality. We need to buy them.
We must pay more for sandwiches that are created with locally produced ingredients. People rip on Electric Cheetah for being too expensive for the neighborhood in which it resides. This is the worst kind of short-sighted pandering -- politically correct, but big-picture crazy. There's nothing more expensive than McDonald's. We eat comfort food because we need some, but it feeds us into the healthcare system, requiring procedures we cannot afford. Shopping smart is the ultimate preventative medicine. A sandwich made of local produce can be sliced into items that represent real jobs for regional farmers. That expensive sandwich is an investment in our own recovery.
Knowledge
If folks like WalMart founder Sam Walton represent capitalism, maybe it seems like the wrong tool for the job. But I think there's a simple reason Mr. Walton went home with both fishes and all the bread: there exists an inequity of knowledge and he knew how to throttle the margin.
Abuse is made possible by a lack of awareness. If we know that much, we are obliged to take action. I propose we form an ad-hoc committee in total transparency to usher in an era of redistribution of knowledge. We need a thoroughly dedicated committee consisting of economists, innovators, pragmatists, artists and a media-capable organization to deploy it. Consider this Year One of the recovery, beginning with a plan in three phases.
Phase 1: Identify all regionally manufactured goods (RMGs). Catalog virtually. Tag retail outlets with tools like Google Maps, displaying categorically where regionally manufactured items can be purchased. Implore through marketing the local purchase of RMGs whenever possible, as an urgent mandate. Explain why it matters. And stress the importance of RMGs as a "brand" that is recognized for quality. "Made locally" is not enough -- we cannot forget that. "RGM" has to mean high quality.
Phase 2: Explore and identify all brick-and-mortar options for concentrated retail distribution of RMGs. Discuss possibilities with regional corporations like Meijer -- let's secure dedicated floor space available for RMGs. If we promote the benefits of buying RMGs and fellow consumers actually follow through, this leads to more retail orders of RMGs, which leads more warehouse owners to the conclusion that Metro GR supports local manufacture, which leads entrepreneurs to the question "What else could I make here?" Attract, retain, promote, sustain. Repeat.
Phase 3: At 11:11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2011, a media-capable deployment organization initiates the first of monthly, high-publicity dispatches, promoting RMGs and where to buy them. Each month, we highlight at least one locally manufactured product, or line of products. The bottom of the menu at Viceroy is a perfect template -- check it out sometime. Grand Rapids would officially start promoting that consumers consider "x" product first when shopping for a certain item.
Fringe benefits abound. Benefits cascade. Grand Rapids becomes a model for other municipalities. We become positioned to create reciprocal relationships with these other municipalities, who could feature our RMGs. We could feature theirs. We evangelize the power of the consumer dollar. Make everyone remember what we have forgotten.
And let's consider evolving models like the new Bartertown restaurant, where the employees own the store. How can you be more invested than that? And it's only one of so many options.
Bottom line: we are the segment of the population most directly affected by the decimation of small business infrastructure and the loss of manufacturing jobs. The best value for GR might be more expensive at the cash register, but it's cheaper than the alternative.
Double bottom line: this is the sort of hard work we're best at. We were born for this. We are the solution to our problem. We have the means to obtain what we want.
This is a call.
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