In a down economy, do we isolate or build community?

This is the central question for all of us in the next few months.

We face this choice as communities and nations.

Each year the World Economic Forum brings together business, political and other leaders for a late January conference in Davos, Switzerland.  The 2009 forum’s website has webcasts of the various sessions which can be downloaded.   More about the forum in another post in which I’ll share some of the sessions I found particularly interesting.

One of the themes which emerged from the Forum this year is concern that in the face of the global downturn there will be a rise of economic nationalism and protectionism.  The evidence that free trade grows the global economy is now pretty clear.  While there may be winners and losers for a period of time, the expansion of the global economy provides opportunities for all parts of the world to improve the standard of living of their people.  This has been called the virtuous cycle.  Expansion in ever widening circles as we open ourselves to the greater interdependence of a global economy.

It follows then, that when free trade is restricted, global growth slows making it harder and harder for any part of the world to enjoy a better life.  This vicious cycle spirals inward in ever decreasing circles of less and less for everyone.

The so called “buy American” provisions of the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Bill making its way through congress (which really means U.S. only) could be examples of this isolationist tendency if carried too far.

Many of the news commentators whom I generally respect have said quite openly things like  “look, I don’t care about anyone outside the U.S.”   or “We’ve got to take care of Americans (again U.S. only) and let everyone else take care of themselves.”  This is view of “us” and “them” is a really dangerous perspective.

In fact, caring about those outside the U.S. may be the only way to insure our long term prosperity within the U.S.  This is not only a function of the virtuous cycle, it is the root of the war on terrorism which poses a perhaps even deeper threat to not only our lives, but also our economy and our way of life.  If the U.S. and the other wealthy nations retreat into our fortified compounds leaving the rest of the population to fend for themselves in the squalor of the streets beyond our walls, we have set our course for decades of conflict.

We face this choice as individuals and families.

Each of us do what is prudent and best for ourselves and our families by curtailing spending and saving more.   But the cumulative impact of most of us cutting back is that the economy shrinks and there’s less for all of us.

Even more damaging, in my view, is that as we experience hardship, we isolate ourselves in fear and shame.  We pull back from interacting with our communities feeling that we must hide our pain – our failure.

Now is when we need each other.  When embracing each other in community is what keeps us healthy and sane.  It is in community that we can break free from the vicious cycle and move forward to regain positive momentum for individuals, families, communities, nations and the world as a whole.  Now, more than ever, we need a deep understanding that we are all in this together.

What can you do to build community in the next week?

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