Everything Great and Small

A small country has fewer people.
Though there are machines that can work ten to one hundred times faster than man, they are not needed.
The people take death seriously and do not travel far.
Though they have boats and carriages, no one uses them.
Though they armor and weapons, no one displays them.
Men return to the knotting of rope in place of writing.
The food is plain and good, their clothes fine but simple, their homes secure;
They are happy in their ways.
~ Tao Te Ching, portion of Eighty ~

As the economic crisis deepens here in the US (and around the world), one of the cost-cutting strategies being applied all over the place is consolidation -- of resources and power. Here in Washington State, there are continuing reports of neighborhood centers and satellite medical offices being closed with services being shifted to the "main branch".

While I can certainly understand this movement from a strictly economic perspective, the logic flies in the face of what we each know to be true -- Community services are best administered within the community itself. To put it another way, smaller is often better than bigger!

If each community in this nation were self-contained (i.e., possessed all necessary services), people would not have the need to travel great distances. We would each work, learn, shop and go to the doctor in close proximity to where we live. This would not only benefit the health of the planet, but it would benefit the mental health of each person.