8/7/2019 bioregional_chart_TaoLiberation

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Bioregional Model

Scale: Region/CommunitY

Economy: Conservation/Restoration

Stability/Evolution/Adaptation

Local/Self-suffi ciencY

CooPeration PrimarY

Polity: Decentralization

ComPlementaritY/SubsidiaritY

DiversitY/Consensus

ParticiPation/EmPowerment

Culture: Symbiosis

Evoh-rtion/Qualitative Growth

PluralitY/DiversitY

THE ECOLOCY OF TRANSFORMATION 357

Corporate CaPitalism,/

Industrial Growth

State/Nation/'Worid

Exploitation

Growth/Progress

Global/Specialization and Tiade

Competition PrimarY

Centralization

Hierarchy/Control

Uniformity/MajoritY Rule

Domination/Control

Polarization

Quantitative Growth/Violence

Monoculture

In considering this comparison, we must take care not to create false dichoto-

mies. while the funclamental unit of the bioregion is the local community' that

does not mean that larger, more encompassing systemic units are not important'

presumably, according to the principle of subsidiarity, larger interregional' as

well as national (or similar) and international levels of orgamzation would still

beneeded,includingthoseworking"t*@l'Thekeyidea,though,isthat the bioregionai l.u.l becomes rn rna'ffiiflt6-primary unit for making

decisions and organ tzingthe economy. That being said, we are also pafi of a

wider planetary .orn*.rnity and some issues-such as climate change-affect

us all and require coordinated actionfyslgtrg{.'1":"::'1""t are actu-

ally imple-.rtt"d locally. The idea tf6-fls-caf{LlgCis helpful n::-t-' *t must

thinkand act both locail V g@dfull

^"aindeedie

must see the fundamental

1' We should kuow our local reality and

how best to act within it, but *. ur. also informed by the global reality and the

experiences of other regions' , .

Similarly, while goopera!,ion and symbiosis may be primary values, competl-

tion will ulro.o-.Tffiy. Indeed, the principle of diversity would mean that

a wide variety of economic enterprises would exist and these would inevitably

compete with each other to some extent. As we have seen, competition is indeed...<-r

a necessar y p^rtof a healthy ecosystem, but on a wider scale cooperation and

symbiosis are mofe important dynamics. This must also be reflected in our eco-

nomic system-p.rhnp, drawing on the example of David Kg:99g; "commu-

nirv enterprise economy" consisting

of"

a-a*t*r"rytc,-6*GiA;tftv'

,fi iG-ffi{ie; r;;;i v, o f f a m i l v' i t

"p' i s f -sryll*s e a

!

"ia:gp-1,''{9Jke r - ow n e d

fir*i and neighbourhood nid mutii-ipal corporations" (1995, 3!2)'

Economics;SustainableCommunitgRootedinPlace

In a bioregional vision, economics must be centered on values such as self-reli-

ance, sustainability, equity,, and justice. The idea of an."economY--o"fe,nolg!]