Local exploration

Please focus your comments first on Walters previous "individual implications" thread, but I wanted to start this one as I promised in the comments for the last post.

I listed the definition for local, but sometimes I get my deepest understanding of a word by finding the etymology, the history and ancient roots of the word. For local, the American Heritage dictionary says it is Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin loclis, from Latin locus, place.

A sense of place seems to convey a depth, it touches on what Paul spoke about concerning the disturbing transience of "the new local". Yet, I think the transience isn't really "the new local" at all, but rather evidence of "the new non-local". A real sense of place can and has been created in cyberspace. It may take time, it may take depth, but it always requires a sense of place that isn't just visited, it's a place to experience life, to care for, to maintain, to protect, to build.

Exploring "the new local", to really help create and serve the businesses and markets that venture into this new realm, will require exploring "the old local" as well -- and seeing how the values, the best parts of a beloved "place" can be nurtured, furnished, built, maintained, grown, and fully realized on an address on the internet, or whatever is the telepresence technology that does best serve this connected global village.

Maybe ultimately, "the new local", when we explore it fully, becomes this tiny spec of rock around a small star on the outer edge of an average galaxy among myriads on a tiny stretch of time called the 21st century. But it is a step forward from where we've been. It's the new neighborhood. How can we best care for it? How can we be good neighbors to each other? How can we have our right livelihood here, as we do business?