The World Community Film Series continues with a sneak preview from the 2012 World Community Film Festival on Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. at North Island College Theatre at the Courtenay campus.
The Economics of Happiness, a documentary about the worldwide movement for economic localization, describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions.
On the one hand, an unholy alliance of governments and big business continues to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, people all over the world are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance — and, they’re starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to rebuild more human scale, an economics of localization.
The film shows how economic globalization has worsened nearly every problem we face: fundamentalism and ethnic conflict; climate chaos and species extinction; financial instability and unemployment, and democracy is decimated as part of the bargain.
The Economics of Happiness provides not only inspiration, but practical solutions. Arguing that economic localization is a strategic solution multiplier that can solve our most serious problems, the film spells out the policy changes needed to enable local businesses to survive and prosper.
We are introduced to community initiatives that are moving the localization agenda forward, such as the Transition Town movement in Totnes, U.K., and we see the benefits of an expanding local food movement that is restoring biological diversity, communities and local economies worldwide.
A chorus of voices from six continents tell us that climate change and peak oil give us little choice: we need to localize, to bring the economy home. The good news is that as we move in this direction, we will begin not only to heal the earth but also to restore our own sense of well-being.
The Economics of Happiness challenges us to restore our faith in humanity, challenges us to believe that it is possible to build a better world.
Admission by donation at the door. For more information, call 250-337-5412. For a link to the film trailer, visit http://worldcommunity.ca.
— World Community
