Alternatives to the Great Reset

In addition, energy consumption in urban areas is much higher per-capita than rural areas. Mega-cities are resource-wise unsustainable and require energy inputs from far outside city limits. As has been found over the last 18 months, mega-cities provide special public health issues, where infectious diseases rapidly spread, leading to long-term lockdowns, causing adverse community, health, and economic effects. The economic costs of saving lives under lockdown public health strategies, is much higher than for rural areas, where low population density is a prime-defence against the spreading of infectious diseases. Many of these mega-cities developed in the 1960s and 70s were structurally cement based, which is starting to decay. In the near future, massive capital will be required to renew them.

Urbanization is an issue which requires much more study within the areas of public consumption, energy use, regional climate change, and public health. In the climate change study, this area has received very little funding, compared to other areas. There are strong arguments for revisiting the policies of decentralization, from what we are seeing with urbanization at present.

Decentralization: The return of communities

De-urbanization presents the perfect opportunity to redefine the concepts of community, enterprise, employment, technology, and economy. It is also an opportunity for humankind to learn how to co-exist with long tossed-off natural eco-systems. Establishing sustainable communities is a way to utilize cheap, currently existing, and appropriate technologies to develop communities, rather than capital intensive Industry 4.0 technologies out of reach of micro-entrepreneurs.

Decentralization is a valid development strategy within many parts of the world in underdeveloped, developing, developed, and post-developed nations. Creating new community micro-economies is also a chance for the world to break away from hyper-consumerism and dependence on oligopolies controlled by multi-nationals, which have brought much corruption to commodity supply chains.

New communities can go back to re-establishing craft and skilled based industries. Staples such as dairy, eggs, vegetables, fish, sea-food, poultry and meats can be produced and traded by family businesses. This could be achieved with an emphasis on developing small scale appropriate technology for micro-production. Villages in specific natural eco-systems will develop a regional comparative advantage in value-added specialties based on food and produce. Crafts and trades including clothing, shoes, furniture, and metalworking can return with education provided by guild-based vocational skills and apprenticeships once again. Savings cooperatives can be promoted to operate independently from the banking grid controlled by a restricted number of banks in each country.

Alternative methods of power generation will be needed to fossil fuel electricity production. However, the conventional 'green' generation methods, solar and wind power are very disruptive upon local eco-systems and micro-climates. Other methods need to be considered. There are now new and safer small scale nuclear technologies available, which leave much smaller physical footprints as 'green' alternatives.

Going back to smaller communities will reverse the rural-urban migration patterns of the last 70 years and help decongest already over populated mega-cities around the world. Changed consumer patterns will assist in alleviating lifestyle causes of global warming. Jobs will become enriched where craft workers will take pride in producing whole products with their hands. Community based family enterprises will diversify the nature of capitalism today, making entrepreneurs stakeholders in their local economies.

The Great Reset is still work in progress in its conceptualization. There is a need to conduct a much more diverse dialogue on how to make it an effective and acceptable economy philosophy. De-urbanization and the development of communities will turn the concept of a global village into a globe of villages which can learn from each other.