Two local organizations that are aiming to raise Binghamton’s economic profile will screen a film on campus in May about the importance of building self-reliant local economies.
SUNY Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments, (SUNY VINES), a Binghamton University student group aiming to reduce Binghamton’s carbon footprint, and Binghamton Rising, a movement of the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition (BRSC), will host a screening of the film “The Economics of Happiness” at 7 p.m. on May 5 in Lecture Hall 10.
Both organizations said they want to raise awareness that hope for Binghamton’s future lies in local economic self-reliance.
“Businesses that are grown locally are the ones that are going to help us prosper locally,” said David Currie, executive director of BRSC. “We need local solutions to local challenges — that is what localizations is about.”
According to a mission statement from Binghamton Rising, the decline of the Binghamton area in terms of population and economics can be attributed to the departure or demise of industries such as IBM, Link Aviation and Endicott Johnson.
The website Business Insider recently ranked Binghamton as the fifth-most depressing city in America, using information from a recent Gallup poll that measured factors including job growth, “satisfaction within the community” and “optimism about the future” in various metropolitan areas throughout the United States.
Though Currie said he understands why many see the city as depressed, he thinks that it is time for people to change their expectations and begin thinking locally to shape Binghamton’s future.
“The challenge is how do we come up with a system that makes sense for both developing and emerging economies,” Currie said. “This film [“The Economics of Happiness”] suggests that strong local economies are the answer but we can’t seem to break out of the idea that we need to compete on the global market place.”
Currie said that people in Binghamton need to reshape how they view the local economy as well as the nation’s economy.
“It doesn’t make any sense, so why is that our primary economic development plan?” he asked. “How about we tilt the playing field? How do we capitalize small businesses?”
According to Tinamarie McDermott, a junior majoring in environmental and social justice and president of SUNY VINES, people depend on importing goods and food too much, which is bad for the economy and the environment. McDermott said that even if students do not plan to stay in Binghamton after they graduate, they should still try to help the city grow.
“Everything is interconnected,” she said. “We shouldn’t be so shortsighted where it will hit us. If it [the depleting fossil fuels] hits Binghamton, it will eventually hit its peak everywhere and we will have to localize the economy. We should focus on preparing ourselves for that now.”
According to Currie, localization is an important movement to the community because it increases civic participation, reduces inequality and values the connections between people and the city.
Buying locally-made products and from locally-owned businesses minimizes the leakage of revenue that will leave the city. The city is therefore less vulnerable to outside forces and more resilient, according to information from Binghamton Rising.
“The Economics of Happiness” screening is public and free of charge, though the organizations hosting the event are recommending a $15 donation, part of which will go to the International Society for Ecology and Culture.