I stumbled across this video recently http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/93
and it has led me to think about the effect the global marketplace has had on our collective psyches. Consumerist culture in a global marketplace certainly affords the greatest number of product choices. Conversely, a localized economy, it's many benefits aside, would almost certainly circumscribe one's ability to "shop around." But while the prospect of losing many consumer choices as a result of localizing economies and production may sound painful, psychologist Barry Schwartz would argue that such a loss might ultimately be to our psychological benefit.
The video's run time is about 20 minutes. I hope others will take the time to view it and to begin to think about how product choice (among other choices) impacts your own life.
