We’ve all heard of small towns whose economies have been devastated by the depression of a national industry that employs most of the townspeople. Appalachian coal mining towns are becoming the latest victim of this phenomenon due to the decreasing cost of renewable energy. These towns’ reliance on only a couple of employers to sustain their economy sets them up to be communities with a single point of failure. When these towns’ economies are only subjected to the economic stresses they were designed to handle, they perform quite well. On the other hand, economies with a single point of failure tend to break when they encounter an unexpected economic condition- like falling renewable energy prices.

Our communities’ tenuous relationship with these massive employers is not some recent accident. Rather, this state of reliance is built into the economic culture we’ve harbored in the United States since the beginning of the 20th century.

The Modernist Economy

Our current national economy looks to a relatively small cadre of massive corporations to drive economic growth. This economy came of age during the industrial revolution. A product of its time, it is deeply associated with the early 20th century dogma of “the one best way” and “form follows function.” For this reason, I call it “the Modernist Economy.” The Modernist Economy is defined by large national and multinational corporations that use mechanization and standardization to achieve mass production.

Prior to the advent of mass production, most communities relied on highly skilled craftsmen to produce goods for their regional market. Each product produced by the craftsman tended to be fairly unique to the individual and was adapted to the region from which the maker hailed. The market for most consumer products at this time was the same region in which they were produced.

When the Modernist Economy arrived, comparatively less-skilled laborers were employed on a massive scale to produce goods and services with the aid of machines. The volume of products produced by the modernist corporations greatly outpaced the craftsmen. Further, modernist corporations took advantage of new transportation options like railroads, canals, and highways to expand product markets from the regional scale to the national and multinational scales. Unable to compete with the modernist corporations on volume, market penetration, or price, the majority of American craftsmen were driven out of business.