The Promise of Localism and Peter Drucker’s Post-Capitalist Society

Peter Drucker, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 96, was one of the wise persons of the twentieth century and certainly its most influential organizational consultant. In a book published in 1993, called Post-Capitalist Society, he argued that every few hundred years societies go through difficult transitional periods resulting in a new society with new values, new beliefs, and new political and economic practices. He believed the world was going through just such a sharp transformation that would end about 2020 with a rearranged global society. The driving force of this transformation was the knowledge worker, and the new society that would emerge around 2020, he called the Post-Capitalist Society.

            Drucker was quick to point out that Post-Capitalist Society would not be anti-capitalist or non-capitalist. Free enterprise would still be the key to integrating economic markets, but the old Capitalist means of production of land, labor, and capital would be replaced by knowledge as the crucial resource. Knowledge does not function the same way and so cannot be managed the same way as land, labor, and capital, hence this new society would be Post-Capitalism but not post-free enterprise. He did not specify exactly what the new society would look like, but he did persuasively argue that something new was in the process of being born, which would be characterized by new values, new beliefs, and new political and economic practices.

            Capitalism in the twentieth century led to the emergence of big business and big government, both of which are now failing to meet the needs of the vast majority of people, whether workers or citizens. They are neither nimble enough nor wise enough to manage knowledge workers, but in fact treat knowledge as if it were just another version of the old means of production. The challenges we face today around the world, whether climate change, conflict, poverty, health care, or full employment can be successfully met, but not by either big business or big government, and we will waste valuable time if we continue to look there. Just how might Post-Capitalist Society look and how might it successfully solve these problems? As Drucker realized whatever emerges will be a function of what the conditions in the environment allow and of the choices we humans make.

            The conditions we face today are both positive, which will make certain choices possible, and negative, which will constrain certain other choices. For instance, knowledge workers have brought us 3-D printers and vertical farming, which are examples of positive conditions that, along with other new and innovative technologies, will soon make possible self-sufficiency at the local level. In the near future, the food a community needs and the tools to farm it can be produced at the local level.

Examples of negative conditions, which constrain our choices, are climate change and the growing disparity of income and wealth between the one-percenters and the rest of us. So relying on distant resources will become less and less sustainable and meeting our basic needs will better be found in solidarity with one another at the local level, not by waiting for assistance from those “above” us and far away. Given the possibilities and limits of these conditions, we must be very thoughtful about the choices we make – the choices that will give shape to Post-Capitalist Society.

I believe our best hope to create a prosperous and joyful future depends on guiding our choices by the five principles of Localism as already set forth in this blog – the principles of responsibility, reduction, replacement, regeneration, and reconnection. (See post dated Monday, August 6, 2012) Following these principles the center of gravity for the new values, beliefs, and political and economic practices of Post-Capitalist Society will be our local communities. Given the knowledge worker and the new technologies of Post-Capitalist Society, a new social contract is possible, where we care for both the environment and our fellow human beings at the level of our local communities. Given the failures and impotence of both big government and big business, we must engage knowledge and the knowledge worker at the local level if we want to flourish in the twenty-first century. The promise of localism is that we can best care for others, our community, the world, and ourselves and experience deep connection, kindness, hospitality, and a greater sense of the joy of being human with one another at the local level.