Realistic Portrait of Subsistence Economy

I imagine this taking place at a meeting house downtown. Much like town meetings in Vermont, or City council meetings across the country. People would propose things they'd like to see in the community and then there would be discussion. This discussion would result in an organized boycott by a whole community on some products while welcoming other products.

Someone would look down through their bifocals and see that the next item on the list is "halloween decorations." The discussion that ensues always asks the following questions.

To what level will consuming this way make us happy?
To what level will it make us healthy?
Is there anything else we can use instead for the same purpose?
Is this product sustainable?
Where is this product from?
What are the social costs or benefits of the product?
Can we afford to purchase and maintain the good?


The discussion on Halloween decorations yields the following conclusions in Montpelier VT. (numbers don't coincide with questions above)

1 Most of these products are highly disposable, unsustainable, and look phony.
2 The plastics and rubbers of the kids costumes contribute to toxicity at the point of production.
3 The festive look of the town when decorated makes us kind of happy, especially the kids.
4 The decorations do not contribute to our health much at all.
5 Carving pumpkins is a wonderful tradition that contributes to local farmers, gives us time with kids, and makes the town look great. There is nothing stopping us from making the pumpkins into pies afterwards, or composting them. The candles however produce toxic outputs and are made from unrenewable petroleum resources. Maybe they could be replaced with beeswax candles, or efficient light bulbs.
6 We can use durable, reusable products instead of disposable ones. Like cloth streamers that we can store in a box somewhere, or sheets for a ghost costume, or whatever else.
7 halloween lights, like christmas lights are nice looking, but use electricity.
8 the electricity comes from hydroQuebec which displaced native peoples, drowned Elk herds, and toxified the ecosystem with mercury. Supporting them is not in the interest of health and happiness. We can use more efficient halloween lights, leave them on for less time, and do without them.
9 Halloween candy is always individually wrapped, is there anything we can do...

Then the list of conclusions would be brought to the costume shop in advance so they could prepare to provide that which the consumers demanded. The request for beeswax candles would be brought to the candle shop, the request for pumpkins to the farmers who might grow pumpkins that you could eat as well as carve, and storage space would be arranged for the city's own Halloween decorations. Group Thrift meetings across the country.

Another example could be if a neighborhood composed a list of all their tools, and instead of each person buying the tools individually which they would only use once, the tools would be shared freely in a library system.

Another example could be if a city had a vacant store front, there could be a meeting to decide what sort of business would be supported there. Another restaurant? A boutique? A laundramat? Once a conclusion is reached which might include a list of different options, applicants would vie for the spot in the city. Based on the above principles, the city (an official or a committee) would choose one of the candidates and Voila! People decide rather than react.