Shop at home: It helps us all

Unless you’ve managed to be off-planet for the past year or so, it can hardly have escaped your notice that the economy isn’t in such hot shape.

But if you live around these parts, you’ve probably also observed that things aren’t nearly as bad here as elsewhere. In fact, in many ways, Cherokee County is thriving.

This is no accident, nor is it a stroke of luck. It’s a result of planning and hard work on the part of many people who live and work here. You may be one of those enterprising folks – and if not already, then you can be.

Many people are convinced that they, by themselves, can’t have an impact on the world around them. But that’s no more true than the notion that “one vote doesn’t count.” Everything adds up, and every little bit counts.

You alone can affect the local economy, especially during the holiday season. Your actions can determine whether a neighbor keeps his job, whether a much-loved shop stays open, whether a friend can put gifts under the tree for his kids this Christmas.

You can do that by shopping at home.

That sounds like a shameless plug for local merchants, and of course, it is. But every time a merchant goes out of business, people lose their jobs – and in turn, their health care, retirement, college fund for their kids. The newly unemployed must cut certain expenditures from their budgets, which means other merchants who have depended on them may be in jeopardy. That could mean the loss of more jobs, and in turn, a threat to more businesses.

You might ask, what’s the difference if we lose a few small businesses? That handful of employees can find work elsewhere, can’t they? Maybe – but what about the loss of tax base provided by that shuttered business? Without the tax base, Tahlequah couldn’t maintain its roads, sidewalks, parks and other vital infrastructures. Taxes help support our schools, university, utilities, hospitals, and critical social services, and most other things we take for granted.

It’s always in fashion to bash government-funded entities. But think for a moment: Don’t you have good friends and family members who are employed in some sector of government? Or perhaps you, yourself, are similarly employed? If not for the tax base, who would pay these salaries?

The economy operates in a big circle, with each facet depending on the other. If you don’t buy products and services from local businesses, they can’t stay open. And if they don’t stay open, they don’t provide jobs and the tax base to support the community at-large. Like it or not, we’re all in this together – and helping our neighbors, in a real sense, is also helping ourselves and our own families.

You say you can’t find what you’re looking for here? That might have been true 40 years ago, but no more. In terms of merchandise, Tahlequah has just about everything you can get anywhere else. And if it’s not on site, chances are, a local merchants would be eager to get it for you. All you need to do is ask.

You say it’s more expensive here than in Tulsa? Again, not true. The prices have long been comparable here, and even when they’re slightly higher, the cost for fuel to get to Tulsa and back eats up any savings you might have.

So, the choice is yours: Do you support the tax base, merchants and families of Tulsa or Fayetteville some other far-flung city, or do you support the tax base, merchants and families of your own community?

Seems like a no-brainer to us.

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