At the core of Hyperlocalism is the concept of Resource Dilution, an idea that we all understand, even if we don't know the phrase.
Imagine you have a cup of water that you want to use to water a plant. But in order to do that, you have 10 people lined up, each with their own cup, and you have to transfer the water between cups in order to get it to the plant.
In a perfect world, you would do this carefully, so nearly all of the water made it to the plant. But in the real world, that's not what happens. There could be problems with the cups - some of the them might have holes, be too small to hold all the water, or be lined with a material that absorbs it. Or, the problem could be with the people: maybe they are not paying attention and they spill the water, or they steal a sip of the water along the way, or they leave the line entirely, Finally, the problem could be with the line itself: there are not enough people to reach the whole way, the people don't trust eachother enough to pour the water, or the terrain is so hot that the water evaporates. Regardless, at the end of this line, you have very little water remaining for the plant.
This is how resources are currently distributed in a global world: there are complex layers of people, organizations, and systems between an input (such as capital) and the desired output (such as creating jobs). The more distance there is between the input and the output, the more layers there are, and the greater the chance that the resource is diluted.
By contrast, Hyperlocalism states that if you reduce the number of layers, you reduce the chances for the resource to be diluted. This is obvious when you think about it: When you spend money at a local store, it goes into the pocket of a local owner, who pays it to their local employees. When you spend money at an online retailer, little to none of that money ends up back in your community - the impact of that money is fully diluted.
This dilution does not just happen with money - it occurs with all resources, including our time and attention, both of which are limited. By focusing these resources locally, we increase their concentration - so not only do we see the impact of them more immediately, but that impact is greater. That's Hyperlocalism.
Hyperlocalism is a model for how individuals and organizations think about spending their valuable resources, specifically, their:
Capital. Refers to how we spend our money, whether we are buying things or donating it
Attention. Refers to how we focus our attention and what we let anger/motivate/inspire us
Time. Refers to how we spend our time, both inside and outside of work.
Hyperlocalism does not say you have to spend all resources locally - it just encourages you to choose the local choice when possible, because the impact of your resources will be much greater.
