Local Should Be Local

Here's possibly the most niche complaint I've ever made, one that I'm confident (fairly confident) nobody else has ever made and that doesn't map onto any kind of ideological conflict.

I really dislike it when the term "local" is used to mean "regional".

For instance, when people talk about "local tensions" in the Korean peninsula, or Christianity being adapted to "local conditions" in the United States of America.

If a whole continent can be "local", then what's regional or continental or national?

And what about the dignity of the local itself-- as in, your local post office? (If you still have one.)

I get that "local" is being used in a relative sense here-- simply in opposition to "global" or "general". Similar to "local anaesthetic", for instance.

But I still think the usage should be resisted. I think it's mostly used to make the speaker or writer sound clever or globally-minded or something like that. Down with it!