[permaculture] Conservatism revisited
rafter t. sass
liberationecology at gmail.com
Sun Feb 17 18:31:15 EST 2008
Hello, Dieter - welcome back to the debate you triggered!
Thanks so much for writing:
"... it is not healthy to
barricade ourselves in a cosy little ecological or permaculture
corner. Nothing
is going to bring back the idyllic life of medieval villages, if
that ever was idyllic."
That is a much-needed counterweight to the "Pc life raft" mentality
that persistently frames discussion in the Pc community.
What I don't see is how that leads to the idea that we should
accommodate ourselves to corporate power. You set up a strawman
argument here: I explicitly disavow a black & white worldview in my
earlier post on this topic, and David agrees with me.
Far from having "degenerated into bloodshed and repression usually
worse then the tyranny they supplanted," idealist, radical, utopian
thinkers and movements have been the ONLY forces in society that have
succeeded in securing basic human rights. This despite their militant
confrontation with the status quo, and arguably because of it.
Radical debate, struggle, and even confrontation, expand the
boundaries of the debate, and create the space in which the demands
of more moderate progressive elements become acceptable. Check out
the Abolitionists, the Suffragettes, the labor movement (particularly
AFL/CIO), the US civil rights movement, the Indian anti-colonial
struggle, etc. etc.
It is, unfortunately, a popular distortion of the historical record
to claim the opposite. Yes, utopian movements have failed to produce
utopia. Would you dismiss them on those grounds, in the face of all
that we owe them, rather than oppose corporate power for what it is
succeeding so well at - i.e. concentrating wealth and power, and all
the social and ecological consequences that entails?
I heartily agree with you when you say:
"there are obviously problems that at the moment seem too momentous
to be solved within present models.
Most of all economic growth. How and with what can we replace
economic growth as the driving
force in the economy."
But how in the world does that lead to the conclusion that the
solutions will maintain some version of corporate structure &
commodity production?
Like David, I'm not insisting that we have to decide, a priori, that
our strategies for change have to exclude any traces of the commodity
economy and corporate institutions. But if I do the opposite, and
decide a priori, without any real evidence, that they are permanent
fixtures of human society, I immediately limit myself to a fairly
narrow window of possible plans, possible futures. Even more
importantly, by marginalizing those who do oppose corporate/commodity
economics, we all sacrifice our bargaining position as a people - as
a planet full of actual, not corporate, persons.
In other words, even if I want a compromise with corporate power, I'm
shooting myself in the foot if I exclude from the debate those who
militantly oppose it.
I would include, as attempted exclusion, the red-baiting you
unfortunately descend to as a closing to your email. This is the only
part of your email that strays from polite debate, and it makes a
troubling footnote to the rest of your argument. No one here is
accusing you of being a lackey of anything, and no one is justifying
authoritarian misrule and famine, nor is anyone belatedly
backpedaling from such a stance.
I plead guilty, though, to the insinuation that I might examine and
re-consider my beliefs as I go through life. It's easy to never
compromise a belief as vague and middle-of-the-road as "a more human
and peaceful society." It's when I take stand on a contentious,
complex, or practical issues that I have to evaluate and re-evaluate
my position. There is no shame in it - quite the opposite. Pointing
to the deaths of millions in China and crowing about how you never
had to change your mind is just offensive. The implication that
present-day opponents of corporate power are in some analogous
position to early supporters of Mao is utterly counterproductive.
Last paragraph aside, I appreciate the arguments you are bringing to
the forum, and the debate they are stimulating. Thank you.
best,
rafter t. sass
The Liberation Ecology Project
liberationecology.org
518-567-7407
skype: raughter
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