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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Why Bother With Permaculture? An essay by Ted Trainer

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  • From: Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Why Bother With Permaculture? An essay by Ted Trainer
  • Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:57:30 -0800

Ditto to what Stella and Scott have said about Ted Trainer's article.

The article says
Permaculture can easily be seen as another 'technical fix" that can save industrial affluent-consumer society. I think most people see things like solar energy, community supported agriculture, LETS, earth building, reed bed sewage and Permaculture as new ecologically friendly techniques
Trainer shows a serious misunderstanding of what permaculture is. Only the rawest of permaculture beginners think that it is a technique like composting or herb spirals. Does Trainer really not get that it can only be properly applied as a design system based on indicators of sustainability? I've never met a serious permaculturist who didn't have a gut understanding that our culture is completely unsustainable, and who hadn't adopted the "radical change in lifestyles" that Ted says is missing from permaculture. On the other hand, I have seem people dismiss permaculture because embracing it would make them feel bad about driving their SUV.

How old is this article? It's listed as being from the "International Permaculture Journal." Do they mean PIJ? Perhaps this is a really old piece, from back in the days when more people thought Pc was about herb spirals.

Toby
http://patternliteracy.com




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