Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[paul@oneseedling.com]

Governments come and go and yet peoples and tribes survive. I suspect  
that the survivors are the best prepaired, both mentaly and materialy.  
Luck probably plays some part.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 23, 2010, at 3:13 PM, "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net> wrote:

> If you've seen my previous comments on transition then I'll try not  
> to plow the same ground. You mention building community between  
> people and their governments. This angle on transition seems naive.  
> The powers that be, the money and ownership by the elite 1% in the  
> US, is not about to turn it all over to the unwashed masses  
> (including yours truly). If we learn anything from history it's that  
> the hierarchy of great wealth fights any change that limits or  
> undoes their control of property and resources and people. Here's  
> the man who said it best, before the disastrous Civil War:
>   "Power concedes nothing without demand. It never has and never  
> will. Show me the exact amount of wrong and injustices that are  
> visited upon a person and I will show you the exact amount of words  
> endured by these people." -- Frederick Douglass
>
> Consider the land itself, the soil and water. Who controls how land  
> and water are used, what they produce, and who profits? Almost all  
> land and more and more of the water is corporate owned for profit  
> (except federal land mosly in the West, which is also largely used  
> for profit). And transportation - who builds the rails, roads,  
> airports, freeways? Government. Who makes the cars, trucks, trains  
> and planes? Corporations. Who profits? Corporations. Who owns the  
> medicine, the fossil fuel industry, the solar and wind power  
> manufacturers? All corporate. Who profits? Corporations. Who owns  
> and controls the entire manufacturing base and banking and credit  
> business? Corporations. Who profits? Corporations. Who controls the  
> most powerful military machine the world has ever seen with hundreds  
> of bases all over the globe? Our government. Who pays for it? We do.  
> Who profits? Corporations.
>
> Now the question becomes: which part of this system is going to give  
> up their legal obligation to stockholders and go out of business so  
> sustainability can take over? Which corporations will give up  
> control of their lands, water, tollways, trains, planes, cars,  
> trucks, fossil fuels, medicines, power plants and the entire  
> manufacturing base of this country? So what does that leave the rest  
> of us? Very little that we can control for our own use to live  
> sustainably as we see fit
>
> Transition towns and ecovillages mean well. But they have yet to go  
> 1% of the distance. They still have to operate within the financial  
> system that covers the country. They mostly drive cars to get to and  
> from work (usually for corporations) and finance ecovillage property  
> through banks. They must pay the corporate power grid or pay  
> financial corporations to get solar or wind power. And they grow  
> part of their own food. When it's fair weather. Changing light bulbs  
> is a bad joke. So is a $200 solar setup that'll light one 45 watt  
> bulb - when the sun is shining. Oops, not at night! No, it's not  
> that easy. We have to let Nature take its course and try to adapt as  
> we can.
>
> Most of our garden beds are planted now, mostly mulched, with soaker  
> hoses from China, sold by OneStop corporation. Today we have to get  
> the old van towed to the shop over a tension pulley. It would take  
> half a day to get there on a horse, but we don't seem to have a horse.
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
>
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
> On 6/23/2010 at 12:00 PM Tommy Tolson wrote:
>
> > Joseph Tainter's /The Collapse of Complex Societies/ is excellent  
> > source
> > material backing your statement.
> > Transition (www.transitiontowns.org) intends to build community  
> > between
> > people and their governments in order for people to recover their  
> > power
> > to run their lives as they see fit so they can build the Post  
> > Petroleum
> > social infrastructure that corporate rule (especially the fossil fuel
> > industry) has effectively prevented for the last 40 years.  There's  
> > also
> > a lot of good information at www.transitionculture.org, Rob Hopkins'
> > blog site.  Transition is my work, when my health allows it,  
> > growing a
> > just, sustainable world.
> > Thanks for /Small is Beautiful/.  I'm reading it again, too.  Great  
> > book!
> >
> > Smiles.
> > Tommy
> >
> > On 6/23/10 11:26 AM, paul@oneseedling.com wrote:
> > > Thoughout history we have suffered collapse of civlization. Isolated
> > > groups of families have survived by banding together for common
> > > defence and food related activities. Thus it will be in the future.
> > >
> > > Sent from my iPhone
> > >
> > > On Jun 23, 2010, at 9:32 AM,<pbunch@cox.net>  wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > >
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