permaculture

[Lee Flier <lflier@mindspring.com>]

Ute wrote:

>Again, I have (we probably all have) got that reaction. "People have been
>farming here for 6000 years. Who do you think *you are* thinking that you
>can contribute something *new*?
>The thing we can do is *do it* and then let people see and decide for
>themselves.

Yes.  Also, I don't know how many of you are familiar with the novels of
Daniel Quinn ("Ishmael", "The Story of B", and recently "My Ishmael"), but
I think they go a long way toward explaining how agriculture is not the
cultural blessing that we have all been led to believe it is.  I really
feel that Quinn's work dovetails nicely with Permaculture although Quinn
does not seem to be familiar with Permaculture.  He mainly sets out to
debunk the current context in which our culture operates, and I have found
that I can recommend his work to even the most hardheaded Americans, who
seem to need everything neatly packaged into soundbites and would not be
inclined to wade through a Permaculture text or design course without
understanding why they should bother.

However, Quinn's works have been bestsellers, and the general reaction of
people who've read them and had their brains turned inside out, is to ask
"What can I DO about this?"  At that point I tend to start talking about
Permaculture and all of a sudden they are receptive to what I'm talking
about.  It really is a nice juxtaposition.  There are some gaping holes in
Quinn's philosophies that are nicely addressed by Permaculture concepts,
and likewise Quinn's books seem to do a good job of getting people to break
down some culturally ingrained (and destructive) ideas that are thousands
of years old.

Check it out, if you haven't already.

= Lee =