permaculture

["Michael Kramer" <MKramer@hawaii.rr.com>]

> paul@largocreekfarms.com writes:

> Here's another "wrong" question. Exactly how do they "apply PC principles
> to their regular lives and to their business lives, rather than becoming a
> PC Designer and designing farms and ecosystems"?  And exactly how did
> permaculture get to be about anything but applying it to the land we live
> on? Has it been changed to appeal to those who can afford the workshops
but
> don't want to get their hands dirty?  And when did it become a movement to
> change society by appealing to those who couldn't care less about the 90%
> of the population who are less well off?  There's no denying that what
> we're seeing here is blatant elitism. And it is wrong, from a practical as
> well as ethical standpoint. Boggles the mind.

Permaculture is applied in numerous ways. While most of the teaching thus
far has focused on helping people create their own pc homesteads, this is
only an example of its application. It has been widely accessible because
everyone needs to eat, but not everyone chooses to focus on their own
personal food, water, shelter,or energy. Getting one's hands dirty is not
the focus of permaculture; rather, design is. Design includes many
land-based techniques and strategies, but we all live not only on a piece of
the Earth but in communities and economies with decision-making structures,
educational institutions, and interpersonal and cultural dynamics which
affect every land-based action one could take. As such, exclusively focusing
on land-based systems is missing tremendous opportunities to address many of
the unsustainable practices of modern people. There are many budding
permaculturists who see permaculture as a form of social and political
activism, and I consider this part of the evolution of this movement.  These
are urban people of color, and I am thrilled that they see permaculture as a
way to achieve social change, and that they see the value in raising money
to afford to take permaculture courses and teacher trainings.  These days,
there are more people used to a way of life that does not involve getting
ones hands dirty, which is precisely why we must speak to people where they
are at rather than expecting them to all go back to a land-based existence.
Here in Hawaii examples of permaculture primarily include people living in
screened jungle huts under tarps next to compost outhouses, but most people
in the US aren't able to relate to that so these examples are inaccessible.
I do not see anything elitist about reaching people at their level of
understanding and commitment to sustainability; I'd actually suggest that
this is a very compassionate stance to take. We permaculturists need to be
heard, so we must cater our message to our audience, frame it in relevant
terms, and focus on certain topics as appropriate. I've given the design
course away for free to teenagers (in fact paid them to take it), had adults
pay $70 for a semester-long design course at a community college, taught a
$450 weekend course to working people, seen college-age trustafarians pay
$1495 for a three-week residential course here in Hawaii, and brought
permaculture to the 150 socially responsible investment advisors in this
country in a way they can comprehend it - there is so much diversity in how
people can access permaculture, so let's celebrate that.

-----
Michael Kramer
Natural Investment Services
P.O. Box 390595
Keauhou, HI 96739

www.NaturalInvesting.com
808-331-0910
Toll-free: 888-779-1500

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
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