permaculture

[Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com>]

One of the major lessons for me from Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared 
Diamond, is that in order to create a culture that has the potential to 
become the mainstream, we need to have maximum connectivity and continuity.  
Isolated individuals or communities ignorant of others' innovations and 
potential beneficial relationships are just going to reinvent the wheel over 
and over and aren't going to do much to spread sustainable culture.  Ideally, 
everyone who wants to create sustainable culture would move to one area and 
create a rock solid permaculture which could then spread to other areas.  A 
second option, made more viable through the Internet and existing fossil fuel 
transport, would be for regional clusters of sustainable communities to start 
up and then spread out, kipuka style.  Permaculture planting strategies use 
these techniques (starting at Zone 1 or in clusters) because they work, and 
the same factors affect culture, as well.  Edge is important between the
 Industrial Growth Society and sustainable communities, but too much edge 
isolates, retards, and erodes those communites or individuals.  Whereas edge 
between sustainable communities and permaculturists creates opportunities for 
mutually beneficial relationships.
   
  My partner, Zephyr, and I moved to Mendocino County, in northern 
California, because of the above reasons.  This was one of the 
back-to-the-land hotspots and has a lot of people working on relocalization 
and sustainable living.  In addition, we were lucky to be able to buy into an 
existing shared property of like-minded people (bought when the land was 
still relatively cheap).  It is so much easier to set up photovoltaic systems 
or build strawbale houses here because of all the experience with such 
things.  Unfortunately, a lot of this happens in isolated, rural areas, and 
so it isn't very visible.  As time goes on, I feel more of these efforts will 
happen in the small towns.
   
  We have to build a critical mass of people and social structures, with real 
alternatives to fossil-fuel consumer culture.  Where I am living now, I am 
already having an influence on my receptive neighbors, getting them to build 
swales, plant food trees and other perennials, use biodiesel, build with 
sustainable materials, protect the land from overgrazing, and increase their 
cooperation with each other.  At other places I've lived at, people just look 
at me weirdly.  By focusing on educating those that already have a 
permaculture ethic, I get way more bang for my buck, creating the greatest 
change for the least amount of effort.
   
  While I applaud those that work within the mainstream culture (for example, 
saving a little bit of water in each home by installing low-flush toilets in 
a million households resulting in huge water savings) and think that this 
work is essential, this work only modifies the form of the culture, without 
transforming its soul.  For those that want to totally re-orient our society, 
a complete alternative is needed, with enough power to seduce those in 
mainstream society to join up.

                
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