permaculture

[Sean Maley <semaley@yahoo.com>]

--- kevin s <k.skvorak@verizon.net> wrote:
>   i know we all need that which money buys, but money is nothing in 
> itself, it is only an exchange mechanism.
 
> what it might all boil down to in a nutshell is fundamentally whether 
> people feel that permaculture is reconcilable with capitalism.


Capitalism is a marker for hierarchy, which is why you probably find it 
objectionable.  Your
instincts are sound.  With that said, you also face the realities of living 
within a hierarchy,
which forces you to participate (pay the mortgage and taxes).  Ironically, by 
rejecting capitalism
you help support it's continued existence by forcing yourself back into the 
labor pool that fuels
it.  The context around us will continue to be hierarchy, until the pyramid 
collapses (anywhere
from 10 to 1000 years, depending how big the dessert gets and if humanity can 
walk away from the
cities).  Until then, you need to have sound hierarchy strategies that cause 
the snake to consume
itself.

Hierarchy energy involves labor being applied to resources in a way that 
creates an exchange
mechanism (money, gold, barter).  None of us can avoid participation in the 
hierarchy until a
rhizome can be secured, except a few of the homeless on the street who have 
already walked away. 
Hierarchy food is this exchange medium, called capital.  The object will be 
to feed the hierarchy
with it's capital, while depriving it the labor that creates it.  By 
restoring land to reunite
humanity with nature, and by staying invisible to the hierarchy with capital 
feeding structures
(businesses), we make it possible for rhizome culture to establish (our minds 
have crossed over,
but few of our bodies have caught up).

As we pull and support those within hierarchy into our rhizomes, creating new 
rhizomes, the labor
pool begins to diminish.  At first, this will seem to solve poverty issues 
(most capital is
controlled by a miniscule percentage of people).  Later, there won't be 
enough people left to
support the hierarchy and it's collapse completes.  Knowing how to identify 
the insidious ways
hierarchy creeps into our planning will be paramount to those beginning this 
process.

There are several authors at this point to help understand how this culture 
works:
  Daniel Quinn  "Ishmael" "Story of B" "Beyond Civilization"
  Jared Diamond  "The Third Chimp" "Guns Germs & Steel" "Collapse"
  Derrick Jensen 
  Jeff Vail      jeffvail.net
  William Kötke  http://www.rainbowbody.net/Finalempire/index.html
  There is more....

As for strategy when securing your rhizome, you must participate in 
hierarchy.  Unless you chose
to be homeless and attempted to survive in a national forest, you will be 
forced into this game of
extortion.  You will need capital for land (we don't recognize this, but the 
hierarchy needs a
transaction and an entity for liability).  To know how to best deal with this 
necessary excursion
into capitalism, I recommend learning about the concept of "cash flow" via 
work like the "Rich
Dad, Poor Dad" book series.

Plausible "get rich quick" schemes requiring minimal exploitation and 
semi-passive
  self publishing
  overstock/fire sale reselling
  Real Estate foreclosure vulture
  "signed, dated, and numbered" art, books, etc
  Internet site (ask for donations, ads, auction items you make/find, online 
gaming, etc)

There are more, but I'm sure we are all finding the subject distasteful, so 
I'll leave it here. 
Everyone's situation is different, so we all need to creatively apply our own 
sensibilities. 
There is no one right answer.  Even a CSA is only part way there, as the 
subscribers don't return
their shit to you.  Perhaps you could be a distributor for whole house 
composters and other badly
needed components of sustainable living.

Some of this planning may have been helpful before the mortgage payments 
came.  Simply having the
land isn't helpful if you must then exploit your land to make the mortgage 
payments.  I will leave
much of the rest unsaid, as I am familiar with your situation already and you 
know how I feel
about it, as well.


-Sean.

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