permaculture

["Scott Pittman" <scott@permaculture.org>]

I too have been increasingly concerned with the political polemics that have
begun to appear on this list serve.

 

Permaculture has traditionally avoided both religious and political themes
as they inevitable lead to dissention and misunderstandings.  Since neither
subject is relevant to the workings of natural systems, they seem to only
apply to humans and are both based on opinions and belief systems not facts
or reality; they don't seem to contribute to permaculture design
considerations.  This is not to say that we aren't embedded in the invisible
structures of society that force us to navigate these murky waters.

 

I have always been delighted that as a permaculturist I can go to the most
fascist, dictatorial places and nobody notices me, they generally categorize
me as a gardener or carpenter or other tradesman who is no threat to the
status quo.  They haven't a clue that all of the skills that permaculture
embodies are the very tools that humans need to free themselves from the
tyranny of political and religious fanaticism.  I think that we are engaged
in some of the most radical and revolutionary work on the planet and that
whether or not Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum is elected is very incidental to
our ultimate survival.

 

That isn't to say that I don't vote, get pissed of at Bush, or hate war but
I try to keep that aspect of my life and reality separate from my work in
permaculture - the same way I would like to see it kept separate from this
list serve.

 

Scott 

 

 

Scott Pittman

Director

Permaculture Institute