Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] Money, Politics and Permaculture

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Sean Maley <semaley@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Money, Politics and Permaculture
  • Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 11:11:04 -0700 (PDT)

permafrog@riseup.net (Bob) wrote: It seems some people have little
understanding of what politics is. I agree that as it is currently practised
here in Canada, for example it is all about competing interests vying for
control but that is a mutation of
what politics is meant to be. Politics is how we order society and meet the
needs of society's members.

How true, Bob. There are many concepts discussed here along these lines.
Politics, Corporations, currency, and the monetary system are symptoms, not
the problem itself. We open ourselves to the same mistakes by focusing on
the wrong problems. These concepts were created to fix the original flaws.
They are band-aids (elastoplast, bandage) on a system doomed from the day
humans assumed ownership of land to compensate for a flawed dependency on
mono-agriculture.

If the design alternative is working, then we won't need any of these
band-aids. However, we will be compelled to use them both until a
functioning alternative exists. It is okay to get feedback from your design
whether positive or negative.

We start with ourselves. Then we can move on to our families. Then to
friends. From friends to neighborhoods, neighborhoods to municipality. At
the point you leave your bioregion, you've probably gone too far. Some of us
may only need to remain with family and friends. I suppose it depends on
where in the world you live.

The very first page of the Designer's Manual may have this most important
lesson of starting with personal responsibility. Start with yourself and
form/join a circle. When the circle becomes too big, celebrate a new circle
emerging. It's okay if you don't agree on everything. Start with what you
do agree on and pair off into more compatible circles later.

In an interdependent network of circles, little more should be needed. Each
circle requires a connection to land, so this should be the priority. With
no price levied for land, find your land.

Most places in the world (particularly near cities) levy a price for land, so
each member of these circles should do their best to pool money into a
Community Land Trust or equivalent. If starting from scratch, consider a
Farmer's Cooperative or Collective (non-profit mutual support corporation,
which facilitates democratic ownership of land) as an alternative.

It may be that several collectives might overlap in membership with various
CLTs. Once a Collective has fully transitioned to land dependency from
market-state dependency, they should consider helping other collectives get
there (continue pooling money into other circles, until all circles establish
100% land dependency and 0% market-state dependency).

Money saving tips:

Use the shared pool of money for micro-loans to members still in debt. (see
prosper.com for an example of facilitating this). Have the members pay the
same interest they did participating in the monetary system. The more funds
allocated to "earning" interest, the faster the collective can save (loan to
other circles, if you have to). Compound Interest funding may even be able
to overtake your member contributions before you have enough to purchase
land, if you keep as much loaned out as possible.

Look for things you spend money in the market-state and seek ways of
depending on your circle, instead.

Pick up cottage industry skills and use the products to limit your spending
into Corporate and Monetary economics. Sell the extras for fund raising.

Garage/Stoop sales. Sell all that junk you can't take with you in the low
energy future or create clutter. Recycle that which creates dependency. The
more money you take from people who might otherwise spend it in the
Market-State system, the less the Market-State paradigm is perpetuated.

It's better for you to spend money into Permaculture circles than the
Market-State system; permies might actually help you and you might want to
help permies. Whether food, micro-loans, or housing, your money helps
yourself rather than help pay for several McMansions that you don't get to
live in. Seek out other permies, if you can't depend on yourself or your
circle.

People buying your products might actually copy you, if you seem to be happy.
It might even be suspicious to them if you don't work very much, yet have
all these nice things. Hold potlucks open to the public. (hmm. what a nice
person. where did they get all this food to give out?) The more people you
bring into your circle, or form circles of their own, the sooner land will be
taken out of the speculative markets (major driving factor for monetary
system "growth").

In the end, it will be more expensive not trusting than if you take the
plunge and risk trust. There will be a price, but the price will be much
higher if you continue to depend on the Market-State paradigm.

I am aware of the potential conflict of forming corporations to get away from
corporations. However, this factors out as the corporate paradigm (current
form of Market-State) collapses. Instead of getting nothing at the end, you
are left with a better life through having land either way (and even less
work, due to no more taxes).


-Sean.

---------------------------------
Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail,
news, photos & more.




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page