permaculture

[Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>]

Tommy Tolson wrote:
> If Permaculture embraces the principles of personal responsibility for 
> the state of the world, why is there not an organized response to, or 
> even a conversation about, globalization on this listserve?
There have been many conversations about it. There ARE organized 
responders that include the occasional permaculturist (see

http://www.relocalize.net/ 

> I know of no organized response from Permaculture, per se, to globalization.  
I am one of probably many permies addressing the subject.

http://www.relocalize.net/groups/applebloomington

See also Occidental Arts and Ecology's work in this area
http://oaec.org/programs

*/(snip) GOALS THAT GUIDE OUR PROGRAMS/*

  1. Preserve and restore native biodiversity and healthy ecosystems,
     with a particular focus on the Northern California bioregion.
  2. Preserve and propagate biodiversity in open-pollinated and
     heirloom varieties of food, fiber and medicinal agricultural crops.
  3. Support appropriate-scale ecological farming and sustainable local
     food systems.
  4. Cultivate ecological literacy, especially within watershed
     communities and in public schools.
  5. *Create and model sustainable, local, practical alternatives to
     global corporatization and the economic paradigm that is dependent
     on growth and consumption.*
  6. *Build the capacity of local nongovernmental and grassroots
     institutions to increase the level and effectiveness of local
     participatory democracy.*
  7. Encourage the reawakening of the evolutionary and spiritual
     connection between human beings, human communities and the natural
     world.

> Are we resigned to the inevitability of corporate dominance?  
NO. I can't speak for all, but I suspect a general consensus on the subject.
> Do we seek to fly under the corporate radar to avoid this fight with the unbeatable foe?   
"Unbeatable"? That's a limiting perspective and projection. I'm sure 
THEY are quite aware of those who resist.
> How wonderful is that?  How much of the troubles in the world can 
> be directly attributed to multinational corporations that are beyond 
> political control?  
A fair bit....unelected rulers have been making bad choices for the rest 
of us for quite a while (eg. GWB)
> Aren't we ultimately responsible for the behavior of our corporate persons?  
Used to be we could revoke their charters. Link up with Dave Henson at 
OAEC for more on this subject: http://oaec.org/davehensonbio
http://www.poclad.org/images/illustrations/achilles.jpg
http://www.poclad.org/resources.cfm
http://www.wilpf.org/
http://www.wilpf.org/cvd
> Are we asleep at the switch of global citizenship?
>   
"We" who? The citizenry?....or permies? I'd say Yes to the former and, 
generally, No to the latter.
> What can we do to gain political control over globalization? 
Now, there's a question. Join those already active? Gain control over 
Localization?
http://www.poclad.org/
http://www.poclad.org/illustration1.cfm

(snip) "Giant corporations govern, even though they are mentioned 
nowhere in our Constitution or Bill of Rights. So when corporations 
govern, democracy is nowhere to be found. There is something else: when 
people live in a culture defined by corporate values, common sense 
evaporates. We stop trusting our own eyes, ears, and feelings. Our minds 
become colonized."

"Hundreds of small, low-budget groups have stopped corporations from 
poisoning a river, clear-cutting a forest, breaking a law, busting a 
union, carrying propaganda into a school. This is extremely important. 
*Valiant and persistent organizing has bettered the daily lives of 
millions, instilled confidence and self-respect, and transformed 
communities. * But when the joy of victory fades, imperial corporations 
remain. Slowed in one place, they pop up in another. They're in our 
schools, town halls, statehouses, and Congress. They block sane, logical 
transitions in food, energy, transportation, healthcare, finance, 
forestry, and manufacturing. They fund think tanks and universities to 
frame public debate. They buy obedience and define society's values.*"
http://www.poclad.org/images/illustrations/eliteconsensus_01_big.gif*
> Shouldn't we be doing it?  
Of course, and we are....in MANY small, but cumulative, ways we can make 
a difference and ARE making a difference (even if it just *looks like* a 
neighborhood potluck). MANY permies ARE working within their LOCAL 
political milieu and some of us ARE wielding our influence to bring 
about change. The 'rules' we can apply look like these quotes taken from 
our PDC teaching manual:

Make the least change for the greatest effect.
Work where it counts.
Do only what is necessary.
The edge is where the action is.
Work with nature not against it.
It's the connections that matter NOT the number of elements or 
components. For good connections, things need to be in the right place.
"The role of beneficial authority is to return function & responsibility 
to life and to people; if successful, no further authority is needed. 
The role of successful design is to create a self-managed system." 
(How's that for a political challenge?)
Use biological resources.
Work out from a nucleus on a controlled front. Don't undertake more than 
you can manage. Recognize natural limits.
We are only limited by a lack of information and imagination.
> Haven't corporations had it their way long enough for us to tell where it takes us?  
It's been clear to many of us for some time that THEIR plan is, in the 
long term, a lose / lose scenario (as opposed to win / win).
> Can we allow this course to play itself out?  Dare we?  Who is it up to?
>   
We (the collective human global 'we') have so far supported, or at least 
failed to prevent, the corporate racket (and have been failing for a few 
thousand years, at least more often than we have succeeded). The cost of 
continuing to do so is becoming more obvious to many. How 'many' is 
enough? Whatever that number is, that's WHO it's up to. 10%? 20%? 
Cultural Creatives suggest that the 25% of us who are ALREADY aware DO 
have the power to make the changes.

http://www.culturalcreatives.org/
http://www.culturalcreatives.org/bigpicture.html

Tommy,
I hope you have allied yourself already with folks NEAR you, otherwise 
you may continue to flounder, feeling unsupported, unhelped, unheard, 
frustrated that people aren't doing enough, angry, lonely, and isolated 
(not recommended).

The (usually unwritten) "First Principle" of Permaculture is to "Get 
help". Two heads are better than one and many hands make light work.
http://www.culturalcreatives.org/connections.html
http://l.webring.com/hub?ring=worldview&ctr=lanorien%2E97440952910105602 
<http://l.webring.com/hub?ring=worldview&ctr=lanorien%2E97440952910105602>
http://www.culturalcreatives.org/book.html
http://www.culturalcreatives.org/livinglightly.html
http://www.iisd.ca/

From: http://www.permacultureactivist.net/pcresources/NorthAmerica.htm
*Cross Timbers Permaculture Institute
*Inger Myhre & Kirby Fry, 1483 County Road 311, McDade, Texas 78650
512-273-9538  http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/ctpi/
peace@totalaccess.net <mailto:peace@totalaccess.net>
*Animal Farm
*Gita Vanwoerden, Box 15NA, Catspring Texas, 78933 USA
(409) 992 3038/ (713) 666 3991 Fax:(713) 668 9145     
http://www.neosoft.com/~animalfm/afpchome.htm 
<http://www.neosoft.com/%7Eanimalfm/afpchome.htm>
* <mailto:patricia@patriciamichaeldesign.com>Heartland PC,  Patricia 
Michael, teacher/designer/consultant
*8801 Scarlet Circle, Austin, , TX 78606, USA
Ph: int+ (1) 201 833 2440
patricia@patriciamichaeldesign.com 
<mailto:patricia@patriciamichaeldesign.com>        
http://www.patriciamichaeldesign.com/
*Rhizome Collective <http://www.rhizomecollective.org/welcome.htm>The 
Rhizome Collective    http://www.rhizomecollective.org/welcome.htm
*We are a collective that has been given a long-term rent-free donation 
of a 9,400 sq. ft. warehouse on the East Side of Austin. We are working 
to build the world we want: to live in, based upon the values of 
cooperation, autonomy, self­-empowerment, creativity, openness and 
mutual aid versus the values of competition, greed and exploitation upon 
which the dominant power structure relies and thrives. The practical 
application of our work consists of taking the techniques of 
sustainability practitioners and permaculturists, and innovating ways 
for them to be used at low or no cost.
300 Allen St., Austin, Tx 78702. (512) 385-3695 Send questions or 
comments to rhizomecollective@earthlink.net  
<mailto:rhizomecollective@earthlink.net>
*The Last Organic Outpost
*Our purpose is to build community around the cultivation of our organic 
vegetable garden East of downtown Houston, Texas. With time we hope to 
include more sustainable and permaculture principles into the garden and 
into our broader community. Our vision is to build a garden, learning 
from the garden how to grow high-energy food, and wild edible plants. 
Joined by others, the Last Organic Outpost has become a market garden 
selling to local co-ops and restaurants, an educational garden for 
novice and home-schoolers, and an agricultural park for a place of 
tranquility in the midst of the city. See our website for more 
details!          4507 1/2 Inman, Houston, TX 77020
Joe Nelson Icet     www.lastorganicoutpost.com 
<http://www.lastorganicoutpost.com>       713 875 9569
*The Permaculture Guild of Houston* 
<http://www.urbanharvest.org/permaculture/index.html>
http://www.urbanharvest.org/permaculture/index.html 
<http://www.urbanharvest.org/permaculture/index.html>
The Permaculture Guild of Houston consists of Permaculture Design 
Certificate holders who meet on a regular basis. The Teaching Guild 
meets regularly to plan the scheduled classes and to work out class 
logistics and needs of the group as a whole. This may include ongoing or 
future projects and long-term goals for the Guild. The Quarterly Guild 
meets 4 times a year. The mission of the Quarterly Guild is to 
perpetuate the existence and the work of the Guild by supporting the 
teaching of Permaculture classes and community involvement of the Guild. 
The quarterly meetings are intended to be an active outlet for current 
members, new graduates and interested parties for networking, 
information sharing, continuing education and fellowship.
*Austin Permaculture Guild*
http://www.austinprogressivecalendar.com/permaculture.htm
*www.urbanharvest.org <http://www.urbanharvest.org> Working with Gardens 
and Orchards to Build Healthy Communities
*Bob Randall ( bob@urbanharvest.org <mailto:bob@urbanharvest.org> 
713-880-5540 Fax # 713-880-5545
1900 Kane St., Houston, 77007
Urban Harvest P.O. Box 980460 Houston, Texas 77098-0460

Good luck.
Be well.
Do good work....
and stay in touch.
"Kill your television"
<http://l.webring.com/hub?ring=worldview&ctr=lanorien%2E97440952910105602>

--
Keith Johnson
"Be fruitful and mulch apply."
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516, Bloomington, IN 47408
(812) 335-0383
http://www.permacultureactivist.net
Impeachment: It's not just for blowjobs anymore.
Switch to Solar Power the Easy Way
http://www.jointhesolution.com/KeithJ-SunPower
http://www.PowUr.com/KeithJ-SunPower
Blog: http://kjpermaculture.blogspot.com/
also Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting
http://www.permacultureactivist.net/design/Designconsult.html
also Association for Regenerative Culture
also APPLE-Bloomington (Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy) It's a 
small world after oil.
http://www.relocalize.net/groups/applebloomington
also Bloomington Permaculture Guild