permaculture

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

"Fair share" has always been implicit in permaculture and in the ethics.  I
think that it is an editorially chosen sound bite to match it with the first
two ethics and that it was poorly chosen by whomever.  I stated in previous
posts that I don't think that "fair share" does justice to the needs of the
third ethic.

The first two ethics "care of the Earth" and "care of people" incorporate
"fair share" to my view of the word care.  Care ultimately leads one to love
of the Earth and people how can it be otherwise?  The etymological meaning
is to "lament" which I think is appropriate.

Both of these first two ethics have hidden within the huge task of
understanding the Earth and people, otherwise how can you care for them, in
the caretaker sense of the word?  Just understanding soils, a very small
part of earth care and people care for that matter, is a life work! If we
understood people care we wouldn't be in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The third ethic, as I heard it from Bill for over six years in classes, was
"A return of all excess to the care of the Earth and care of people". Again
a loaded ethic!  Excess being compostables, wealth, potatoes, fruit, manure
and etc.  This ethic would satisfy the biblical gleaning clause plus much
more.  Our excess should satisfy the needs column of the "Analysis of
Elements" section of methodology of design.  So excess is not just the fruit
of production but the waste products of all our efforts and if those waste
products cannot be used within our system then our design is seriously
flawed.

To my mind this goes far beyond "fair share".

More than $ .02 worth.  

Scott Pittman
Director
Permaculture Institute
www.permaculture.org
-----Original Message-----
From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Gene Griffith
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 11:31 AM
To: permaculture
Subject: Re: [permaculture] 3rd ethic;was: What I hope to achieve from this
list ?

I also was moved by the 3rd ethic of fair share, in the past for example, we
have held tightly to the notion that only those who could afford information
should have it. You had to pay for basic education, books and training.
Eventually culture evolved  and now we have free public schools and library
that shares information freely and everyone in society benefits. The
printing press at first was disparaged for many of the same reasons
digitalization of books is currently.  
Permaculture to grow must be shared. It is ethical to withhold information
that enables society to repair the earth and help civilization progress? The
problem is that the producers of works need to flourish and we have a
responsibility to those who contribute to take care of them. One solution
could be to ask for a donation with a sliding scale, this would be a way to
repay the writer and creator  for their contributions, and simple peer
pressure can help make this happen. Copyright needs to be dealt with and
this is only one suggestion. 
To me fair share is important and should be part of permaculture ethics.

Gene Griffith

twitter @_grene_




I see the 3rd ethic (fair share) being a bit ambiguous but also to me the
most important because without it there is no way to live up to the first
two ethics. 
.....

Toby you're an excellent writer because of the thoughtful balanced analysis
in your essays and your awesome book sits nicely worn on my book shelf (and
in my netbook).  I wanted to ask you if you had thought about the long
tail<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Tail>issue and weather you
would offer Gaia's Garden as cheap sliding scale
download to set a successful example that might overturn Tagari's reluctance
to join the digital age.

-- 
The obstacle is the Path.
-Zen Proverb

I write at www.punkrockpermaculture.com
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