permaculture

[Cory Brennan <cory8570@yahoo.com>]

I think it's great to look at these things and discuss them. My personal 
experience is this: those people who are most responsible for the problems 
absolutely need to be reached with the concepts of permaculture such as "fair 
share", "people care" and "care for the earth."  These people, like many of 
us, were brought up in a culture that does not embody or transmit these 
values for the most part and is quite unconscious of them - in fact, it 
teaches the exact opposite in too many cases. 

Having been involved with very successful programs to rehabilitate hard core 
criminals like murderers and rapists, I've found that criminals only become 
so because they have lost their self-respect and they have been brought up in 
an environment that has no workable ethics code. When they are presented with 
a workable code in a way that they can understand it, and told that they are 
not evil people inherently, but were misled, the lightbulb goes on and they 
want to try to do the right thing. Some of them become far more passionate 
and engaged about it than people who have not gone so far the other direction 
- they feel they have damage to make up, so they work hard at it. 

How many of us have experienced something like that ourselves? Where we 
realize we've been blind, and now feel we need to make up for our former 
ignorant behavior? 

Are we to assume that National Guardsmen are inherently evil and cannot 
possibly be touched by the beautiful and meaningful things about permaculture 
that we've all been touched so deeply by?  Many of these guys (even more so 
in the armed forces) are from minority races who signed up because they 
didn't feel they had other options. 

In Haiti, I observed US Army guys and other armed forces guys truly 
traumatized and touched by the suffering going on there. One guy from the UN 
forces liaison got incredibly enthusiastic about compost toilets and 
immediatley got the concept of connection to food, water, circular systems, 
and went back to convince his fellows that was the way to go to truly help 
Haitians. What if he succeeds? Would it be worth it to take the time to 
explain these things to him, even though he "appeared" to be a totally 
indoctrinated armed forces type of guy, at first? This guy actually got that 
these things would make Haitians independent and resilient, and they could 
increase abundance for themselves, and he wanted that. He actually had a 
conscience about it and cared.  

Many Army guys are from inner cities and know all about social injustice. 
They are not all so "lost" as to not be able to see the advantages of 
permaculture, and who knows how those ideas may infiltrate the armed forces 
if it spreads?  How about a "war, where nobody came?" Ideas are far more 
powerful than bullets, they can infiltrate even the tightest fortress, and 
bring it down. Don't underestimate the power of an idea, and how it can 
insinuate itself into people's worldviews, especially if it carries as much 
fundamental, practical, life affirming truth as principles of permaculture. 

I believe we cannot afford to exclude anybody from the ideas of permaculture. 
If they truly think about them and observe them in action, they will not be 
able to continue their unethical activities with such unconsciousness. It is 
a unique type of challenge to find the entrance point into the reality of 
people who are far from seeing these things and to bring them along, closer 
and closer to seeing the big picture. Almost anybody has such an entrance 
point - I believe that only the most determinedly evil people may not and 
they are a small minority (based on my personal experience). 

Who could do more for permaculture, worldwide?  A tribesmember in Afghanistan 
who will never travel beyond his tribe, or a US Army general who totally gets 
it, and speaks out internationally about the changes we must make to achieve 
real justice and quality of life? I'm not suggesting it is not worth it to 
reach tribesmen in Afghanistan, that is not my point at all! I am currently 
at Pine Ridge reservation doing a permaculture project, and have a project in 
Haiti as well. But if I have the opportunity to try to enlighten a US Army 
general on permaculture and in doing so, change his viewpoints and ways, you 
bet I will do so. It's been my experience that if they don't get it, they 
don't dwell on it or use it at all, not that they misrepresent it. 

Best, Cory Brennan
permacultureguild.us   


--- On Wed, 8/4/10, rafter sass <rafter@liberationecology.org> wrote:

> From: rafter sass <rafter@liberationecology.org>
> Subject: [permaculture] Fwd: On an ethics of permaculture...
> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org, "Northeastern Permaculture (List)" 
> <northeasternpermaculture@lists.riseup.net>
> Date: Wednesday, August 4, 2010, 5:42 PM
> Hey folks,
> 
> I'm FWDing an email on from Kevin Skvorak, a good permie
> who it appears has been banned from this list.
> 
> Kevin's original email below, then my response follows.
> 
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> > From: regeneration CSA <regenerationcsa@gmail.com>
> > Date: August 4, 2010 7:26:06 PM EDT
> > To: "Northeastern Permaculture (List)" 
> > <northeasternpermaculture@lists.riseup.net>
> > Subject: On an ethics of permaculture...
> > 
> > warm greetings folks,
> > 
> > So, i am wondering if anyone would like to consider
> some conversations on the ethical dimensions of
> permaculture?   (no pressure!) 
> > 
> > If you happen to feel so inclined to indulge some of
> my ponderings, here they are:
> > 
> > 
> > How can we frame in (more) practical ways the ethical
> principles of permaculture?  How do we analyze and
> discuss if we are achieving our goals of earth care, people
> care, and fair share?  How much of each does it take?
> If two out of three of these are embodied in any given
> project, is this enough to qualify as permaculture? 
>   
> > 
> > I want to offer an example or two to help illustrate.
> > 
> > Recently, Scott Pittman, director of the Permaculture
> Institute taught some National Guardsmen on their way to
> Afghanistan some Permaculture basics.  For me this very
> tricky, if not perhaps untenable for a movement (for want of
> a better word) that is espousing the values Permaculture
> is.
> > 
> > In fairness, it seems to me there can be a couple of
> different perspectives on this. One is that it doesn't
> matter who, or how, or in what context permaculture is
> delivered in, it is "all good" as long as it gets out there,
> and there are no contradictions in offering this info to the
> US National Guard.  Ok. One may hold such an opinion i
> suppose.
> > 
> > There is also another way to view it, one that i
> believe more holistically embodies the values we
> teach.  While there may be some "good" that was
> delivered to the  few national guardsmen that attended
> the course, it was far outweighed by the bad. (providing
> greenwash for a pretty bloody, unprincipled imperial effort;
> possibly/probably damaging/sabotaging any reputation that
> permaculture might have developed among the people of
> afghanistan in the future; etc etc. Hence, imo this was a
> less than optimal "ethical"  choice. 
> > 
> > A much better ethical one (again imho) would have been
> to refuse to offer these token classes to some US soldiers
> engaged in an occupation, but instead make an effort to
> offer them to like valued afghan led efforts on the ground,
> unembeded in what appears (it seems to me) to be an ongoing
> US led corporate/military/industrial/etc colonial effort of
> the most naked kind. (It is a bad thing. the war is bad.)
> > 
> > This is all easier said that done I know, and
> afghanistan remains a pretty dangerous place for democratic
> and civil society groups that would be the natural allies of
> Permaculture.   And it will likely remain a
> very dangerous place for such people, as long as the US
> military remains.   A dilemma one might
> say...
> > 
> > And there are actually a lot of other Permaculture
> identified efforts that appear to be on pretty shaky
> "ethical" ground. like all the "permaculture" developments
> going in in global south "third world" countres, owned, and
> for the benefit of (usually) global north, mostly of
> european origin folks. Be this as it may - i don't want to
> waste folks computer time going into all this.  Because
> of course there also many wonderful, creative, and highly
> ethical Permaculture efforts going on as well.  (this
> isn't another blanket condemnation of permaculture! i
> swear)
> > 
> > What I am most interested in is "how" we dialogue
> about this stuff, under what framing? what principles? 
> what "context"?
> > 
> > Maybe we just need to be more specific when we talk
> about "fair share".  For instance does fair share
> include an inherent debt by US and other "developed"
> industrial consumers to the majority of the worlds
> population not living such a consumer "lifestyle"?  Dow
> we owe "Regenerative Reparations"?    (anyone can
> use this without attribution whenever they like!)
> > 
> > Do we talk about carbon or "climate debt".  The
> language that came out of the Cochabamba meetings on climate
> change is very thoughtful on this issue:
> > 
> > http://pwccc.wordpress.com/category/working-groups/08-climate-debt/
> > 
> > and, i suppose another question to ask might be, how
> well do our existing principles work in this regard? 
> Are they achieving the goals of creating an adequate
> intellectual framework on which to fully assess and discuss
> our work?   Is the vagueness on the part
> about our existing principles a well thought/intentional in
> this regard? Is it tactical choice?   Do we
> perhaps feel that the vagueness helps us as we attempt the
> broadest possible "tent" of permaculture?   i
> am not sure....
> > 
> > I am not meaning to be to terribly confrontational
> with all this, (tho, alas it is my current nature it
> seems)  and it is just something I am meditating on at
> the moment.    
> > 
> > And for me "ethics" is not because we want to achieve
> some vague feeling of goodness, but because we want to be
> effective.
> > 
> > so for me, much of this all is "context"  I am
> meditating a lot on the question of context these days.
> > 
> > 
> > peace and love,
> > kevin
> > 
> > p.s.  If anyone wants to fwd this to the national
> listserve, (i have been banned by LL)  i would be
> gratified as i would honestly, and deeply value any insight
> on these issues from many of the minds and hearts on that
> listserve as well.
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> > Regeneration CSA
> > at Outback Farm
> > 81 Clove Valley Rd
> > High Falls NY 12440
> > 845 687 0535
> > http://www.regenerationcsa.org/
> 
> 
> I have often thought that Pc ethics are taught in a
> watered-down and feel-good style, that does more to create
> good vibes and excitement than it does to challenge
> students, or help designers navigate the sometimes-murky
> waters of choosing clients and partners.
> 
> The way I think about the ethics, and the way I train
> future designers, revolves around the idea of putting some
> meat - and maybe even teeth - behind the ethics.
> That "care" is a tricky term, after all - because it can
> refer to emotion alone. I like to think that, as used in the
> ethics, it actually refers to the action of caring - of
> taking care of. So the question becomes, how do we know when
> we are taking care of the earth, of people?
> 
> We can and should choose indicators and benchmarks, to help
> us know when we are following the ethics, and when we are
> coming up short. Specific measures are up to the designer,
> but there a few questions that I think the ethics demand
> that we ask:
> 
> Care for the Earth: What, really, is our measure of
> ecosystem health? The most popular in the Pc movement seem
> to be biodiversity and energy capture, but I
>      would easily accept topsoil
> depth, presence of top predators, decreases in nutrient or
> contaminant runoff in surface waters, structural/functional
> diversity, etc. etc. 
>     What matters to me is not which
> indicator, but that there IS one - that we have ways to
> measure our results - and see if we measuring up.
> 
> Care for People: What is our measure for social health?
> Trickier, even, than measuring ecosystem health, but we
> still have to *actually think about it* if we want to 
>     accomplish it. The way that I interpret
> this ethic is 
>         How is this project
> helping this community USE AND CONTROL  it's own
> resources sustainably - or regeneratively? 
>         How is this project
> helping a community take control of its own destiny - to
> self-determine?
>     Maybe not as easy to come up with a
> number or a measure for this, but I want to hear you (and
> me) at least make an honest case 
>     for how your work is doing this.
> 
> Redistribute Surplus: Trickier still, most often neglected,
> and exactly as crucial as the other two. This one merits a
> little digression.
> 
>       Most into to Pc presentations
> start with an "Evidence" section. That's classic Pc, as many
> folks are aware - to spend just a few minutes on doom and 
>     gloom, and then focus on solutions for
> the rest of the time. I present the usual littany of bummers
> for my evidence section - deforestation, soil loss,
>      climate, peak, etc. etc., and then as
> the last item, I put up a slide on "Inequality." I use this
> graphic for the slide: 
> 
>     
> http://contexts.org/graphicsociology/files/2009/05/conley_champagne_distribution.png
> 
>     Then I have a little discussion on "Why
> is inequality an ecological problem?"
>     These are generally very productive. 
> 
>     My own answers are - 
>     (1) Because of the environmental EFFECTS
> of inequality: poor communities are unable to defend
> themselves against toxic discharges, and 
>     have no buffer against instability in
> the eco-eco systems, so bear disproportionate effects -
> ESPECIALLY disproportionate 
>     compared to their impact.
> 
>     (2) Because inequality is an
> environmental DRIVER: as long as their are people who are
> calling the shots about production and extraction who are 
>     making a killing, and can buffer
> themselves from the effects indefinitely, AND those who do
> the work and bear the effects don't have any decision
>      making power about production
> and extraction, THERE WILL BE NO SUSTAINABILITY. Research
> supports this statistically: in counties,
>      states, and nations (3
> different studies) the more inequality, the worse
> environmental outcomes.
> 
>     (3) And finally, because it's just
> freaking ecological, isn't it? The movement of energy and
> matter through complex living systems is the
>      stuff of ecology, and we can
> use that lens and those tools to understand it, and to
> change it.
> 
>     SO, back to the 3rd Ethic. The way I see
> it, the question that the 3rd Ethic "Redistribute Surplus"
> demands of us is: 
>         How is my work
> helping, in some way, to begin to flatten the terrible
> mountain of inequality that lies between us and true
> sustainability?
>         Or, to reverse the
> metaphor, how is my work helping to fill the chasm that
> separates the 20% world from the 80% world, that MUST be
> filled to
>         regenerate our
> culture and biosphere?
> 
> As for Scott's flirtation with the military-industrial
> complex, I'm actually not all that interested in having an
> opinion. 
> I'd rather hear more, and ask some questions, than figure
> out if it was OK or NOT OK. ;) 
> 
> Thanks again, Kevin, for spurring discussion of crucial
> topics.
> 
> Best,
> Rafter
> 
> rafter sass
> Liberation Ecology Project
> liberationecology.org
> 518-567-7407
> skype: raughter
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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