permaculture

[LBUZZELL@aol.com]

you might want to ask permaculture activist Joshua Fattal who has  been
> arrested by the Iranian government and accused of espionage whether  it
> would help him or others like him that "permaculture" is now
>  celebrated as a US army reserve "hearts and minds"
>  counterinsurgency/sustainment technique
 
I have to admit that this point is hard to disagree with.   Permaculture 
was perhaps better off when it was seen as a politically  neutral Australian 
land and people care system being used in many countries  with widely 
different governmental systems, from Cuba to the US. 
 
Although I'm very sympathetic to Scott's and others' eagerness to spread  
permaculture far and wide, I must conclude that it was a mistake for world  
permaculture to get involved with the first-world occupying army in a third  
world country, however eager the recruits were to learn about  permaculture. 
 
 
Corporations have but one motive: profit. Armies likewise have but one  
motive: to use force or other more subtle enforcement methods to vanquish  
enemies.  Their aims and even techniques may appear to be beneficient,  but 
we 
must not be naive.  And even if we view some military as "good  guys," how 
does permaculture make the distinction on a global level without  
politicizing 
itself?
 
Permaculture is an exciting new profession and deserves to flourish  
independent of destructive entanglements.  I have seen similar  problems 
happen in 
my own field of mental health: psychologists who got  involved with the 
military developed torture techniques for the CIA and were,  alas, actively 
involved at Abu Ghraib.  I realize we haven't done anything  like this yet -- 
but caution is needed. The "psychology in the military"  issue has split the 
American Psychological Association into warring factions for  years, some 
supporting those involved with the military and others  against.  
 
In just this short dialogue I see the beginnings of similar problems in  
permaculture unless some clear ethical guidelines are laid down to prevent  
permaculture from being used by the military and various governments for 
their 
 own purposes. Psychiatrists, by the way, avoided the problems faced by the 
 psychologists because they take a Hippocratic oath that prevents them from 
doing  some of the unfortunate things a few psychologists have done.
 
Linda Buzzell-Saltzman