permaculture

["Steven & Margaret Eisenhauer" <eisenhauerdesign@earthlink.net>]

I agree that my statement that Boomers are sell outs is a gross
generalization and for that I stand corrected. 
I am at the tail end of the boomer wave and have interacted with my peers my
entire life (Boomers), as a business person, artist/designer and a farmer.
I have witnessed the destruction of civil society, the loss of culture and
the rank lies that have constructed the current gestalt we live in here in
the USA.  I have seen one war after another that has led me to believe that
we are in endless wars for profit.  I have witnessed the loss of our
nation's physical health due to a policy of food as a weapon and
unbelievable greed (value added anyone?).  I have witnessed my nation become
a gulag much like the police state we were told to fear in the old Soviet
Union.  I have had success and been punished for it by those that wish to
maintain a corrupt status quo.  I also am aware that many Americans are
dependent on prescription drugs in order to deal with the morass that we now
find ourselves in. I also bear no ill will towards boomers, just a
resounding sadness for where we find ourselves now and the resolve to not
put any of my pennies in the wrong cups.



-----Original Message-----
From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jacque
Greenleaf
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 9:25 PM
To: permaculture
Subject: Re: [permaculture] Nicholas permaculture generation gap

This is a gross overgeneralization. 

First of all, most boomers were not countercultural. I graduated from a
fairly large high school in 1965, and I would bet that the wildest things
most of my classmates ever dreamed of doing was smoke a joint or two (and
then spend years hiding that fact from their kids) and have sex before
marriage. To be fair, that was indeed extremely wild, if you were the child
of midwestern or southern depression babies, believe me. Families fractured
permanently over these actions.

For the minority of us who were genuinely countercultural, we thought
changing the world completely would only take a decade or so. Wrong then,
and still wrong. 

I personally have never stopped working for the values I espoused when I was
young. I was a huge disappointment to my right-wing mother until the day she
died. It didn't stop me.

I'm really curious, what experience have you had with people my age that has
led you to be so sour and judgmental?





On Aug 25, 2010, at 5:11 PM, Steven & Margaret Eisenhauer wrote:

> 
> Boomers sold out.  They did not demand the kind of change they really
wanted
> and settled for the status Que. As a reward they have been ripped off and
> side lined, ultimately settling for rank materialism and prescription feel
> good drugs.  The boomers should get off the couch, get their heads out of
> their behinds and work for the values they espoused as young people. Or
> perhaps they can't remember what it was they wanted.  Or have the real
> visionaries been liquidated? Have the rats ate the grain and all that is
> left is the chaff?
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Rain Tenaqiya
> Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 2:15 PM
> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [permaculture] Nicholas permaculture generation gap
> 
> Thanks, Nicholas, for one of the more thoughtful and solution-focused
> messages of late.  I have been thinking about the generational differences
> between Boomers and younger folks, especially as they relate to
permaculture
> efforts, and I do feel they are significant.  I largely agree with your
> analysis, however I feel there is one important aspect that you left out. 
> Boomers may have had it easier in some ways, but many were truly
> hard-working pioneers in other ways, creating options for later
> generations.  We now have easy access to vegetarian and vegan food,
> renewable energy, ecobuilding techniques, community land ownership models,
> permaculture design, etc.  Many also worked harder than I think most
younger
> folks are willing to work.  The stories I have read and listened to about
> the original back-to-the-landers make me feel like a wimp.  The current
> generation has a sense of entitlement and an expectation that things
should
> be easy.  They are
> also even more alienated from physical labor.  I speak from personal
> experience.  Younger people also have more educational, entertainment, and
> other opportunities and the society is more mobile, so it is hard to get
> younger folks to commit to a place or project.  Whole segments of society
> seem adrift. 
>  
> Your comment about rent-seeking retirees seems right on, however.  I feel
> too many otherwise progressive folks too easily accept the idea that it is
> okay to take money you didn't earn yourself.  The lack of questioning of
the
> capitalist, class-based system makes me squirm.  On the other hand, I
cringe
> when I see how few of my well-intentioned friends have means to create
> sustainable systems without using the property they have access to to
> generate money through renting it out.  We need to come up with more ways
to
> raise immediate funds while still giving equity to those paying "rent."
>  
>  
> Rain
> 
> 
> 
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