permaculture

[Cory Brennan <cory8570@yahoo.com>]

It's a simplistic view. Some of the members of the Taliban have gone out of 
their way to destroy the beauty and suppress the knowledge of ancient 
cultures. Some members of our armed forces come from equally ancient, 
civlized cultures in the Americas, Africa, Middle East, Orient, etc. To 
suggest that all of people of Afghanistan are somehow morally, spiritually, 
culturally, etc, superior to everybody in our armed forces is a simplistic 
view. Individual elements can make a huge difference in any system, and it 
has always been individuals, not groups, who have spearheaded the most 
dramatic changes in human systems as well (Gandhi, etc).  

Permaculturists, of all people, should not be viwing the world through black 
and white lenses. The world is full of nuance, color, intricate connections, 
complexities, and gray areas. What if just one of those National Guardsmen 
has an epiphany as  result of the course, and he touches someone in 
Afghanistan, and meaningful, positive changes for hundreds of people, or even 
more, are made?  

It is fine to be bothered by the US Army going in and trying to tell an 
ancient culture how to operate. I get that point very well. But it is not the 
only issue being considered - there are far more nuances and energies to the 
situation. I get bothered by imperial attitudes of armed forces (not assuming 
that is happening with this particular National Guard outfit, it sounds like 
it is not from wht Scott has said) for the same reason I get bothered by 
someone who knows nothing about a project trying to tell those on the ground 
dealing with it what is wrong with what they are doing. When you are on the 
ground dealing with the complexities and realness of the situation, things 
almost never appear in black and white morality. 

Cory

--- On Fri, 9/17/10, LBUZZELL@aol.com <LBUZZELL@aol.com> wrote:

> From: LBUZZELL@aol.com <LBUZZELL@aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] civility,, respect and reputation
> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Friday, September 17, 2010, 12:06 PM
> I like the way you put this,
> Annie.  You've articulated the deep  question 
> that young, middle aged and elder permaculturists all need
> to be  pondering. 
>  It's not a personal question, but a question of
> permaculture  ethics. What 
> would be our appropriate engagement/involvement (or lack
> thereof)  with 
> various existing imperial, colonial and corporate world
> forces?  
>  
> Postmodern philosophy has taught us that there is no such
> thing as  
> "non-involvement" but we can be aware of (observe?) the
> forces affecting our own  
> perspective and that of "others" -- and we can make more
> conscious  choices.
>  
> Linda
>  
>  
> In a message dated 9/17/2010 10:09:04 A.M. Pacific Daylight
> Time,  
> trrredding@gmail.com
> writes:
> 
> why are  young people (not only young people)
> genuinely disturbed at 
> an occupying  military force, with a deeply dodgy
> reputation for civilian 
> wellbeing,  teaching permaculture to a civilisation
> older than most 
> western  civilisations, in a geographical region where
> historically the 
> local  people are/were famed for their beautiful
> gardens, poetry, and 
> self  sufficiency?
> 
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