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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] What is a commons? And how do we regulate it?

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] What is a commons? And how do we regulate it?
  • Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:32:31 -0500

On 12/15/2010 3:08 PM, Smith Mill Creek wrote:
To all on the list-
I'd like to thank Larry London for not filtering out this exchange
between Shivani and Killian.

If I had suspected he would publically post inflammatory private email I would have put him on moderation and deleted his message before it got to to the list.

I think a number of points come out for me.

1- I think Killian used some angry and judgment language reacting to
Shivani
(this is regardless of where I stand on seeds).

2- Shivani is demonstrating that a number of folks would like the
permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org list (how many subscribers are there?)
to have a moderation that is perceived to be less arbitrary.

930 and my moderation is hardly arbitrary but with considerable purpose
and forethought. You see the end product, a useful if not vital forum since 1992 to continue well into the future.

That person is working hard counter to what most of here stand for, individual rights and grass roots, traditional, pure permaculture and natural agriculture.

As my good friend and ally, Paul Wheaton has said and Sepp Holzer
as well, the permaculture third ethic is way too often interpreted as a license to freely indulge in stealing. Count me as a third advocate of this idea.

3- I think folks would like more of a "sensible commons" approach to the
list because they feel it fits in with permaculture, which is about the
question, not just about what I should do about my quarter-acre of land;
but how 7 billion of us share this planet. We haven't mastered
"commons-ology", but many of us think an effort worth pursuing.

You're not likely to get that with some because they do not believe in it or are just not interested in that type of communal approach. But they could change. Agriculture is a vital part of permaculture and it is important for the permaculture communiy to support local small and family farming, preserving traditions and using sustainable, natural methods.

This latest disruptive event represented mostly a lot of hot air and puff speeches; in this case ignorant uninformed anti sustainable small farm mindlessness, airhead groupie or entrepreneurial agent provocateur with no interest in supporting America's emerging small sustainable farming movement at a critical time in its development. Those types appear from time to time in this and other lists and when discovered are permanently locked out.

4- Moderating permaculture listservs is never easy. Discussion like this
have been pursued at length on the Portland, OR permaculture list.

Its a piece of cake.

5- I heard something perceptive from a permaculture teacher two years
ago.In his fifties, he'd been teaching permaculture for decades. He
pondered that the permaculture culture had been influenced by a famously
grumpy and curmudgeonly founder. It does seem to be that the younger
generation seems to be overcoming this syndrome.

Yes and Mollison wrote a book that may never be equalled as a pure permaculture textbook. Entry level permaculturists need to read it in its entirety and absorb all that it has to teach.

I hope my two cents is helpful. I would like to see a sensibly moderated
commons.

What do you propose, Jim? What changes would you like to see.

LL




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