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  • From: "Scott Pittman" <scott@permaculture.org>
  • To: "'permaculture'" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] The people of Tibet need help now - Boing Boing
  • Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:17:40 -0600

Having spent over 30 years trampling around the world, mostly in developing
nations, I have come to the conclusion that any people who has been
colonized suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome. This debilitating
condition is passed down from generation to generation compounding the
misery of those people suffering.



I realized this first in Equatorial Guinea, a country that is incredible
rich, and plagued with disease and hunger. This is the primary condition of
the people who were ruled, brutally, by the Spaniards - who then trained a
Guinean to become president in Spanish military school to continue the
brutality by one of their own.



On returning to the United States I started working with some members of the
Navajo (Dine) nation and found the same conditions. The American Indian has
be subjected to some of the most profoundly inhumane treatment and it
continues to this day. As a result we find rampant alcoholism, abuse of
children and women, and a loss of self esteem.



The same is happening to our returning troops from Afghanistan and Iraq they
are the forgotten ones and are totally traumatized as a result.



I could also go on and on with the racism and physical and cultural abuse of
Hispanics and Black Americans.



I certainly would not have the hubris to tell any of them how to deal with
change. If it is sabotage of the mainstream culture by whatever means I
would support it. Unfortunately I think the outcome would be a total
suppression of those people who protest - just as in Tibet.



We are living in a time of incredible greed and lack of social justice and
most (a majority) of us are suffering as a result. Something has to give
and I welcome it!!



Scott Pittman



"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.

On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."

~Arundhati Roy



-----Original Message-----
From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Linda
Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 4:12 PM
To: 'permaculture'
Subject: Re: [permaculture] The people of Tibet need help now - Boing Boing



Global awareness is great but irrelevant until we raise the consciousness of

the masses - it is only the masses that can change governments and thereby

change the world. Permaculture can help this by providing nutritious food

which allows peoples brains to operate consciously (a point made by Rudolph

Steiner back in the 1920s), green spaces where peaceful thoughts are

possible and creative design to minimise our impact on Gaia.



The fact is that in today's world it simply does not matter what avenue

oppressed people take, what alternative concepts they might use, their

voices are like whispers of wind in the jungle. A few leaves rustle and then

all is silent again. They simply do not have the numbers to create a

hurricane from their breath. Tibetans are in no better situation now than in

1959 and they have the voice of the Dalai Lama taking their plight to the

world. Imagine if they didn't - then the self-immolations would not be

reported as publicly as they are now, just as day to day abuses toward

Palestinians are not reported in the mainstream media, nor is the continued

murder of Tamils in Sri Lanka, the treatment of Western Saharans in Morocco

and countless other acts against oppressed people throughout the world.



South Africa abandoned apartheid because the countries of the world united

to not play sport or trade with them. In this world there is no other way to

affect change and yet our politicians are not prepared to act morally for

the good of a small group of people, particularly those without 'useful'

resources. Has the Kurds rights to self-determination ever been respected in

Turkey - no, but in Iraq - finally, yes (but only when it worked to the

Wests advantage). And who created their misery - the world leaders who drew

new boundaries on a map, leaving them stateless... the 'west'.



I absolutely do not advocate violence of any nature but I do have love and

understanding for those who are driven to those depths whether they be on

the streets of our western cities or the people of oppressed nations.



I believe in the intrinsic goodness of every human soul, Linda



p.s. I watched a movie called Men's Group last night. I found it quite

confronting. One of the men had been sexually abused by his father and was

completely broken, a cold and violent man. And no - not all men who go

through similar experiences become like he did, some commit suicide, some

manage to transcend it, some just struggle in pain throughout their lives.

But watch it and feel his pain. It is a very small link to understanding the

desperation whole cultures feel at being abused for generations by their

oppressors and why the result is so often violence. Only love can heal it.



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