permaculture

[rafter sass ferguson <liberationecology@gmail.com>]

We are all using very different definitions of capitalism, which is a huge
part of the reason I wrote the article. If we are going to talk about
politics or economics AT ALL in permaculture (and is there a legitimate
other option?) then we have to talk about capitalism.

"When does conversation help? When do we move closer to what we want,
through conversation, rather than merely rehashing what we already know?" -
Susan Parenti

If we want our conversations ( those times when we, among other things,
plan our actions) about economics to move us closer to what we want, we
would be foolish to go without a mutual definition of capitalism. CPE
provides one that's been field tested for 30 years, designed for
non-academics, that makes sense out of the jumble.

Making money isn't capitalism, any more than mulching is permaculture.
Selling things isn't capitalism, any more than eating veggies from your
garden is permaculture.

Opposing capitalism does not mean rejecting successful regenerative
projects right now, any more than permaculture requires that you refuse to
work with organic annual growers.
It doesn't mean rejecting pluralism for a cookie-cutter template for
projects, any more than permaculture prescribes a cookie-cutter landscape.

Opposing capitalism means that we, as a movement, base our successional
strategies on a systemic analysis of our institutions, and create projects
that, in networks, will help change the trajectory of the system as a
whole. Thats not something ANY one project can do - we only do it as a
network, as a movement. And we can't do it without talking about it.


-- 
Rafter Sass Ferguson, MS
PhD Candidate | Crop Sciences Department
University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
liberationecology.org
518 567 7407