permaculture

[Carolyn Anderson <cschampagne@gmail.com>]

Mark's essay is brilliant, deeply intelligent and wise.  I would love to
post it on my Facebook page, but would that be counter to the ideals you
set forth, Mark?  If you want me to spread this wisdom around, let me know.
 I will certainly credit you. Or, if you have this posted on a website
somewhere, send me the link and I'll just plug that in.

Thanks for your thoughtful and true argument. I totally agree with
everything you have said.

Carolyn Anderson


On Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 9:06 AM, Mark Feineigle <mfeineigle@gmail.com>wrote:

> Over the last few months there has been an increase in "The Problem with
> permaculture" articles. I submit that this is a divide and conquer tactic
> by the status quo's (counter)intelligence agencies (aka: the powers that
> be) because permaculture is a legitimate threat to said status quo. As long
> as we continue to argue over trivial issues we not only take energy away
> from actually deploying solutions/examples that improve our lives, but also
> give legitimacy to the perception of problems within the permaculture
> community.
>
> Historically you can see the powers that be nurturing conflict within
> communities that threaten the establishment. Barbarians, witches,
> communists, socialists, terrorists, conspiracy theorists, and today even
> patriots have been labeled negatively by the mainstream media. By sowing
> the seeds of conflict, the individuals that make up said groups are divided
> internally and fall easily to the masses that perceive them as having
> problems (divide and conquer within divide and conquer). These tactics are
> reinforced by constant Us versus Them themes - Red/Blue, Left/Right,
> Christian/Muslim, my team/your team, my country/your country, etc.
>
> This should be evident if you look at both the Tea Party and Occupy Wall
> street movements. Both threatened the establishment and both were disposed
> of in similar fashion to what we are seeing happen in the permaculture
> movement today. Tea Partiers were labeled as gun toting redneck idiots, OWS
> was labeled as a bunch of kids with no direction shitting in the park.
> Permaculture is being labeled as an idealist pie in the sky non-solution.
> All three were infiltrated with agent provocateurs to stoke the flames of
> division.
>
> The Tea Party focused on reigning in government spending. OWS was focused
> on getting the money out of politics. Permaculture focuses on real
> solutions and improvements in our day-to-day lives outside of the typical
> top down supply chain.
>
> All three have or will fail if they engage the powers that be on their
> terms. You do not convince others that your solution is correct with
> endless debate. A quote often used is Fuller's "You never change things by
> fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that
> makes the existing model obsolete." To this should be add Planck's "A
> scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making
> them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a
> new generation grows up that is familiar with it."
>
> No solutions exist within our current geo-political state. Permaculture is
> outside of all current perceptions, and it will remain there for the
> majority. Our goal as permaculturists, nay, as human beings, is to lead our
> children through example, not lecture. A child that grows up on in
> permaculture household is a mind that requires no convincing.
>
> I see many fighting ridiculous farm "safety" bills and others complaining
> over not getting government subsidies for following the permaculture path.
> These are completely opposite issues that serve to sap energy away from the
> actual movement. Too much government or too little? The implied solution is
> the "right" kind of government. Thomas Jefferson noted that "A government
> big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to
> take away everything that you have." The real problem lies in allowing
> outside authority to dictate ANY terms.
>
> I see terms like socialist, communist, capitalist, and fascist thrown
> around - usually analogous in usage to "bad". There was a PhD economist
> (from Chicago no less!) arguing that we need the "right" kind of
> capitalism. F.A. Hayak (Road to Serfdom) laid out how all 4 of these terms
> are the same thing. Socialism leads to communism and capitalism leads to
> fascism; historically, EVERY SINGLE TIME. While we are told these are polar
> opposites, are they not, at their core, a small group of people dictating
> the deployment of the labor and capital of a large group? This is
> uncommonly refereed to as horseshoe theory.
>
> In contrast anarchists are defined as chaotic. Anarchy is lack of
> government. The word itself, An - Arch = no ruler/king while chaos = lack
> of order. In anarchy YOU are your own government. Sure you could go
> pillage, but would you? Do you not murder or steal today because of laws,
> or do you not murder or steal because you want to live in harmony? (Golden
> rule) Do you not think you know how to run your life better than anyone
> else? To be free to both succeed or fail on your terms? Does not a tree
> know how to be a tree better than you know how to be a tree? (I think
> Fukuoka said something like this)
>
> A population producing its own food, medicine, and energy is
> uncontrollable. A personally responsible person bows to no authority.
>
> Power may grow out of the barrel of a gun, but someone has to pay for the
> gun. Last year when GoDaddy backed SOPA the Internet united to boycott
> them. Immediately GoDaddy changed their tune. While this was likely a bald
> faced lie to save their bottom line, it proves one thing: money talks,
> bullshit walks.
>
> How many people do you hear calling for some kind of change or even
> revolution? How many of those same people finance "the system" with
> subscriptions to netflix, with smart-phone plans, cable TV, go out to
> movies/dinner, buy new cars, buy bigger houses, "play" the market, and all
> the things we consider to be typical "middle class" activities? This is
> what perpetuates the oppression. We are literally financing our own
> enslavement (not to mention the mis-allocation and destruction of finite
> resources) via constant consumption.
>
> So, what would I suggest as a course of action? Disengage the thieves'
> economy on all non-essential functions. Deploy your capital today on
> solutions for tomorrow that require no dollar inputs.
>
> Strikes will always be broken. Non-compliance with taxes will lead to jail.
> Simply not spending on any "extras" will collapse the thieves' economy. How
> can this be countered without revealing that the emperor has no clothes?
>
> While there are infinite nuances, an informed and educated population
> capable of critical thinking is all that is required for a successful
> society.
>
> http://www.paulchefurka.ca/LadderOfAwareness.html concludes that
> permaculturists are at one of the the final steps in awareness.
> http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/si.2007.30.2.127/abstract -
> division through social exclusion.
>
> If there is interest or questions on the thoughts I have put forth I will
> gladly expand on them.
>
> Thank you for your time and attention,
> Mark Feineigle
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-- 
Carolyn Anderson Design
828-803-2841
cschampagne@gmail.com