Subject: Re: [permaculture] Re: Does permaculture suggest a design plan for human culture?
Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2003 08:15:51 -0400 (EDT)
(to: permaculture, cc'd to ourcultureourcapitol)
Kat,
Thanks a ton for sharing that-
(and Darren for the new Holmgren book)
that is exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for (well, no
clear answers, but at least a lot of people working on the
question- a lot of people starting to lead.)
Personally I'm drawn to physical work and working with
nature--In fact, to some extent, I think working with nature
(and one's physical/biological self) is the only viable
"spiritual practice" (this relates to John Zerzan's
suggestion that Civilization is the symptom (even things
like language and counting) of our alienation), but I expect
the programmers and businesspeople will have to help also :)
I wonder, In the long-run, will the leaders be the techies
and GBN.org types or will there come the time "when the most
valuable skill will be the ability to eke out a living on a
patch of soil"
It is possible that a lot of people are talking about change
without making the basic behavior changes that are needed. I
think Ken Wilber discussion groups may be an example of
that. Though it's preferable to have people talking and
thinking of change even while changing nothing substantial,
than to have people not even talking of change, perhaps,
because when the time comes, they should be more able to
embrace change.
I know it is due to my present point in life and personal
perspective, but I cannot help but feel there is an
emptiness that will never be filled in the people who are
not "Coming home to eat" to use Gary Nabhan's title, or who
are not doing the permaculture thing.
What is intriguing is that for pre-industrial spiritual
practices, they were almost by default living with the land
around them, but now, special effort must be made to do so.
Thanks to the guy who recommended Nabhan's book, also!
Nabhan is a bit of a goofy author, but his orientation and
ideas are beautiful (though he drives too much).
I also want to mention again how impressed I was with Toby
Hemenway's _Gaia's Garden_. The depth of some of the
visualizations and ways in which they were presented makes
me put that book pretty high on my list in terms of works of
art, that have scientific depth, and very skillful
presentation. I'm remembering in particular the presentation
of the tree, and the layering / stacking of habitat
visualization that started with a bare patch of ground...
The drawing for the use of the A-frame level (p. 84) was the
only flaw I noticed- (I hope Toby reads this far :) )