for me its very important to see how people react when I'm doing a
workshops or other things related to permaculture. If the people feel
comfortable and see some interest and joy in the things we do, or
learn, then i feel i started a small revolution. It is not the
control of the definitions and not the need that all the people need
to think the same about something. It is our goal that makes us all
working on a better tomorrow. I know that the one who feel happy to
have learned about simple methods that could be used to regain the
power back in his/her hands instead of being a slave of TV
commercials and only worth something if he or she earns money, that
this man/woman will start to talk to others differently, will start
to make things differently. The biggest power of permaculture for me
is to say to the people: you, your hands, your brain, your life, your
smile is what counts. Look, listen, think, feel, react...People seek
to be a part of groups, of something where we feel to have a role, a
higher couse. We can show that we all are a part of a natural circle,
and that there is no one on top, but circulating and sharing
knowledge, experience, and also feelings. This is where i feel the
redesign of our society starts. And if you want, also a revolution.
This applies to politicians in the same way as to any other man or
women. It is a longer process than to have a finished design which
most will accept, and some disagree. But the ones who will disagree
with the design or definition, will start another circle and start
turning the things in the other way. And so the bicycle rides :) It
is not that i'm saying somebody is right, somebody is wrong. It is
the same when two people with different religons or nationalities
that usually do not love each other, start to garden together. I saw
it in Bosnian Sarajevo last month, where we made a worm compost in
the urban gardens of the organization Bio Basta (Organic Gardeners).
They will find that the same caterpillars are eating their cabbage,
and will start to communicate. Then they see that the other is a fine
man, and could be a pal, instead of the monster he or she was before.
We have all our ways to achieve Care for people, Care for the Earth
and Fair Sharing of Resources, and this is all we have to use our
energy on. There is a nice interview with Fritjof Capra in
Permaculture Magazine, where he states that to achieve a sustainable
society we have to learn how nature sustains life and use the same
methods. Sustaining life is our common goal. Nature and her dimension
of time will decide if we are succeeding to hold the human kind over
water and we learned to swimm or not.
Sometimes I wish we could communicate without words, so no
missunderstanding would take place. But if we use words, obvious
there is a reason why evolution brought us here and it's just a
feather on the ballance of life.
Sorry if i went off topic...
greetings from Croatia!
Marijana
Re: [permaculture] politics and permies,
Marijana, 12/04/2007