[Chapter_Fourteen] permaculture & justice - on the personal level

Sat Feb 19 14:50:07 PST 2011

Sorry for the long lag here, it's been a busy few weeks.

Thank you also for engaging in the convo with me. I realize the list passed
on this discussion and I hope to catch up on the other dialogues soon too.

However to respond to just a few things. I totally agree that defining
permaculture may in fact be anti-pc (that is permaculture.) Yes there are
elements of study which should be consistent in each's definition but what
surmounts permaculture to me is quite simply my investigation and analysis
of the natural and phenomenal world(s). I take to pc because it has the
reverence for them as I do despite what sometimes happens to be divergence
in application of those things. I rather do think- and perhaps I would say
so in my definition- that not having studied mollison's book or taken a pdc
that one can still be permaculture. an important aspect being organized, to
me, is collective education in dealing with cultural notions of resources
(and beyond). It further seems to me that if there is success to be had in
increasing awareness to some of the critically degraded aspects of our
larger culture that people will change their 'cultural ways' without having
any real reason or explanation for why. It will just happen. In other words,
to change the world you don't really need to educate and make everyone aware
of the responsible choices, you really just need them to do it. perhaps a
bit Machiavellian but I say, why not. I argue that this is one way to truly
effect change.

So to try and sew it all together, missing some of the meat (or veggies) in
the sandwich, this might be the reason why I am slightly resistant to a
proactive notion of social justice. I think those angles have been tried and
somewhat regrettably have failed. Look at the massive movements of the 60s
in the US. Can we argue that they have been truly successful given the
current set of social problems facing us? Is being partially effective
enough or is it just a footnote? I do not know, but I know enough to think
that despite those massive efforts much of the things that were being fought
for are still lacking today, and even worse is that there seems to be less
people fighting for them now. Change comes from
within<http://thistimethisspace.com/2008/01/16/change-comes-from-within/>,
as a buddha might say. we know that the change(s) of the Earth are results
not from what we think or believe, but by what results from the actions we
are naturally drawn to.

I like to consider this process similar to the one that gives us something
we all like to be dirty with- dirt. Mountains- literally large masses of
immovable harden minerals break away into finer particles through erosive
forces, including biological activity. As particles get finer they have
different ways of interacting with water, thus sand, silt and clay are
integral to diversity. What once was a mountain can become the literal
foundation for life. Some single celled algae grows, bacteria and fungi feed
with their wastes feeding more. Life finds this activity and the system
evolves further as nematodes, arthropods and worms move in. Grasses and
plants pop up, all the while the minerals of the mountain are being
overtaken or better being incorporated into a living system that nourishes
itself. Not to condescend your knowledge on the topic but my expectation is
that if we look at social and cultural problems as mountains we should
expect them to erode. They will erode, some by wind and some by lichen, etc.
What I think becomes important is getting those first signs of life together
to transform the broken pieces into fertility. Does that make sense? Because
the first algae and bacteria that move in to eroded cultures have to be
individuals like us. I get concerned that sometimes we spend more time
thinking we need to jackhammer away at the mountain instead of fostering our
local relationships and abilities so that there is a substrate for more
growth.

So again, the question (to me) then becomes not if it is important to have
that rock break down for all this 'stuff' to happen, but *how* should that
rock be broken down. If I can continue this simple metaphor, I'm saying I
want to avoid using mechanical forces- like grinding down the rock. This
would quickly get the rock minerals to the sizes and quantities of how we
want them, but there is a good deal of human and embodied energy to that
approach. And then we'd have to spend the time trying to inoculate and
administer nature. Forgive me if this seems like a long way to go to just
say that in my definition, I rather like a slow and steady approach.
Focusing in our own backyards should be rewarding and might maybe have a
greater net result than making molehills out of mountains.

I realize that metaphor probably doesn't totally come across the way I would
like it to but that's the best I got on a rainy, lazy saturday afternoon :)

All this said, I know when we speak of culture there of course is no
tangible object. So then, where exactly is the culture in permaculture
anyway?

thx,
jason

On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 11:14 PM, Rachel A. Buddeberg <rachel at rabe.org>wrote:

> Thank you, Sam & Jason, for where you're taking this discussion!  I am
> rather enjoying reading your thoughts.  It would help me if you'd sketch out
> a bit more of a vision:  How does permaculture inform your actions? How
> would you see yourself behave differently?  (Or maybe: how are you already
> behaving differently?)
>
> Regarding an "exact definition" of permaculture... In my experience, there
> is not one definition of permaculture.  Every "permie" has their own - and
> that one might be changing... So, Jason could take permaculture ideas and
> apply them to buildings.  One vision i would have, for example, are houses
> that house people of all ages in new forms of families moving beyond the
> ideal of the nuclear family (with 2.5 kids, a separated garage, and white
> picket fence in the suburbs).  I seem to remember an Ecovillage building the
> largest cob-building that might actually reflect some of these ideas (i
> can't remember where i saw this, though!).
>
> Rachel
>
> On Jan 31, 2011, at 10:38 PM, Sam Wolpert wrote:
>
> Jason,
> I totally agree with you, and I think your point about permaculture
> starting at the individual level is dead on. The individual is an important
> step in the bottom up approach I mentioned, and skipping directly to the
> collective level is in my opinion extremely dangerous. In fact, people are
> far less likely to agree with or listen to our views on justice if we do not
> live them out through our own actions. In order to change any system, we
> must first change ourselves, and if that change is positive then I believe
> that eventually people will take notice. Perhaps we won't create a sweeping
> change on a large scale within our lifetime, but I think that if we can
> inspire a positive change in even a very small number of people then that is
> not a failure. Of course, throughout this whole process it's important to
> keep the goal of positive change in mind and make sure that our practices
> are constantly adapting and evolving toward that goal.
>
> I also think your point about buildings and spaces being important as well
> is a good one, and it's exactly what I'm talking about in terms of applying
> similar ideas of justice to different areas or systems. I think that perhaps
> the question to ask is do we also call this permaculture, or is it something
> different that can be traced back to the same or similar roots? I myself am
> not a permaculture buff so I don't know enough about its exact definition to
> propose an answer to this question, but hopefully someone else with a bit
> more expertise in this arena will.
>
> -Sam
>
>
>
> Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 21:46:26 -0800
> From: Jason Hiller <jdhiller at gmail.com>
> To: "Chapter Fourteen: Where abundant food and human cultures
> intersect" <chapter_fourteen-beforebefore.net at lists.beforebefore.net>
> Subject: Re: [Chapter_Fourteen] more on justice & permaculture
> Message-ID:
> <AANLkTinOTiRHHNSqn+U6RO4JestU0YApgdatThp-98KC at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi Sam and thanks for jumping in. I'm sure every will agree your comments
> are totally welcomed and appropriate.
>
> The top down approach is definitely what I'm referencing. To me, getting my
> permaculture game on means living a new culture. It means doing things that
> are good and abide by the basic principles. I think it is true that one
> could make use of these notions in a myriad of ways but there is a danger
> of
> assimilating to the systemic problems when we talk about using the ideas or
> the people in them to springboard into something as vast as justice.
>
> To borrow someone's verbiage from before, I also take polite exception to
> thinking that we are 'redesigning' our culture. I'm not sure that's the
> opportunity we have. I see things more like redesigning ourselves, ie, my
> own culture. Perhaps that comes across wrongly to some but isn't part of
> being able to help or take care of others also knowing how to help and take
> care of yourself?
>
> I understand why agriculture is perhaps the biggest aspect of permaculture-
> because we all need to eat. There's got to be a best practice for that and
> I'm learning everything I can as I hold tight to the dream that one day
> I'll
> be more self-reliant when it comes my own food. It may be my bias here as
> someone with an architect's background but I think we also all need places
> to live, work and sleep. So for me buildings and spaces are high up there.
> If you can create abundance in warm, safe places then who wouldn't want to
> be there?
>
> I apologize if I'm rambling at all, does anyone else agree?
>
> jh
>
> On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 4:16 PM, Sam Wolpert <swolpert at ucsc.edu> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> My name is Sam Wolpert and I am one of Margaretha's students at UCSC. A
>
> discussion in class prompted her to tell me about Chapter Fourteen, and I
>
> have been reading your discussions over the past several weeks. I will
> admit
>
> that I don't know much about permaculture outside of what I have learned
>
> from reading your emails, but I've found your discussion really interesting
>
> and it has given me some thoughts that I'd like to share. I'm not sure
> where
>
> (if at all) my opinions fit into this discussion, but I hope you can all
>
> gain something useful from them, and I would be very interested to hear
> your
>
> feedback.
>
>
> My main reaction to Rachel's comments about justice and permaculture is
>
> this: it seems to me that certain ideas about justice have informed various
>
> aspects of permaculture and not necessarily the other way around. That is,
>
> permaculture was built on certain ideas of justice, not justice was created
>
> by permaculture. I think that perhaps the most useful thing to do is to
>
> identify these ideas of justice and how they are manifested through
>
> permaculture, and then figure out how we can use those same ideas to
> rebuild
>
> other areas of society from the bottom up. I feel that this is different
>
> from the more top-down approach that seems to want to use permaculture to
>
> apply justice. Perhaps this is what Jason was trying to get at with his
>
> "frameworks on top of frameworks" comment.
>
>
> While I do think permaculture can be a great example of a system built on
>
> the ideas of justice Rachel mentioned, I think it is very important to
>
> remember permaculture is simply one implementation of these abstract ideas
>
> and does not create them in its own right. In fact, a commitment to these
>
> abstract ideas could potentially give way to a number of different systems,
>
> some of which might deal with very different areas of our culture. If what
>
> Rachel is proposing is an expansion of the term "permaculture" to encompass
>
> all of these systems, then I would say that perhaps that is too broad a
>
> definition. I think that, in its current form, permaculture can certainly
> be
>
> used as a window to ideas of justice, but is too specific an implementation
>
> of them to be necessarily suited to spreading those ideas to all aspects of
>
> our culture.
>
>
> -Sam
>
>
> Message: 2
>
> Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:14:20 -0800
>
> From: "Rachel A. Buddeberg" <rachel at rabe.org>
>
> To: "Chapter Fourteen: Where abundant food and human cultures
>
>      intersect"      <chapter_fourteen-beforebefore.net@
>
> lists.beforebefore.net>
>
> Subject: Re: [Chapter_Fourteen] more on justice & permaculture
>
> Message-ID: <C70DA3CE-990A-4646-801F-DB6DD9CB9DEB at rabe.org>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>
> So permaculture is really permanent agriculture then?  To me, redesigning
>
> our culture seems like an incredible opportunity to "do it right," i.e.,
>
> respecting all aspects of justice i mentioned in my original email.  But
>
> maybe that is asking for too much?  Making a project too large could
>
> endanger it...
>
>
> The working definition of justice that i suggested is at the bottom of my
>
> original email.  Justice is fair distribution but also ensuring that the
>
> obstacles to such fairness are removed, which requires representation,
>
> participation, and ensuring we are able to fulfill our capabilities.
>
>
> On Jan 31, 2011, at 1:43 PM, Jason Hiller wrote:
>
>
> I had already read it. Didn't note a discussion on defining justice.
>
> Also doesn't help clear up what you are trying to moderate exactly.
>
>
> If you are asking if permaculture needs to be more proactive as a social
>
> justifying force than I would say no it does not. Frameworks on top of
>
> frameworks are tough to manage and arguably don't end up engaging anyone
> but
>
> the framers.
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 1:12 PM, Rachel A. Buddeberg <rachel at rabe.org>
>
> wrote:
>
> I am looking for opinions on justice and permaculture (Larry offered his
>
> opinion and some suggestions on child care at Hayes Valley Farm, which is
>
> not what i am looking for).
>
>
> For background on this discussion, including a definition of justice,
>
> please refer to my original post at:
>
>
> http://lists.beforebefore.net/pipermail/chapter_fourteen-beforebefore.net/20110119/000073.html
>
>
> Rachel
>
>
> On Jan 31, 2011, at 1:00 PM, Jason Hiller wrote:
>
>
> I, for one, am not following what specifically you are looking for. Do
>
> you not want opinions? Is it just agreement on whether certain questions
> are
>
> valid to consider- without regard to what may or may not be people's
>
> perspectives on them?
>
>
> Also, I really think you need to define what you mean by justice and
>
> get some agreement on that or the risk of misunderstanding your statements
>
> might be high. I do not think it's quite a ready-made of a topic to toss
> out
>
> without context. In fact, I might argue that justice itself doesn't exist
> in
>
> singularity but necessitates at least two things before considering what is
>
> just.
>
>
> jh
>
> On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 9:06 PM, Rachel A. Buddeberg <rachel at rabe.org>
>
> wrote:
>
> Please note this sentence in my original email: "I am not looking for
>
> specific answers to these questions but rather would like to use them to
> ask
>
> more generally: Are these questions the type of questions we would want to
>
> ask ourselves as people who are interested in permaculture?  Are they part
>
> of our commitment to permaculture?"
>
>
> This is not about Hayes Valley Farm or child care.  It's about the
>
> types of questions i am wondering we should raise.  Are we as
>
> permaculturists interested in Chapter 14 (which is not about agriculture)
>
> willing to ask the questions that might allow us to design ways of living
>
> that are more just than what we have right now?
>
>
> I am not asking the people at HVF to offer child care - actually, i am
>
> not asking them to do anything.  I am asking this list if these are the
>
> sorts of questions we might want to ask.  I am in the role of a moderator
>
> and have been trying to get us to discuss the role of questions of justice
>
> within permaculture.  This discussion is called "permaculture & justice"
> not
>
> "child care at HVF."  If i want child care at HVF, this list is the wrong
>
> place to ask for it.
>
>
> Rachel
>
>
>
> On Jan 29, 2011, at 8:41 PM, Larry Korn wrote:
>
>
>
> Hello again Rachel,
>
>
> I didn't mean to be rude in my response to you.  I agree with all of
>
> your concerns.  From my experience, the greatest danger in our permaculture
>
> efforts is burn out.  We are so concerned with the state of the environment
>
> and all the social injustice that we don't even know where to begin.  There
>
> is only so much each of us can do.  Taking on too much is a recipe for
>
> failure.  We have only so much time, energy, resources and so forth.  I
>
> believe that we need to concentrate our efforts on what the people who are
>
> involved choose to focus on.  That's why I suggested that if you have a
> good
>
> idea about how our permaculture community can improve you should take it on
>
> and to create it yourself.  Others will welcome your efforts and join in as
>
> they are able or willing to.  I agree that having Hayes Valley Farm open on
>
> weekends including child care, if their agreement with the city allows,
>
> would be great!  Other practical ideas along these lines would certainly be
>
> welcome especiall
>
> y
>
> if someone was there to organize and take responsibility for the
>
> project.
>
>
> ~Larry
>
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 8:06 PM, Larry Korn <ldkorn at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> We can ask questions like this and have discussions, but unless
>
> someone steps up and decides to take it on themselves, even the discussion
>
> becomes a drain.  For example, if you think Hayes Valley Farm should be
> open
>
> on weekends with child care, why not line up the volunteers and other
>
> resources needed to bring the plan about and present it to the Hayes Valley
>
> Farm People?
>
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 1:11 PM, Rachel A. Buddeberg <rachel at rabe.org>
>
> wrote:
>
> Again, i want to share some more of my thinking around a question i
>
> raised in that long email i sent and with that reenergize our discussion a
>
> bit more.
>
>
> I asked: How can we make sure that everybody can participate?  Are we
>
> preventing some people from participating? If so, how? Can we overcome
> those
>
> obstacles?
>
>
> I was thinking about Hayes Valley Farm as an example. Let me preface
>
> this by saying that i think it's wonderful that the Farm exists and i am
>
> grateful of and admire the people who are putting a lot of work into the
>
> Farm.  I am not raising these questions as criticism but just as some of
> the
>
> things we might want to consider if we want to utilize the Farm to grow
> more
>
> than food but also justice.  If volunteer hours are during a weekday when
>
> people work, aren't we excluding people?  What about single mothers who
>
> don't want to bring their child(ren) along or even those who would want to
> -
>
> is there child care?  Do people really sign up for PDCs if they cannot
>
> afford to pay anything?  How do we actually come across to others - maybe
>
> people are turned off by the way we talk?  By the verbosity of my writing?
>
>
> I am not looking for specific answers to these questions but rather
>
> would like to use them to ask more generally: Are these questions the type
>
> of questions we would want to ask ourselves as people who are interested in
>
> permaculture?  Are they part of our commitment to permaculture?
>
>
> I am looking forward to your thoughts!
>
>
> Rachel
>
>
>
>
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