Give an Old Dog a Bone

In the preface of the preface of the book Permaculture Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability, David Holmgren mentions his teenage son Oliver as an inspiration and says "He has confirmed for me that it takes more than a single generation to create a new ecological culture; some difficult aspects that I have grappled with, he has easily digested and integrated." (page xiii) What he's saying, in a way, is that we can't change the world overnight, in no small part because you can't teach old dogs new tricks. No matter how much we study, we're the old dogs.

Technology is a great example of this. My 4 year old son, who can't read yet, can navigate the internet, sometimes better than his 74 year old grandfather. My dad's pretty capable for someone of his generation, but he's stuck circling the same applications - any advances or updates leave him stumped. In contrast, my 4 & 7 year olds integrate the world of technology intuitively, despite their relatively low level of exposure.

Holmgren and Mollison both frequently mention indigenous cultures and their intuitive or cultural understanding of the earth's natural ecology and their ability to live sustainable lives. "I believe many of the insights [i've had] of systems thinking that are difficult to grasp as abstractions are truths that are embodied in the stories and myths of indigenous cultures." (Holmgren, page xxvi) This makes me sad, because these ancient cultures have all but disappeared - their knowledge and understanding with them, and there is no way to get them back. Never mind the fact that this old dog would never really be able to fully grasp their culture anyway! But I could go live with them and be the humble, ignorant old dog with the hopes that they'd let me stay and my kids would figure it out. Why was I not born in a different time-place-culture? One that I could be proud of?

What if instead of teaching our kids to surf the web and master their Play Stations (we don't have one of those things - but best believe many of their friends do. "It's not FAIR, mom!") while listening to their iPod shuffles, we surrounded them with the patterns of nature? What if schools and society (their friends!) taught - instilled - nothing but How to be One with the Earth and Your Community? And it didn't have to have such a silly name because everyone knew that there was nothing else worth doing? If we don't do something along those lines, I feel that life during, and for some time after, 'energy descent' is going to be very painful for a lot of people. I feel, as Holmgren obviously does as well, that we are on the cusp of this decent, and I am fearful of what my children may have to face. Because, although the world's societies seem to be making advances in 'environmentalism' or whatever, there is still PLENTY of destructive behavior going on, big and small, every day. It's hard to feel that we are really moving in the right direction. Really.

When I lived in community there was a sign over the group kitchen sink that read: **YOUR MOMMA DOESN'T LIVE HERE * CLEAN UP AFTER YOUR SELF** That's a lesson all the old dogs of the world shouldn't have a choice but to learn.