Matthew's Post #3

In my first two blogs (which should now be uploaded to the site) I tried to focus on the idea that humans don’t have to be destructive, but instead can be productive. Obviously this is going to require a giant paradigm shift, but it’s possible. In fact, the more we believe and begin acting as if this is true, the more likely it is to happen. Just to be clear, I’m not talking about limiting our destruction. As McDonough and Braungart (2002) suggest, “the key is not to make human industries and systems smaller, as efficiency advocates propound, but to design them to get bigger and better in a way that replenishes, restores, and nourishes the rest of the world” (p. 78). So, what I’m talking about is encouraging humans to be good as opposed to less bad. Permaculture is one way to be good; it allows for us to design systems that restore and replenish. So, by practicing permaculture we can begin shifting our mindset towards creating systems of abundance for all life. However, I’m curious to what degree our involvement in other systems is perpetuating human destructiveness.

For example, I have considered myself a liberal for many years, but is being a liberal and voting democrat really doing anything good? Isn’t the liberal agenda, by regulating and allowing government control, merely reducing how destructive humans are? Does voting along liberal lines really incentivize doing good? Obviously there are some good things that come with a liberal viewpoint. For example, I completely agree with the liberal social agenda and its focus on individual freedom. In the long run though, does this priority outdo the continuation of destructive systems? Is it time for a new party, one focused on incentivizing the human potential for good? What about our food systems? Obviously environmentalists like to promote organic food, I certainly try and eat entirely organic. However, if this organic food is still raised in a monoculture and trucked in from California and Mexico, are we really supporting good or are we just being less bad? What about going to work? If we’re not working towards creating nourishing and replenishing systems is it worth going to work? Where do we draw the line? How can we help support one another in not just being less bad, but being more good? Permaculture is one idea, but it’s not the only idea. How can we support other systems of abundance so that we can begin mimicking ecological complexity with many overlapping systems of abundance? I don’t have the answers, just the questions. My hope is that together we can start generating soutions.