Planning for Abundance: Permaculture and Radical Transformation

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe. - John MuirThe future, as always, is uncertain. As the dawning awareness spreads that fossil fuels are limited, that economic growth can only go so far, that our ecological systems are in peril, individuals and groups respond in different ways. For some, the answer is obviously to plan for scarcity. Governmental policies of austerity have been imposed around the world. People are preparing themselves for economic collapse, environmental devastation or what is prosaically being termed the zombie apocalypse. Survivalists stock up on bottled water, preserved foods and sometimes weapons. In other words, some people sometimes respond to uncertainty with fear. A common reaction to fear is the desire to control, to contain, to impose a certain version of order. When this includes the most basic necessities of life, such as food, and it often does, many people die of starvation and many more grow ill through malnourishment (whether from under-eating, over-eating or eating the wrong foods for their bodies).Social justice is often defined in opposition to such strategies and their effects: anti-poverty, anti-hunger, anti-greed, anti-capitalism. I've been drawn to this approach but in all honesty cannot sustain it. Through regular meditation practice, I've learned to be a more honest observer of my own thoughts and behaviors. I see that whenever I'm drawn to being critical of others for their actions, I am also being critical of myself for doing very similar things.For example, as I prepared myself to sit down to a computer and attempt to write, I found myself caught up in a whirlwind of fear. What would I say? Would I be able to get it finished in time? How might these words be received? How might they affect my reputation as a writer and an activist? In a futile attempt to evade uncertainty, I found myself reaching for comfort in the form of a lovely piece of homemade cake and a nice cup of tea, followed by a beautiful piece of dark chocolate. I wish I could say I gave each morsel my complete, loving attention. But no, I was using them to sedate my nervous system. To an extent it worked. In a very limited way, greed works. I do feel less anxious, but I also feel uncomfortable in my belly and a little sleepy.You might very reasonably suggest that the comparison is laughable. Does my eating too much cake really compare to the collective actions of Monsanto, the U.S. Congress or the financially wealthiest 1% of the world's population? In terms of scale, of course not. In ecologies, however, scale is not the most important factor to consider. The smallest of elements can have the most profound effects; consider the power of bacteria, virus, atom. And what is a human body but a cooperative network of atoms and microbes that at one point in evolution were independent? They still are, really. They do their thing and the effect is a human body, with which we may identify. So-called Monsanto or congress or the 1% are similarly the effects of beings acting together, with which or against which some people identify. If the beings involved in the production of these forms of theatre (Miller, 2001) are called to act otherwise, the larger-scale pattem is transformed.When looking at how systems work, a fractal approach can be invaluable. What patterns are noticeably similar when we zoom in or zoom out in order to observe scales from the nano to the macro? What aspects of human behavior replicate themselves on individual and collective levels? Or, in feminist terms, how might we see the deep interconnection of what we might label personal and what we might term political? In this way, my experience of over-eating to ignore fear and uncertainty is clearly similar to the over-consumption and hypercontrolling patterns of governments and corporations. My desire to always receive symbolic status from my peers in exchange for my time writing or organising is a type of greed akin to stockholders always wanting a return on their shares. …