memex/0_inbox/in/books/PDM/Bill Mollison - Permaculture A Designer's Manual text/003.txt

This elhie is a very simple siaiemeni of guidanee, and
serves well lo illuminaie everyday endeavours. || ean
be eoupled io a deierininaiion lo make our own way'
id be neniier employers nor employoa, landlords nor
lenants, hul lo be sell-reliani as individuals and lo
eoopeiaie as groups

Fm rlie sake ol ihe earlh irreli, l evolved a
philosophy close in Taoism irom my evpenenees wiih
nalural syslema A: ii was slaved in Permulhdrr Two, u
is a philosophy oi working wuh rallier ihan againsi
naiure; el prolraeied and ihoughiiul abservanun
raiher ihan prolraeled and lhoughiless aclion. oi
looking al sysienis and people in all iheir innehons,
ralher ihan asking only one yield oi lliern. and ol
allowing sysleins lo dernonsnaie Lhzir own evoluiions,
A basie guesnon lhai ran beaaked in rwo ways

~whai an i gel liuin ihisland, 01mm“ or

~Whal does lhrs person, or land. have io give ii i
cooper-aie wiili mm

as lhese iwo approaches, ihe iorrner leads lo war
and wasie, ihe loner ie pesee and plenry

Mod eonnim. l iind, lay in how sueli ouesiions are
asked, and not in ihe answers io nny ouesrion. 0r, ro
pui ir anoiher way, we are clearly looking {0101: nghl
onesoons roilrer ihan ior answers We should be alefl
io replirnse or release lhe ~wrong" onesuon

ll has beeome evideni rhai umty in people rornes
lionia eoinirion adheienee lo a sei oi eihieal prinoplos,
eaeh ol us perhaps going our own way. or our own
pare, and wi|||in ihe lirnils ol our resources, yei all
leading lo ihe sarne goals, whlch in our own eose is
lhai ol a living eoinplea, and sueuinable unh. Those
whoogieeon sueh eihies, philosophies, and goals lorrn
n global naiion

How do a purple evolve an eiiiie, and why should
we bolher lo do so?

Humans are rhinking beings, wilh long memories,
oral and mum records, and ihe abiliry in invesugaie
ihe disianl pasi by applying a rarieiy oi reehnioues
iiom dendioehronology lo areliaeology. pollen analy-
sis ro ihe geological sciences ii is iliereioie evideni iliai
ueliaviours in ihe narural world whioh we ihoughl
approprule al one dine larer prove ro be damaging in
our own soeiery in ihe longererm leg. ihe ellesis oi
hioerdal pesi ronirols on soils and waierl.

Thus, we are led by inlormaiion, ieileeiion, and
eaieiul invesrigarion io moderaie. abandon, or iurbid
eeriain behaviours and subsianees ihal in ihe longe
lei-in Lhreaien our own mmval; new insuroinr
Conservairve and rauuous rules oi behaviour are
evolved This is a rario and sensible proeess.
ierponsiirle ior many laooosin oiudl smells.

ihom a gieal many ease horoner we ean lisi some
rules oi use, ior example ihe RULE or NECESH’OUS
USEAhm we leave any naiural sysiein alone uniil we
are, oi slrid mny, ioieed in use n We may lhen
iollow up wiih RULES or CONSERVATIVE
USEihdvlng round l| necessary lo use a nalural
nsouroe, we rnayinsisionevery ailernpr io

. Reduce wasie, henoe paflulion;

 

 

. Thoroughly replaee losr minerals,

. Doaeareiul energy aeeouniing and

- Make an rsseasrnenr oi the longelerrn, negarive,
biosoelal eneris on socieiy, and ael io builer or
elimiroie iliese

ln pramre, we evolve over rime lo various lonns oi
unwilling [av our rriions. Sueli oeeounis are iiseal,
sueial, environmenul, aeeiheris, or erergeiie rn naiure,
and all are appropriaie ioour own survival

Consideraiion oi ihsse rules oi neeessiious and
ronservanve use may lead us, siep by srep, so ilie basie
realisanon or our inleieonneeiednasr wiih naruie; Illa!
we depend on good healrh in all syslems lor our
survivol. Thus, we widen ilie selielnieresied idea oi
human survival ion ihe orsis oi posi irmrne ond
environmenial disasierl lo include ihe idea oi “lhz
survival of naiuiel sysiems', and an see, lor erample,
ihal when we lose plani .and onimal speeies due lo our
aeiioiis, we lose many survival npponunitus. on iares
are inienwinod This proeess, or somelhing like , is
eoonnon lo every group oi people who evolve a
general eanheare Ethic.

l-iaving developed an eariheaie eihie by assessing
our oesl rourse ior survivol, we lhen lurn lo our
.elarionrhips wiLh oiheis Here, we observe a general
rule oi naiure ihal eooperalive species and askxlz»
irons oi seliesupporllng species (like myeoi-rlura on
iree roolrl make neullliy iommuniiies sueh lesson.
lead us lo .1 senrrirle Msclvn lo eooperaie and sake
suppoil roles in sooeiy, io [cam an inieiilependenee
whirh values ihe individual-seonii-ibuiiuns raiher ihan
ioruisoioppo onoroiuipeunon,

Alrhough i ally we ean see how helping our
lainily and ii-iends assiso us in our own survival, we
may evolve ilie maiure ellile rliai sees all humankind as
iamily, and all lrle as ollred ossoeiarions. Thus, we
expand peepiesarr iosperier (arr, ior all Me has (vulnlon
origins Allan uurlamlly"

We see how enlighiened sell nreresi leads us io
evolve ellues oi susiainable and sensible behaviour.
These lhen, are ihe onus zxpnshed in perrnaeuliure.
Having evolved eliues, we can lhen devise ways In
apply lhen. ro our lives eeononues, gardens, land, and
narure nus is wliai i ‘5 book is aooui; (h! medians
isrns oi rnarure eln al behaviour, or how io no lo
suriain ihe eanh

There is more ihan one way lo adueve permanence
and srabillry in land or soeiery. lhe peasanl approaeh is
well desenbed by Kinglfil ior old Gum l-leie people
hauled nulrienls hoin ranals, resspiis, paihways and
loiesis lo an annual grain euliure. We euiild desedbe
rhis as leudal permanenre- ior iis rnelliods, period
and po iias. reople were bound or ihe landreape uy
unremiiiirig loil, and in servise lo a siaie OI landlord.
This leads evenrnally iolamine and revolurion.

A seeond approaeh is on permanent pasiure oi
prairie, parnpas, and modern weriem iarrns, where
large holdings and lew people eieale vasl grazing
leases, usually lor a single species oi animal. This is
besl desrrihed as -barunial permanenee- wilh

lCononued on page 5 l

3