food freedom - an integral perspective 5
TRANSCRIPT
Presented by
Stella & Jose
Program1) Food freedom of
other species
2) Food that liberates the planet
3) Food that liberates the human mind &
body
4) How not to be enslaved by addictions
5) How to free our meals &
economies from the
Multinationals
5
5) How to free our meals & economies from the Multinationals
a) What does 'living without money' mean? Why is this idea so popular?
b) Why is vegetarianism so popular with alternative cultures? When is it useful & for whom?
c) How does Oppression work? Why is it crucial to understand its mechanics?
d) What Vision are we working towards? Why it's important to distinguish Visioning from Transitioning?
With examples of who is doing great work, where,
& including how currently we jeopardise the
optimum intelligence & fitness needed to design
critical transitions
FreeThinkersare those who are willing
to use their minds without prejudice& without fearing to understandthings that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs.
This state of mind is not common,but it is essential for right thinking;where it is absent, discussion is apt
to become worse than useless.Leo Tolstoy
DOING Permaculture is easy:
Which way our nose is pointing = what mental
models we are using (or which beliefs we are acting on).
so CHANGING direction = doing a Paradigm-Change
Nose mis-direction is a major way we are jeopardising the design critical transitions.
"Start at the end of your nose!"
Knowledge is having the
right answers
Intelligence is ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
INTEGRITY is aboutlooking out for the hidden holy legumes
(information that conflicts with our core belief system)
why we use multi-media > > >
we encourage real debate > > >
suggest NEW things to try > >
& support STUDY CIRCLES >
How we Learn
(& un-learn)
To find yourself, think for yourself.
We think that ...
The most neglected
direction for most PC design:
eg. noticing, questioning &
re-designing the stories we live
by.(Alt. CULTURE)
The 'default' direction for
most PC design:
eg. my life, my home,
one piece of land, one
village, etc.
we need much more systemic thinking(good teaching
required)
by designers with a lot more self-
awareness & integrity (healthy community required)
Integral PC Design
5) How to free our meals & economies from the Multinationals
a) What does 'living without money' mean? Why is this idea so popular?b) Why is vegetarianism so popular with alternative cultures? When is it useful & for whom?c) How does Oppression work? Why it is crucial to understand its mechanics?d) What Vision are we working towards? Why it's important to distinguish Visioning from Transitioning?
With examples of who is doing great
work, where,
& including how currently we jeopardise the
optimum intelligence & fitness needed to
design critical transitions
we suggest that "living without money"is a wrong answer to the wrong question
A more useful question would be "how can we eliminate oppression"?
(knowing that 'everything affects everything' so we can't do it for ourselves without doing it for everyone else)
but because it's couched in the 'me, me, me' paradigm (IT quadrant) it ends up as
"how can I have more freedom" (&, essentially, "stuff everyone else")
Work with Nature
> Work increasingly >> against Nature
Learn from Real Life: who is most oppressed by WORK?
Leavers: "Live & Let Live, Take Just What We Need"
Takers: "Take Control, Struggle to Keep Wants, Take Drugs to Relax"
"Lifestylism" is usually the right answer to the wrong question
>> Work with the Nature of the types of money we have:
WHAT do we INVEST our money IN, & FOR?
& by WHICH TYPE (design) of money? >> WHAT is money anyway?
Learn from Real Life: who is most oppressed by MONEY?
Leavers: "Live & Let Live, Take Just What We Need"
Takers: "Take Control, Struggle to Keep Wants, Take Drugs to Relax"
These are different PARADIGMS
There are radical (systemic) & superficial (linear) ways to look at
the world ...<<< Radical: function
Liberal: form >>>
Margrit Kennedy: PC Pioneer who deeply
questioned the DESIGN of our Economies, & of Money.
It is COMPOUND INTEREST
that is at "the root of all evil", NOT money.
Other Integral Women Pioneers did similar radical work and are similarly un-celebrated in conventional permaculture teachings
Hazel Henderson Nicole Foss
They all come from a much more INTEGRAL
perspective: way ahead of their times,
we're just now understanding how
important this pioneering work is.
How is the 'perfect storm' forming (economy, peak oil, politics, climate change, ...)
What can we learn from the past to predict what's going
to happen?
What can we do to minimize the damage of capitalism?
We need to changehow we invest
all resources (incl. money) to build the alternatives
+ HOW to survive the coming crisis.
Free EcoEconomicsIntro Course
based on the
interviews
www.bit.ly/EcoEconomy
It is very important nowthat we cultivate
basic eco-economics literacy especially
amongst designers & social activists.
Other Integral Women Pioneers did similar radical work and are similarly un-celebrated in conventional permaculture teachings
Helena Norberg-Hodge
Dana Meadows
They all come from a much more INTEGRAL
perspective: way ahead of their times.
Why are traditional communities happier
than ours?
Why & How do they change with
"development"?
10 Places to Intervene in a System
...3. The power of self-
organization2. The goals of the system
1. The mindset or paradigm out of which the
system arises
Change how we see the world
to change the direction
we're moving towards.
Learn from Native Peoples.
"Lifestylism" is usually the right answer to the wrong (individualistic)
question.
BUT, great for transition IF ...
- I start to question deeply held entitlement patterns
- I learn to live more simply- I get to empathise more with
poor world majorityeg. to "Live without Money"
makes sense if ...
- I want to feel good/stay as comfortable as possible
- I think I can escape 'the system'
- I feel hopeless at the scale of the problem
- I don't understand how it all works on a systems scale - I only know others in this 'lifestyle' tribe (community),
so this is my 'normal'.
Activism is to fight with integrity for a more radical,
systemic & especially pragmatic collective action.
eg. to re-direct resources to co-create a non-oppressive society for ALL life-forms:
- I vote with all & any money I can get my hands on
- I value & USE my privilege to leverage resources
- I feel empowered by seeing real results for others also- I have a more holistic,
systemic model to work from - I work with other activists
(community)
- I get to question entitlement - I don't romanticize poverty
Somevery
BASIC
positiveattitudes
are required:
- I realize resistance is essential- I work to
build alliances
Why is this idea so popular?
So ... What does 'living without money' mean? - essentially very little!
- that we are escaping OR experimenting & hopefully action-learning
- that we have a superficial money model (confuse Capitalism/Imperialism with Money, & confusing ends with
means can totally de-rail us)- that we don't believe we have real power
- & /or we've given up working collectively for large-scale social change
- it's one of the Weapons of Mass Distraction: popular by definition as it require very little thought or real effort- it doesn't threaten anything (our own hopelessness
patterns or the system)- it helps to keep activists poor! (& to that extent,
inefectual, in a world fuelled by money)
How do we REVERSE this process? (the right question)
1) by CHAMPIONING* Leavers & other Native Species
2) STOP further invasion & destruction by Takers
3) = CHANGE Taker Culture (change OUR paradigms)
This is all STILL happening today
- spot the pattern -
& 'in front of your nose' is a good place to start (go where invited)
What's it got to do with How to free our meals & economies
from the Multinationals ??
Lucy Parsons
What's it got to do with How to free our meals & economies
from the Multinationals ??Multinationals = the current destructo-machinery of Taker
Culture Agriculture > Civilization >
Patriarchy > Taker Consciousness > Destructo-
Culture > Capitalism > Imperialism ... call it whatever
you like, .... > > > this is the general
PATTERN & method > > >
5) How to free our meals & economies from the Multinationals
a) What does 'living without money' mean? Why is this idea so popular?b) Why is vegetarianism so popular with alternative cultures? When is it useful & for whom?c) How does Oppression work? Why it is crucial to understand its mechanics?d) What Vision are we working towards? Why it's important to distinguish Visioning from Transitioning?
With examples of who is doing great
work, where,
& including how currently we jeopardise the
optimum intelligence & fitness needed to
design critical transitions
A potted history of vegetarianism
"if we don't understand our history, we are doomed to repeat it"
- inexistent vegetarian Leaver Cultures- but v. interesting Taker sub-cultures which
have experimented with vegetarianism:> organized religions: christianism, buddhism...
(function: to lower libido, go more 'spiritual' = anti-body in Taker cultures)(modern puritanism: Graham crackers, Kellog cereals, Boy Scouts...)
> Wandervogel pre-nazi german youth culture 1896-1933 (function: to be more "pure" and healthier... )
> some modern sub-cultures (function: 'non-violence')
"Non-violence" is usually given today as the fundamental reason behind - 'rejecting money' AS WELL AS- 'not eating animals' AND EVEN avoiding debate (with people with contrasting models)
But to effectively ELIMINATE violence, we have to understand where the violence ORIGINATES :
we have to ask the right questions (nose pointed in useful directions)
Is a mother eagle violent when she
attacks any threat to her chicks?
We are TAUGHT to confuse anger with violence - they are NOT the same thing!
Patriarchy is all ABOUT violating healthy boundaries. ANGER is a natural defense
to boundary violation.
It's GENOCIDE
& it all starts with Agriculture
so WHY do we keep doing
it?
The Human Brain designed to work on nutrient-dense foods (= animal foods)
& if it doesn't get them, it
makes us seek substitute "feel good chemicals"
dopamine, oxytocin, endorphin (& other endogenous opioids), GABA, serotonin, adrenaline, endocannabinoids ...
CUSTOM creation, processing & elimination (SELF REGULATING)
our natural state is to be HIGH !
FATS
chol
este
rol
A, D K2
Mg, I,Zn, Se
Omega 3& Omega 6
+ discharge, sleep, nature, love ...
Doing nothing has never been so amazing
When is it useful & for whom?
So ... Why is vegetarianism so popular with alternative cultures?
- alternatives (green v.meme) is very compassionate (tries to be INCLUSIVE but often mis-directs to whom as still not
systemic, and anti-levels)- in a death-phobic culture, 'not killing' is equated
with 'compassionate'- that we have superficial system models
(eg. confuse civilization with industrialization)
- very useful for de-tox, but longer-term can become another Weapon of Mass Distraction
- it doesn't threaten anything (our hopelessness patterns or the system)
- it helps to keep activists unhealthy both physically & mentally (& therefore inefectual)
What's it got to do with How to free our meals & economies
from the Multinationals ??Multinationals brain-wash us constantly through very good designs of the fashion, food, health,
psychiatric, medical & pharmaceutical industries There are (legal &
illegal) drugs, 'products' but also
LIFESTYLES perfectly designed for each section of
the population.
5) How to free our meals & economies from the Multinationals
a) What does 'living without money' mean? Why is this idea so popular?b) Why is vegetarianism so popular with alternative cultures? When is it useful & for whom?
c) How does Oppression work? Why is it crucial to understand its mechanics?d) What Vision are we working towards? Why it's important to distinguish Visioning from Transitioning?
With examples of who is doing great
work, where,
& including how currently we jeopardise the
optimum intelligence & fitness needed to
design critical transitions
- it works by staying un-conscious (oppression is totally 'normalized' for civilized people)
"One of the principal means used by class societies to
maintain their oppression and exploitation of people has been to secure the cooperation of different groups of people in
oppressing each other.
search for "Oppression" in PermaCultureScience.org
Every person in our societies is
locked into both oppressed and
oppressor roles."
- it confuses us by changing form, but not function (to keep
us divided, oppressing each other)
eg. women in the 'west' can now
be executives
but ...
eg. we condemn 'barbaric practices' like genital
mutilation, but spend millions on cosmetic surgery in the west
eg. we romanticize & consume native cultures
instead of learning about & supporting their current
struggles
- it majorly messes up our priorities
(gives us skewy sense of proportion > we can't
accurately assess what's really going on)
- it keeps us enslaved, by a miriad 'invisible threads'
"... to secure the cooperation of different
groups of people in oppressing each other.
This has been done by installing and maintaining
attitudes of racism, prejudice, discrimination, sexism, and the oppression of young people between the different sections of
the oppressed population."
A potted history of prejudice
"if we don't understand our history, we are doomed to repeat it"
- natives are 'primitive'- witches are 'evil'- jews are 'greedy'- commies are 'traitors' - activists are 'terrorists'- feminists are 'bitter'
- it is the major defense system of the Destructo-Culture (it kicks in wherever there are effective activists or real
change is about to happen - if we don't understand this ...)
Witch burnings: 40,000 to 60,000 women tortured & murdered in public
between 1480 - 1750
"The witch hunts began a process of criminalization of birth control that eventually
led to an enormous increase in birth rates that is described as the "population explosion" of
early modern Europe.
This population explosion produced an enormous youth bulge which supplied the extra manpower that would enable Europe's nations, during the period of colonialism and
imperialism, to conquer and colonize 90% of the world"
Silvia Federici "Caliban & the Witch"
6,000,000 Jewish people - scape-goated for the massive economic depression after WW1
(predicted by Silvio Gesell)- typical 'blaming the victim'
mechanisms used- stigmatized as money-lenders,
from Medioeval times
- prejudice that continues to this day (& used to confuse people
about the banking system)
- Jews are 'set up' to take the blame when the system needs a scapegoat
- it is the major defense system of the Destructo-Culture (it kicks in wherever there are effective activists or real
change is about to happen - if we don't understand this ...)
Rumor & prejudice are used to get the population to hate the 'different'ones. A process of objectificationwhich always precedes ('justifies')
violence against those people.
- it silences & makes us dis-respect most those groups who can more clearly see how the system works (& so
would be our best leaders & teachers)
Karla Mantilla - "postmodernism came into
vogue in academia just when the voices of women and people of color began to
assert a significant presence there. It seems that when groups other than those in
power attempt to say things, suddenly truth dissolves into
meaninglessness."... not the first time it happened
The 'lower down' in society an oppressed group is ... the more likely it is to see how things are connected ('under the motherboard')
Sophia Stewart, the Real Creator of ‘The Matrix'
- it is used to justify all of the massively brutal violence in civilization's history
www.bit.ly/HorizontalHostility
Massiveanger &
frustrationare mis-directed
Why is it crucial to understand its mechanics?
So ... How does Oppression work? - it works by staying un-conscious (oppression is totally
normalized for civilized people)- it confuses us by changing form, but not function
- it majorly messes up our priorities (gives us skewy sense of proportion)
- it keeps us enslaved, by a miriad 'invisible threads'
- it is the major defense system of the Destructo-Culture (it kicks in wherever there are effective activists or real change
is about to happen - if we don't understand this ...)- it silences & makes us dis-respect most those groups who can more clearly see how the system works (& so
would be our best leaders & teachers) - it is used to justify all of the massively brutal
violence in civilization's history
What's it got to do with How to free our meals & economies
from the Multinationals ??The 'imaginal cells' of a more
just, progressive, sustainable & compassionate culture that is
trying to be born ... have always been under
attack for being 'the different ones'.
They understand what new organs we need to create IN ORDER TO liberate us from
the multinationals. Oppression is the mechanism that is used to kill or isolate
them.
Marinaleda, a model communty of 2,700 people in Andalucía
It has a proud working-class culture, celebrating resistance & solidarity
(very un-postmodernist)
Organized to occupy land during 80s & 90s, then ensured all citizens had work, affordable housing, child care, medical &
elderly care. Has no municipal police (saving $350,000 a year)
While in Andalusia 30% of the active population was without work (crisis 2008 -2010) in Marinaleda full employment was
achieved.
Why?
Not usually mentioned as a great example of 'ecovillage' or 'community'.
Damanhur, a community of 600 people in Valchiusella
They have leveraged 'conventional money' by creating a whole new
system of money, land ownership, including own currency & own banks.
Like Marinaleda, have taken over the local council (work at political level)
but also have global ambitions.
Have very unconventional ideas about spirituality, & humans' role in Creation.Why?
Not as known as it could be as a great example of alternative
economics.
5) How to free our meals & economies from the Multinationals
a) What does 'living without money' mean? Why is this idea so popular?b) Why is vegetarianism so popular with alternative cultures? When is it useful & for whom?
c) How does Oppression work? Why is it crucial to understand its mechanics?
d) What Vision are we working towards? Why it's important to distinguish Visioning from Transitioning?
With examples of who is doing great
work, where,
& including how currently we jeopardise the
optimum intelligence & fitness needed to
design critical transitions
- we need a VERY CONSCIOUS, informed & consensual vision (much CHALLENGING DEBATE required)
Do we want - a living planet- where there's always more life- with many human cultures- evolving with-in their landbase
or do we want to - 'save' civilization & 'improve' agriculture- keep our comforts & drugs- adapt the world to our whims- rather than adapt our cuture to Nature?
Each of us needs to DECIDE -& only the first vision has a future:Totally changing our personal then social paradigm. So that we can do some serious Global-scale Ecosystem Restoration > applying integral design locally... that needs to be different for each place (there's no recipes, but there are Natural Laws + sound Design Principles). Some examples for inspiration ...
RainforestsSamboja Lestari
Willie Smits:How to restore a rainforest
Keys: Integrating local culture, empowering local people & activating local
economy
Dan Barber:How I fell in love with a fish
Keys: Letting the land be what it wants to be, allowing all life to coexist, including
predators!
WetlandsVeta La Palma
Allan Savory:How to fight desertification and reverse climate change
Key: Empowering peopleby teaching Holistic Management (Integral design)using ruminants as technology to fight climate change + hunger and poverty
GrasslandsHolistic Grazing
Why is it important to distinguish Visioning from Transitioning?
So ... What Vision are we working towards?
- firstly a VERY CONSCIOUS, informed & consensual vision (much CHALLENGING DEBATE required)
- give up the idea of 'civilized' (city-centred) being more advanced than 'tribal' (community-centred)
- good designers can differentiate between FUNCTION & CONTEXT (a critical difference)
- experience tells us that the Path of Least Resistance is never a straight one (nose needs to point in
GENERAL right direction BUT also be flexible, & respond intelligently to feedback)
What's it got to do with How to free our meals & economies
from the Multinationals ??Multinationals have designed their global domination so
well not by agreeing to do the same things, or
'working together', but by working diligently, separately, toward a very clear common vision & principles (those of
imperialism). An Integral (inclusive)
framework for creating sustainable cultures needs to do the same (BASIC) thing: INTEGRATE rather than
segregate, value diversity BUT take only what is really
practical & useful in each.
sustainabilityhas a scientific DEFINITION
Transitioning
Visioning
Green v.memerejects previousOrange (science-based) v.meme
instead of
INTEGRATINGit at a higher level
It is not that difficult to1) INTEGRATE rather than
segregate2) value diversity
3) BUT take only what is really practical & useful in each
IF we agree to a scientific (rather than pseudo-scientific) approach
Science is organized knowledge
Wisdom is ORGANIZED
LIFEImmanuel Kant
www.PermaCultureScience.org
www.bit.ly/StudyCircles
Incredible Edible - Todmorden's Food Revolution
"Our aim is to make our town entirely self-sufficient in food
production by 2018. (Pam Warhurst)
Started with the "propaganda planting" of vegetables around the
town centre.
"The old health centre has plenty of land in front, so it was ideal.
I didn't ask anyone's permission: I just went there with my spade
and my seeds and I planted cabbages and rhubarb."
(Nick Green)
The Coconut Revolution- successful uprising of the
indigenous peoples of Bougainville Island
- stopped mining plans of the mining corporation Rio Tinto Zinc (forcibly closed down the mine)
- against a heavily armed adversary they still managed to retain control of most of their
island.
- Bougainville Revolutionary Army overcame marine blockade
by repairing abandoned vehicles, making fuel from coconut oil, becoming self-sufficient in foodand building their own weapons
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
- for 50 years oil has been mined from the Niger Delta, destroying the ecosystems and poisoning the people.
- MEND started as non-violent, organized by college-educated people
- all the leaders were hanged.After that it radicalized.
- they've been very effective in stopping the oil flow
- with their own training, weaponsand lots of local support
- INTEGRATE great design knowledge
FreeThinkersare those who are willing
to use their minds without prejudice& without fearing to understandthings that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs.
This state of mind is not common,but it is essential for right thinking;where it is absent, discussion is apt
to become worse than useless.Leo Tolstoy
Presented by
Stella & Jose
Program1) Food freedom of
other species
2) Food that liberates the planet
3) Food that liberates the human mind &
body
4) How not to be enslaved by addictions
5) How to free our meals &
economies from the
Multinationals
5