the solutions are embarrassingly simple

R Ranson wrote:Paul!  You've done so much good.  You DO a lot more good getting the word out than any celebrity I've seen.  

You made this forum.  You work damn hard to keep this place friendly and full of people who actually want to do stuff and make the world a better place.  

You inspire people.  You make them interested in change.  They make a change, their friends see the change, they make change... it's a chain change reaction.  

I can't imagine going the celebrity path is going to have a greater effect.  The change that is necessary goes against the status quo, it threatens them.  Once someone has enough celebrity status, they realise that their success is dependent on maintaining things as they are.  It's that whole thing in the book 1984, where the purpose of The Party is to maintain power, not to improve existence for any individual.  The people who currently have power read Orwell and they take their lessons from him.  How could these celebrity create change in the world? ...

R Ranson wrote:I can't imagine going the celebrity path is going to have a greater effect.  The change that is necessary goes against the status quo, it threatens them.  Once someone has enough celebrity status, they realise that their success is dependent on maintaining things as they are.  It's that whole thing in the book 1984, where the purpose of The Party is to maintain power, not to improve existence for any individual.  The people who currently have power read Orwell and they take their lessons from him.  How could these celebrity create change in the world?]

Steve Taylor wrote:The man was hated by many in the area for leaving and is still resented by many.  When he won the Championship last year his instagram tag read #putsomerespectnexttomyname.  He is often disrespected and underappreciated in the media.  Not so much now as his career before

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Hi Paul. I translated your answers to that question (of reddit) in Dutch and shared that, so I hope some people here in the Netherlands can read it. Such simple & effective solutions!!!
Only the RMH is not possible for me.

Kyrt Ryder wrote:

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Hi Paul. I translated your answers to that question (of reddit) in Dutch and shared that, so I hope some people here in the Netherlands can read it. Such simple & effective solutions!!!
Only the RMH is not possible for me.

Not possible... why? In temporary housing right now?

Michael Cox wrote: For example I can spend £10,000 landscaping my few acres and turning it into a permaculture paradise. However, with that same £10,000 I can support a community in Africa that wants to terrace it's water shed and build a sand dam - guaranteeing reliable safe water supply year round for 2000+ people.

with that same £10,000 you could teach those same 2000 people everything about Permaculture and empower them to change their Paradigm forever. Dams, ponds, swales, it's all in there............Just a thought

Tyler Ludens wrote:


I don't see how a person who is hated and resented will make a better spokesperson for permaculture than just some guy.  Lots of permaculture people are hated just because permaculture, - will someone who is hated and resented already for other reasons somehow be more effective?

Also his endorsements are not in concert with permaculture, in my opinion.  

exposing the mass of information we ignore

Andrea Mondine wrote:If each one of us can find the time or the way to help spread the word about permaculture, the Permies.com site or about products that benefit the site, we can not only ‘lighten the load’ but exponentially increase the potential for positive outcome.

Ron Helwig wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:

Marco Banks wrote:I think a popular movie (a romantic comedy starting Sandra Bullock and some hunky guy opposite her) would go a whole lot farther than another preachy docu-advocacy film).  

I think this is true.   A few years ago I contacted my favorite author and tried a lot of different things to convince him of a story.   I then paid a ghost writer to write it - that didn't work.  I then found another ghost writer, and that didn't go anywhere .... that project is still sitting in the wings gathering dust.

Maybe make it a TV sitcom. You could call it "Green Acre" (not Acres). Reboots are all the rage these days, right?

Tyler Ludens wrote:I advise against trying to make a TV show or feature film.  This is a recipe for heartbreak even if you are friends with people in show biz.  (I work in show biz)  

Marla Kacey wrote:Why not a utube series?  

An unhappy upwardly mobile young man visits a 'crazy' friend in Missoula MT (maybe his name is Paul Wheaton or maybe his friend introduces him to Paul) and starts to see the light (and a rocket stove).  He meets an unhappy, but dream filled waitress and starts to dream a bit too.

Sandra Bullock would be wonderful!  But maybe too expensive.  Are there any thespians in the permies community?  Destiny?  Jesse?  Anyone?

Just dreamin' here.

Roberto pokachinni wrote:
While I agree with so much of Paul's sentiments, and the suggestions that others are making to help him along on this stumbling block, and I think that we (meaning me too) should make efforts to get the message out

paul wheaton wrote: ... So I wish to make it clear:  don't direct suggestions to me.  Direct the suggestion to yourself.  Create a thread at permies and see if you can make things actually happen.   Without me.

Roberto pokachinni wrote: Give them time, Paul.  

David Livingston wrote:You need a brake , full rest now for a while .

R Ranson wrote:
You often say you want to infect millions of brains with permaculture.  To get them from level zero to level one on the Wheaton Eco Scale.  

And yet, your message is often level five or higher.  Rocket Mass Heaters, the thing about the light bulbs, this isn't something a level zero person can understand.  

Devin Lavign wrote:What is your take on Alan's complicated vs complex and how we need holistic decision making to figure out solutions to complex problems? Do you think this holistic concept could take off and spread into our world culture fast enough to make a difference?

Devin Lavign wrote:Oh and Paul, your post is sounding very Derrick Jensen. We all hit walls in our struggle to make the world better.

But I keep trying, keep telling more people about permaculture, keep spreading permaculture ideas without even calling it that, and generally just try to make the world better.