Probably a good candidate post for "meaningless drivel"
An engineer at work today shared this with me and it made so much sense that I nearly heard an audible click of tumblers in my head from after I watched it:
http://www.wimp.com/surprisingmotivation/
I thought wondering to myself why I spend evenings up late reading technical
books about food science, nutrition and alternative agriculture methods producing markedly better food for people? I mean blogging is not a profession for me, but I do it because I really like it.
Then in the
video I saw myself through late hours and diligent study attaining self-direction, mastery of a discipline and purpose.
Then I thought of Paul running Permies.com and his mission to bring
Permaculture to the world--pro bono! I doubt anyone forces Paul to do any of this. Rather from talking to him in person, listening to the podcasts and grooving on Permies.com posts I get the impression that Paul advances the ball for
Permaculture because he wants to do something to make the world a better place.
It seems that people who love doing things tend to do them better than everyone else, and this is not a shocker. But when you think of
why they do them
for free, the question becomes more nuanced.
It is not that money ruins everything, rather it is that money
cannot fix everything. Take signs in the park that say, "Pick up after your dog." Now, one may think, "Is that really necessary?" A sign that says, "Honor the Park and Show Respect to Others," may convey the same message, or it may not, it depends on the reader. Basically, you cannot pay someone to care just like you cannot make them show respect. All you can merely do is put up a sign that says, "pick up your dog's
poop!" because a sign that says, "It is disrespectful to other people when you do not pick up after your dog" really relies on a level of concern that person may not have.
And so it goes for trying to repair the food system from something that subsidizes for cut-rate mono-cropped commodities to a wholesome agriculture system that produces nutritionally superior food at fair market prices is a problem that will not be solved by more money.
Profit is not solely what got us here and it will take more than simply putting up a sign to get us out. Rather disconnecting ethics and purpose from the method where it is not only accepted practice but even conscionable to put 3.5
chickens per square foot in a battery egg house. After all, they are
only chickens, right? Wrong.
And yet people who have looked at the state of the world and sighed at the condition of it and choose to take bricks and build a better world instead of buying more bumper stickers and jumping up and down making a-whole-bunch of noise may have worthy motivations to consider.
Food for thought . . .
