Hello permies! first poster here, decided I'd chime in on a good topic like this.
A little background to know where I'm coming from. I was raised on a traditional organic homestead. My dayjob is in landscape contruction. Still in my 20's and already getting sick of the city, I'm using a funds matching saving program to help me by a house and land. Many states have these and they're sometimes called IDA accounts look them up and see if you qualify.
I think permaculturists should question themselves and others like the OP did in the first post. The OP is reasonable in his expectations of an ACTUAL framework to be demonstratable testable and repeatable by anyone. That is the definition of success and I think that it will be achieved. But we have to be dilligent in weeding out the charlatans. I get very turned off by people getting too caught up in the 'saving the world' aspect of this. Saving the world is too good to be true, but it's what people want to hear when they're paying a shitload of money for some permaculture design course. I feel that way too many teachers are making money off of the ideas and the sentiments, not the actions. So many books and videos and classes.
If our aim is to propel this thinking into the mainstream and have it supplement/replace our current food system, results are the only thing that will get anyones attention. It's what got my attention in the first place when I saw a friend of mine clearing his blackberry infested property with some goats in movable paddocks. I say lets keep it organic, like this forum and make it truly a grassroots movement based on solid reasoning and not a starry eyed dogmatic lifestyle choice.
