Like most theology/philosophy students and politicians, instead of answering the question, I’m going to change the question and answer that instead.
(Theology students do it because they don’t quite understand the question and hope that by throwing more words at it, they might accidentally answer the question. Politicians do it because they know the answer and know that you won’t like it!)
So, why permaculture?
Like several others, TV is a major influence. Growing up, I watched the Good Life and Star Trek The Next Generation. Both of these gave me a deep dissatisfaction with the military-industrial-media-politico-whatever complex that describes the capitalist Ponzi scheme that is running society today. (You can tell I haven’t really studied philosophy!)
The idea of following the ‘normal’ route, school > university > soulless desk job > soulless desk job with too much stress > a couple of years without soulless desk job but now too tired to do anything > dead, never filled me with joy but I didn’t see any alternatives. The blessing of failing my last year at uni gave me the chance to experience the minimum wage jobs, shop assistant at a supermarket and cleaner at a private school. It also kept me off the treadmill that many of my schoolmates are stuck on.
I took a dive into minimalism and realised that that swimming pool isn’t very deep. Useful tool (I plan to build a bicycle trailer that will hold all my worldly possessions) but not a great philosophy. Stoicism from MrMoneyMoustache again gives a very useful perspective but I’m not devoting my life to it. Adaptation from Ross Raven addresses many of my concerns but, possibly stupidly, I hold some hope for humanity.
And now permaculture. I dunno. I suspect that this again will be a very useful tool, the difference may be the number of voices and the depth of experience that I can learn from.
And that leads on to, so why permies.com?
Cos you lot know lots of stuff!
I really appreciate the community that Paul has brought together here. You’re an eclectic mix (I have an affinity for the odd), with a massive range of knowledge that I can plunder. I suspect I’ll never fully embrace the cult but that my crazy is close enough to Paul’s crazy to get along here. (Please read Paul’s Thorns book before you crucify me for that.)
I’m probably somewhere around 2/3 on the Wheaton eco scale, no garden but fully pooless, highly reliant on diesel but living in community. I’m aiming for around level 5, growing 90% of my diet but living in town with no non-muscle vehicles and no energy bills.
It'll be a good few years until I have a place and starting making threads here but I'll post replies to other peoples threads. I'm a refiner not a visionary.
I’m here to learn and hopefully help others learn from some of the knowledge and skills I’ve gained.
Sorry for the essay. I hate writing but once I’ve started, I carry on for a bit.