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Summary
Paul Wheaton and Alan Booker continue their review and discussion of the big black book,
Bill Mollison's Permaculture - a designers' manual.
1.2 Ethics
1, CARE OF THE EARTH: provision for all life systems to continue and multiply.
2. CARE OF PEOPLE: provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence.
3. SETTING LIMITS TO POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION: by governing our own needs we can set resources aside to further the above principles.
Permaculture is an ethical design system, but writing the ethics down makes them explicit rather than implicit, leaving them open to be examined, debated, and abused. Paul has seen people use them as a weapon and is concerned that they could form the basis of a cult. It seems that they are only talked about when they are being abused, and not when they are being applied.
Alan feels that ethics are fractal, being self-similar at different scales. However they are easier to apply at smaller
project levels. Paul feels that while patterns can be recognised, they
should be nothing more than an extension of our vocabulary and not be forced on things.
Nobody likes the words 'setting limits to population' and there have been many attempts to re-write the third ethic, ranging from 'fair share' to 'future care'. At a small scale people understand that you can't put 20 million people on 300 acres, but on larger scales is sounds like 'population control' and becomes a political hot potato. Alan believes that if you take a purely self-centred approach, the outcomes will be vastly inferior for everybody involved. Paul thinks that we may have to embrace people's, self-centredness and provide global benefits as a frosting. Self-sacrifice doesn't appeal so much.
Podcast recorded with
Toby Hemenway.
Jack and Paul have a two hour phone podcast.
Relevant Threads
"Permaculture - a designers' manual" forum
The Big Black Book - summary, reviews,and where to buy
Ethics forum
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This podcast was made possible thanks to:
Dr. Hugh Gill Kultur
Eivind W. Bjørkavåg
Suleiman, Karrie, and Sasquatch
Bill Crim
anonymous
Kerry JustTooLazy
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Julia Winter, world's slowest mosaic artist
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Mark
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Candace Dahlk
Keith Kuhnsman
Eric Tolbert
Ruwan Nanayakkara
Polly Jayne Smyth
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