The Politics of Permaculture by Leahy Terry;

Author:Leahy, Terry;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pluto Press

We have a degree of flexibility, but we need to stay between these two rings of the doughnut. Andy suggests a number of measures. Abandon GDP as the measure of economic health. Government policy should favour cooperatives rather than corporations. A more regional economy. A more participatory political process through local committees. Devolve most political decisions to a bioregional level. Proportional representation. Shift from private transport to public transport and bicycles. There is no problem with money as such, but we need to ban interest on loans. ‘We need to design the economy in a way that it doesn’t have to grow. So, it can be much more Steady State.’ Taxes may be used to curb environmental damage. For example, prohibitive taxes on a private vehicle, unless it is shared. State housing would be provided to housing cooperatives. Government funded workshops would facilitate voluntary community work, repairing bicycles, sewing, sharing tools and office equipment. Proposals similar to these are common in radical reformist writings.

While this is a vision of a regulated market economy, Andy has no hesitation in calling out the problems of current capitalism. No wonder people are finding it difficult to understand climate change because the media is owned by billionaires. The state has been captured by the capitalist class. The fossil fuel companies will not give up their power easily. Conservationists ignore land ownership and have no class analysis. We need to ally with other movements working for similar goals – to take power. Andy explains why permaculture needs to go beyond its previous anti-political standpoint.

And it’s like, if you take Bill Mollison’s approach of putting your own systems in place and basically create the alternative. Well at the moment we need an alternative society. And that involves producing energy and ... We’ve got to the stage where our organizing needs to work at this more societal level. Recognizing that a lot of organizations now have a very similar analysis.

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