Author: jennynazak

To the many of my fellow USAmerican Boomers who talk about retiring to other countries to escape from whatever seems too horribly bad to endure (book-banning governors, backward environmental policies, atrocious sickcare system, or what have you):

Please stick around. We need to stick around and help change things. We can’t escape creeping fascism and other badness by fleeing to other countries. That might have worked for (some) people back around WWI and WWII but it won’t work anymore.

We Boomers, and I’m particularly talking to fellow white Boomers here, are THE MOST RESOURCED demographic in the entire history of the planet. If we can’t use our voices and our spending power to set things right, who can and who will?

I would also add that we owe it to our kids, grandkids, future generations. We have had it easy. No matter how hard some of us might think we’ve had it, we’ve had it easier than anyone else in history. We have an obligation now.

Along the same lines, we owe it to the rest of the world. For example, our neighbor, Mexico. It’s weird that lots of comfortably-off gringos can talk about retiring to Mexico at the same time as thousands of actual Mexicans are living in such dire straits that they risk their lives to try to come here! Other countries too, same. Many, or even most, of the dire conditions experienced by everyday people in Mexico and many other countries can be traced back to the policies and culture of the USA, so there’s more than a bit of sick irony here.

I have heard of cases of USA American people, even people who consider themselves permies, being able to buy land because some poor farmer sold their land, their HOME, to try to buy themselves passage to the USA. What are we thinking??? How do we not notice this is problematic??

For those of us who are out of practice at using our voices if it means risking loss of social capital or power-adjacency, I suggest a gradient approach. Start by standing up to HOAs and lawn-fanatic neighbors. Then ramp right up to challenging institutionalized racism and other big evils.

I know it’s tempting to think about leaving. (For me, the evil that sets me off is leafblowers and other violent landscaping machinery & practices. I’m here for all the rest of that stuff, but DAMN, those things especially when wielded with our tax dollars sometimes make me truly yearn for saner, scruffier shores. I mainly daydream about fictional English villages where power-washers haven’t reached yet.)

But, please everyone stick around! We have beaucoup work to do.

One thing that will help is to build community. This aspect of countering evil is often overlooked. In capitalist/colonizer culture we’re not very good at building community, staying in community. So we have to consciously cultivate community skills. As my friend and colleague Laura Oldanie (Rich & Resilient Living) says in her most recent e-newsletter:

“The more we the people can come together to meet our needs outside our destructive economy, the more confident and ready we’ll be to to stand up together against the climate, social, environmental, and political injustices we are seeing more and more of.”

Two community activities Laura cites as examples are time-banks, and Offers And Needs Markets (OANMS): “Participation in my local time bank has brought me new connections and friendships as well as much more joy in my life to say nothing of the money it’s saved me. I suspect OANMs provide similar outcomes for people and communities.”

By the way, Laura is offering an interactive online workshop in March titled “Free Your Mind from Capitalism.” Go here to get more details and sign up. Sounds like it’ll be a goodie!

Further Exploration:

• “How to fight with dictators in a villager style.” (From Jon Jander “Life is Easy” series on YouTube.) (This recco is from Laura’s latest newsletter too.)

In this video I attempt to use some wry humor to address popular misconceptions about environmentalists.

And, in addition to avoiding all-or-nothing mentality and cookie-cutter misconceptions, don’t forget to pursue what brings you JOY! One of the biggest culprits in hyperconsumerism & waste is when we get sidetracked away from focusing on the people, tasks, & things that really matter to us, and we end up using consumerism to fill the void.

#ClearingUpMisconceptions #EnvironmentalistsAreHumanToo #DeepGreen #WalkYOURwalk #EcoFootprint

Friends in Texas have been having another hard winter ice/snow storm, with many people experiencing extended power outages again this year. This time, unlike in 2021, a lot of the outages are from ice-laden tree branches falling on power lines.

A friend in Austin reports her power has been out for 26 hours. She and her husband are doing OK (though a bit bored), bundled up in jackets and the indoor temp is 53. (Update: These friends have now been without power 60 hours. Good news is the indoor temp is holding steady at 53. They have been able to recharge their phones by going to nearby coffee shops.)

In my experience with power outages in subfreezing weather, I too have found that low 50s indoors is definitely do-able with dressing in layers, having plenty of quilts and blankets, down sleeping-bag, etc. Finding some vigorous task or going for a walk can help too but might not be an option if every square inch of the outdoors is coated with slippery ice, threat of falling tree branches etc. (Another Austin friend had a tree branch crash through her livingroom window and another fall on her car.)

If subfreezing weather continues longer and the temps inside get colder, occupants of houses can close off all rooms and occupy one smaller room which can be warmed by just their body heat and maybe some candles. (Extra warmth if pet dogs and cats are among the household members!)

Setting up a tent inside a room is good too — but I would be super cautious about using candles inside a tent. I’ve seen tents go up in flames almost instantly when someone tried to use a candle-lantern inside the tent.

Long term, if harsh winter spells become a more routine thing, I can imagine some people might want to look into getting woodstoves for cooking and heating. I’d definitely invest in a woodstove as opposed to, say, getting a gasoline-powered generator that would be used to supply electricity.

Long underwear is also a good investment.

Also! Power lines should all be buried. I hate that the existence of electric-power lines forces trimming of trees that would otherwise be left in peace to provide shade and beauty. And I hate that people’s electric power is in constant jeopardy from weather, needlessly! Bury those lines I say! To objections based on the cost of transition, I totally agree with everyone who points out that the constant outages from ice storms and all have got to be really expensive!

“The entire Universe is my true personality” — Anonymous Zen Master

I love this quote, have long believed this to be true, and have experienced it to be true.

It’s a good reminder to me not to fall into “othering” people. To call in rather than call out.

Also this, from Thich Nhat Hanh: “We have the wrong perception that we are separate from the other. So, in a way, Trump is a product of a certain way of being in this world so it is very easy to have him as a scapegoat. But if we look closely, we have elements of Trump in us and it is helpful to have time to reflect on that.” (NOTE: If you think the other guy is evil, replace Trump’s name with the other guy’s, or with any personal pet “baddie” of your choice.)

Some of the most challenging work we do as part of being ecosocial activists might be self-care.

One of my personal challenges is how to allow myself to truly experience the pleasures of the physical plane while trusting myself not to slip into decadence and hedonism (not really knowing where the line is sometimes). I’ve been doing extra work on this area for the past few months and it seems to be helping.

I also sometimes have trouble buying myself stuff that I really need, though I seem to be getting better about that too. Cataract surgery, therapy, new shoes. I think the shoes were hardest.

Sure I always think about eco footprint but sometimes we just need stuff. And pleasure is a legitimate and necessary part of the equation too.

Joan Pancoe, a mystic whose writings resonate deeply with me and who I have often quoted here, really makes this point deeply in the latest edition of her email newsletter. Her newsletter is free, so if you like this quote you might want to subscribe. She also offers a variety of personalized services such as consultations.

“The idea of healthy selfishness seems to push more of my clients’ buttons than almost any other teaching of mine. But with upbeat Jupiter in self-reliant Aries this is exactly the lesson presented now and, for our long-term health and peace of mind, an imperative one. …

“This selfless service to others, while bypassing themselves, comes from what I call: ‘the Mother Teresa karmic rut.’ I have to remind clients who carry this quite common rut of identity that, even if they were self-sacrificing channels of Divine energy in past lives, in this life, if ‘bathing lepers’ sores,’ metaphorically speaking or otherwise, isn’t blissful, then it’s definitely not for them this time. …

“The lesson of Jupiter in Taurus is to really get, on a visceral and experiential level that: There is no other plane of existence except the physical plane in which we can enjoy the physical senses. So, all together now, ‘AAAAH!’

“That being the case, if we don’t choose to develop our capacities for pleasure on the sense level to a point of contentment, we may end up having regret for missed opportunities when not incarnate, thus keeping us firmly entrenched on the wheel of karma (regret does that, you know), until we give ourselves permission to enjoy our senses more while we’re here.

“Furthermore, if we are indeed ‘the Divine’s little hand-puppets,’ then the only way Source can experience the physical senses is through us and who are we to withhold this delight from our Cocreator? …

“I’ve been consciously working on cultivating more capacity and tolerance to handle ever deeper levels of pleasure, joy and bliss—three aspects of abundance—for many lifetimes. How about you?
If you’re ready to enjoy Life more, here’s a very good place to start: On Pleasure, Joy and Bliss.”

And yes, and yet, I continue to minimize my eco footprint as best I can, and try to share with others the joy of cultivating abundance via simplicity (a discerning brand of simplicity which does include pleasure, as I sometimes refer to myself as an “ornate minimalist”). I can hold both of these realities, and I strongly encourage you to explore this “both-and” also.

As Joan writes in the same article:

“But when I take my enthusiasm to an extreme of over-the-top audacity buoyed by ego, that’s when I get whacked.

“So, when the positive traits of Jupiter in Aries flip to the dark side, our energies could be expressed through impatient, impulsive and mindless actions in our pursuit of whatever it is we’re after. And it is this type of greed for ‘more, different or better’ that we need to watch out for.

“I couldn’t close without this brief karmic warning label on the potentials for misuse of the energies of Jupiter through excess, hubris and entitlement. If we don’t utilize these most wondrous energies with gratitude for all the gifts of abundance given on so many levels, but instead are always grasping for more — we can be sure that at some point — in this incarnation or a future one — we will get the opportunity for a karmic do-ever with perhaps a little less easy access to Jupiter’s wonders to help us get the lesson. For more:
The Karmic Consequences of Entitlement (and it might not be what you think) …

“So too with the energies of Jupiter, it behooves us to be ever mindful to be content and enjoy fully what is with gratitude and thus stop ourselves from acting out from any hungry ghost tendencies and giving ourselves a tummy ache on the physical and/or karmic levels. The mindful balance of moderation in all things Jupiter will create the sweetest music to dance through Life to. For more: A Mystic’s Take on Hungry Ghosts, Karmic Setpoints and How to Truly Feed Our Souls.”

#RainwaterHarvestingSuccess story:

Calif. storms help ease drought
Rainfall feeds systems set up to capture rainwater (Suman Naishadham and Brian Melley; ASSOCIATED PRESS)

“LOS ANGELES – As Californians tally the damage from recent storms, some are taking stock of the rainwater captured by cisterns, catches, wells and underground basins – many built in recent years to provide relief to a state locked in decades of drought.

“The banked rainwater is a rare bright spot from downpours that killed at least 20 people, crumbled hillsides and damaged thousands of homes.

“Los Angeles County, which has 88 cities and 10 million people, collected enough water from the storms to supply roughly 800,000 people for a year, said Mark Pestrella, director of the Los Angeles County Public Works department. …” (this is a short excerpt; visit link to read whole article)

I always feel heartsick when fellow USA Americans in the permie movement make posts in permie groups along these lines: “Hi! We are buying land and building a house in <tropical paradise country xyz>. We are from <some city in the USA with a totally different climate> and we don’t know what grows here. It’s so overwhelming, please advise!”

I always wonder what it is that makes people (mainly my fellow USA Americans) want to go build some site and do some land-based thing in a place where they have no knowledge of the land, plants, or any people. It seems really stark and daunting to me, not to mention possibly intrusive.

I want to respond “Noooooo!!! Dont go there! Stay home! Stop colonizing other countries!”

Most of the people’s comments in response to these kinds of posts tend to focus purely on the physical land and what plants will grow there. Grrrrr. All too often we act as if this is all of permaculture or even the main part of permaculture.

Recently I was relieved to see one person reponding to such a post advise that they find an indigenous helper; offer them the land; build relationships. “Social permaculture is where you start if you dont know where you are or what grows there.” AMEN!!

There are so many of us infesting other countries/territories tho … Costa Rica, Hawaii, Puerto Rico … are some of the favorite locations where we are moving to, making life even more difficult for locals than it is already.

On a related note – Mike Hoag is going to be on the radio on Dan Wahpepah’s show at 2pm US PST 5pm US EST today — I think they’ll be sharing some observations & insights that will be helpful & relevant to this discussion. See the post Mike just made.” Very timely timing! I hope lots of people will tune in.

In a private convo recently, a fellow permie commented “It’s weird. They want to move here and we want to move there.” (“They” being citizens of various tropical countries.)

I replied that the people from these other countries want to move here bc they are starving [or not earning enough to survive, or being threatened daily with drug gang violence, etc. — added later], bc our consumerist/globalist system has messed up their ecosystems and cultures [and their homegrown economies]. We want to move there because we are indoctrinated in colonizer culture, that is what colonizers do. We jacked up our own economy, and created a soulless culture, by feeding capitalism, so then we want to move on to the next frontier where the land is cheap and the people are smiling.

Also: People who just have a food forest on their own private land are not really doing permaculture; they are just “homesteading” (which is problematic in itself). Clarification: It’s not that a person with a private food forest is necessarily NOT doing permaculture. It’s not that a person can’t be doing any stuff that’s only on their own land or only for themselves/their family.

You know what I think the difference is, I think it has to do with being a part of a community. The people I think of as really doing permaculture might be doing things on the piece of land where they live, but they are also very much woven into / giving to their local community (and also in many cases the wider communities including online communities). There are a lot of people “homesteading” and calling it permaculture. It’s not the same.

I get it about the price of land being a motivating factor for some people to move to places with lower costs of living, but the way to deal w that is build community in our own regions/country. The social aspect of permaculture is something that a lot of us USA Americans have been conditioned to ignore or neglect. I think it must be a legacy of pioneer/frontier mentality which is part of our hyper-individualistic white supremacy culture.

Further exploration:

• TikTok for one is a vast fountain of learning on this topic. Type indigenoustok, hawaiiantok, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica + colonizer, colonization, decolonize etc.

• And I just found this article: How To Decolonize The Permaculture Movement (Tobias Roberts; Huffington Post). “If you are interested in permaculture and are looking for land to create a vision of your own, why not look at land in rural Kentucky instead of Costa Rica? … After a good deal of reflection, I want to focus now on how to rescue the permaculture movement; how to save it from some of its most disturbing and troubling tendencies. … Stop Buying Land in Shangri-La Areas Around the World … While there can be positive effects through bringing new knowledge and ideas into a community, there can (and often are) unseen and ignored negative effects. When wealthy foreigners buy up land in rural, agrarian areas, this inevitably leads to gentrification.” He makes a lot of other really good points too. Don’t move to another country without making an effort to truly belong there; don’t make permaculture courses your primary source of income; stop appropriating indigenous knowledge and monetizing it on permie rah-rah YouTube channels etc.

• “Decolonizing Permaculture” — Mike Hoag with Dan Wahpepah on Dan’s radio show First Nations Radio.