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We are seeing all the hallmarks of a society in collapse. (Industrial, consumer, “modern” western society I’m talking here. Other societies not necessarily collapsing! And there are many other societies on the planet.)

We are also seeing all the hallmarks of a society trying to evolve.

And we are also seeing the hallmarks of a society resisting its own evolution.

Societies don’t have to collapse. Societies can instead evolve.

Where we put our attention and energy matters! You can and do make a difference.

A dear friend and esteemed permaculture-education colleague of mine, Mel Riser, introduced me to the phrase “voluntary evolution.” What a great phrase, huh! Let’s do this!

This conservation job posting from American Conservation Experience sounded very promising — it pays money and involves doing good work in a beautiful outdoor setting — and I was ready to recommend it to people, til I read the fine print and find out that housing is not included.

A gig like this could be great for so many people if only it included housing! Even a tent, or a bunk or cot in a cabin, would make the difference between a lot of people being able/willing to take on things like this or not.

As Oliver pointed out in the comments when I shared this in the TA group, the Civilian Conservation Corps was one of the best parts of the Green New Deal. We really do need a CCC again, or something similar. And back in the CCC days, a key aspect that made it people-friendly was that housing was included, very important! The participants were not burdened with housing expenses or car expenses.

#EarthGigs #HousingHelps #BringBackCCC

“I keep seeing all of these jobs for pastry chefs and sous chefs (rank is just below executive chef) asking for formal education or years of experience equivalent to for $20,000 to $25,000 a year. Seriously?! And people wonder why there is a labor shortage in the restaurant industry. No one can live on that wage anymore. And you always work more than 40 hours a week in these positions. Now you know the why when you walk into a place to eat and there isn’t enough staff to take care of you. Who can afford to work for that kind of money? For the higher wages they want a bachelors degree. I am sorry, but I chose my people by having them come in and cook for me. I wanted to see their knife skills, their speed, their confidence, and their ability to make food on a line under pressure. A piece of paper never told me how good a cook was.”

(From a wise woman I know, who has deep experience in all aspects of food preparation from cooking/baking to running a business.)

I say we need to #quietquit unreasonable expectations!!! And support self-employed cooks and bakers!

Furthermore, I think this is just more evidence that we need to dismantle the #educationindustrialcomplex. This kind of thing is elitist and in fact I would not want to spend my money at a business if I find out they have such policies.

If we can’t push back on this now, at a time when working people have more leverage than they (we) have had in a long time (thanks to entitled consumers continuing to expect goods and services available on the spot 24-7), when can we? Now’s the time!

Let’s all support each other’s micro businesses and regenerative livelihoods!

For support in forging your preferred livelihood path, you might like to get a copy of our Financial Resilience and Economic Empowerment Book ($40); and/or join the Transformative Adventures group (no cost). There are some amazing discussions in the group! And many of us in the group offer free talks and workshops online.

A fellow activist wrote in response to a local elected official’s post:

How to detect propaganda: Look to see if an article fairly covers ALL the arguments on BOTH sides of an issue. If it doesn’t then carefully consider the question, what information am I not being given?

I responded:

How to detect propaganda: Read many things from many sources on an ongoing basis. And engage in constructive discussion with many people from a variety of backgrounds. And develop your own stance on things — while always being flexible to accommodate new information; changing environment.

It’s OK for an article to just be one person’s viewpoint. (Otherwise we’d never have editorial sections of newspapers etc.) We each, as individuals and citizens, have a responsibility to make sure we take in multiple viewpoints, various sources.

(And use the various perspectives to develop, hone, and evolve our own stances on things.)

I never expect anyone to “cover all sides”; it’s not realistic. Never has been. And not even desirable in my opinion for one person or one org to attempt to cover “all sides” — whatever that even means.

Works better for all if we take responsibility for our own “information diet,” and (very important) also strive to equip everyone else, starting from early childhood and maybe even infancy, with the tools to do the same for themselves.

Critical thinking: It’s a priceless skill.

(posted just now in big Facebook groups of my county/region):

Here in Volusia County we bemoan the new development that is driving the clearcutting of forests and destruction of wetlands. And we are right to protest and fight this destruction of natural beauty and our life-support systems.

But at the same time, we tend to overlook a huge opportunity to add vegetation back in to existing developed areas, around the buildings and roads that are already there.

Too many of our aerial views in this county & other parts of Florida (and many other parts of the USA as well from what I can see) look like the “Before” pictures below. (These photos actually show a one-acre property in Australia where people bought a home & in a few short years transformed the deforested ground into a mini oasis containing 500 fruit & nut trees.) See photos here in this post on Limestone Permaculture FB page.

Time to retrofit some vegetation around our buildings! And introduce nature-friendly landscaping practices. HOAs, apartments, schools, churches, municipal buildings, commercial buildings don’t have to be surrounded by a flat shadeless expanse of ground! Our developed areas can look a lot more like the AFTER pictures! 💚🍀

We’ve heard of “urban redevelopment” — what about “urban reforestation”!

THIS is actual “smart growth”!
Vegetation and buildings can coexist! Much to everyone’s benefit.

Stormwater absorption
Drought buffer
Shade
Privacy
Noise buffer
Biodiversity; Habitat & food for wildlife
Fresh food for humans too!! Improving our local food security

#permaculturedaytona #greencitynotesfromjennynazak

For Floridian homeschoolers/unschoolers, or for people looking into these options … Here are a couple of useful resources I found:

• Homeschooling: https://www.sonlight.com/homeschooling-requirements-by-state/florida

• Unschooling: https://wehavekids.com/education/How-to-Unschool-in-the-State-of-Florida

#homeschooling #unschooling #Florida

It struck me just this morning (as I was scooping water from the rain-tubs and strategically deploying it to various trees and other key absorption/evaporation hubs of my little cube of paradise) that for awhile now, I have been formulating and operating under a new definition of “person with nothing to lose.”

(One of the benefits of having a lot of rhythmic, non-brain-requiring manual tasks built into one’s day is, besides the physical exercise value, the wealth of creative thoughts that bubble up into the unfettered mind.)

The “person with nothing to lose” under the conventional definition has power and incentive to be extremely mean and dangerous. (Not that they will necessarily exert their power in that way.)

The “person with nothing to lose” under this alternative definition my mind has been percolating … has power and leeway to be extremely kind, expansive, and generous. And do a lot of good in the world. (Not that they — we — will necessarily exert their (our) power in that way … but it’d be good if we do!)

More later; to be continued! Am micro-office-ing on the fly today, between getting my tax papers squared away for my beloved CPA, and scooping out rainwater tubs in prep for this weekend’s expected rains, and planning a little noontime dip in the ocean etc etc!

Added next day:

• Person with nothing to lose (conventional definition) — for example: penniless and excluded from economic opportunity, ostracized by family, no ties with friends or other community, etc.

• Person with nothing to lose (alternative definition) — for example: Loves life but feels they have lived a long full life, and is prepared for death if it is their time to go. Has their basic needs met and is not financially vulnerable (low overhead, not dependent on a job or employer, etc.). Has leeway to speak unpopular viewpoints and adopt fringe “eccentric” ways of life with relatively little negative consequence on themselves (they might be laughed at but they’re not going to be thrown out on the streets etc.).