I am but a single drop in a limitless ocean, but what is an ocean but a multitude of drops? David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
One of the consequences of this global lockdown is the growing awareness of how connected we all are. Many of you will have heard of the Six degrees of separation idea from 1972 – the idea that all people on the planet are six, or fewer, social connections away from each other. More recent research has pared this down to three degrees of separation. For most of us this might seem tenuous, but for example, I know someone in England who in his work hob-nobs with a crown peer, who in turn knows Prince Charles – so I am only three degrees separated from Prince Charles (not that he is going to invite me to tea, but it is the potential connections that are measured). This is what I like about the quote above, that we are all part of a vast human consciousness even while we are individuals.
When the crunch comes, and it is coming, we will have to decide whether we want an ever-restrictive authoritarian system that increasingly doesn’t meet our needs or whether we take our lives into our own hands. I have mentioned before that we cannot ‘Wait for Superman to save us’ and to recognize that ‘We are one’s we are waiting for.’ I doubt it will be having to decide whether to give up our lust of stuff, because I think it will be such a crunch that we will be more preoccupied with figuring out how we live day to day and plan for immediate future needs not being addressed by the hierarchy. We will find that we need to come together to resolve our problems, or just sit around like war refugees waiting for another country to send help. Once we realize that everyone else is in the same boat it will be the moment of clarity for those people willing to take charge and develop a community collectivity that is egalitarian. The other option is chaos and fear struggling for survival – the mad max world. Personally, I prefer the former path.
Once a community is formed from what was formally just a neighborhood, then a system of foodscaping will be the first priority (Foodscaping – sometimes called edible landscaping or front yard farming, is a type of landscaping in which all or major areas of a lawn on private property or sometimes public property are used to grow food). How these food gardens look will depend on how people can grow various crops and fruit trees. The whole community works as a collective and shares the harvest equitably. Returning to our agrarian roots should have the advantage of showing us our connection to the land and the soil that is crucial for life. Good stewards will quickly recognize how effective, heathy and beneficial are organic agricultural techniques. When I talk of people coming together to live in egalitarian communities, that word ‘community’ also includes the community of life, aka, the natural world (something Aldo Leopold talked by in 1947 in his brilliant book A Sand County Almanac). We have Our current built environment that essentially separates us from the natural world with its air conditioning and technologies, but being more closely connected to the land should naturally connect us to the natural world.
Bill Mollison is recognized as the father of Permaculture design (permanent agriculture), which is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. The philosophy behind permaculture is one of working with, rather than against, nature; of looking at systems in all their functions rather than asking only one yield of them. The neighborhoods that spring up as intentional communities will find that the traditional sub-divisions and urban environments are not as conducive to permaculture design, and as communities thrive, they will naturally morph in design for community efficiency.
I’m not talking of going back to a preindustrial revolution lifestyle, but of moving forward with the best of green technology and hunter-gatherer philosophy of living together. One of the aspects of finding a way to live sustainably is not simply about finding a way to live and thrive but more importantly, a way to find peace, happiness and well-being. It’s not living like a hunter gatherer but finding that connection to life – the natural world and each other, that is where continuous joy will be found. Over time we will find that we are Individuals standing up for each other for the betterment of the whole community. Our views will no longer be self-serving such that it is “Not my child and not your child either!” We will find ways to become invested in other families, for we will find that they then become invested in ours – we become invested in each other so everyone thrives and connections are made that last our whole life through.
The one big advantage we have now that our tribal ancestors did not have is that we have experienced life where borders and boundaries are less rigid – think about how we are able to travel around the world so easily with just a passport and feel secure. While I’m sure that people will be ‘groupish’ in their communities, in that they feel a sense of intense belonging, I do believe that we have moved far enough in human social evolution to remain positively connected to other surrounding communities far and wide. The problems of free-riders and antisocial individuals will quickly be resolved as this kind of behavior be discouraged and unwelcome, even to the point of active exclusion from a community. Egalitarian communities aren’t about creating saints but about realizing that if we help and share with others they will readily reciprocate.
This isn’t an idealistic or Pollyanna view of how it can happen. Over years of observation, seeing what is happening around the world concerning sustainable systems, and reading the philosophical and anthropological research about human behavior and sustainability, I am convinced that people, despite their desire for consumer products, desire a life that has more to offer and is more fulfilling than simply being a work-slave driven by fear of debt and failure. Living sustainably will be an intentional choice of living for well-being connected to people who share a vision of fairness and joy with cradle-to-grave security.
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