The
current crisis is waking people up to the US's
foreign policies, to its eagerness to use the
grotesque arsenals of death, and its increasing
attacks on our civil liberties. Some of us are
courageous enough to look history and truth in the
face in order to come up with genuine answers, not
simple platitudes based on a blind patriotism. Some
have been deeply affected by wars, inequities,
natural resource overconsumption and depletion, and
the growing power of transnational corporations
chipping away at democratic policies. Some have
turned their lives around to become the
paradigm-shift that we need. Some have become
warriors of a different sort. The people portrayed in
this special issue are the new type of warriors. They
have been deeply affected by the world's suffering
for a long time. They have deeply searched for
answers that get to the root of our dilemma. They
have turned "protest against inequities"
into a livelihood where joy, peace and fecundity are
in abundance. This is our next step. This is our new
vision... and this is the time for all of us to
become acquainted with the world of Permaculture: a
quiet revolution, or as Bill Mollison calls it,
"a peaceful sedition."
Even though the ethics, principles, morals and
sustainable systems have been practiced for thousands
of years, it wasn't until Bill Mollison put it all
together that the movement of ecological design and
sustainable food forestry took a quantum leap.
Occasionally we published material about
permaculture, but this issue ties it all together.
Wes Roe and Margie Bushman
are the main conspirators behind this effort. They
have succeeded in gathering/harvesting the cream of
the crop when it comes to permaculture news,
analyses, resources and outright fun and inspiring
stories.
We have Scott London's thought
provoking interview with the man himself, Bill
Mollison (see p.8). We have a condensed
summary of the brightest answers from the
permaculture teachers themselves speaking about their
own livelihood (see p.13). We have stories about how
permaculture is being done, how it's being taught
(since it is all over the globe), where its being
taught and where it's being practiced both locally
and globally.
Toby Hemenway, who journeyed along
the west coast this past month giving talks about
permaculture, the home garden type, takes a twist and
writes about "Zone Zero," ourselves, and
how we need to work on ourselves so that our
passionate messages can be heard and felt by more
people (p.19). Ben Haggard writes
that sustainable development is not necessarily an
oxymoron. Builders and designers and architects can
come together using permaculture and sustainable
design concerns and make it happen (see p.17).
Personal stories begin on page 24. Patch
Adams and Susan Parenti
talk about using permaculture ethics in
"Designing Care" (p. 27).
"Permaculture Principles as illustrated by the
Permaculture Tree" by David Holmgren
is an excerpt from his newest book (see p.66). And if
we are committed to changing the world, restoring the
planet with good design, what do we do with our
money, that blood that can fuel such projects? Vint
Lawrence writes about the Permaculture
Credit Union on page 26. A short report on the recent
Bioneers Conference is on page 65. Plus we have a new
section for the Santa Cruz County area. Editor,
distributor and permaculturalist Kevin Snorf (and
his cohorts) give us many examples of sustainable
projects in this premier offering (see p.51). Larry
Santoyo (see his column on p. 42) will speak
after the upcoming film about Bill Mollison (see ad
on p.16).
More copies of "Voices..." are still
available. Give us a call for details, 805-544-9663.
(Subscribers: Contact us if you failed to receive
this issue in the mail.) And another big thank you
for the generous donors (and the writers,
distributors, editors...) who came through so we
could print 20,000 copies of the special supplement
and distribute them freely from Santa Cruz to Ojai.
And please support our advertisers since they support
us.
Bob Banner,
Publisher
Corrections:
The piece of art that was on the front cover of the
Special Supplement was by William Blake. The art by
Donna Kandel of the labyrinth design on p.22 was
mistakenly used. It is copyrighted art and should not
be reproduced in any form or be used without
permission from the artist.
