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More Evidence?
by Bill Mollison 1981
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I don’t think anybody has summarized what is
happening on the face of the Earth.
In order to change our ways, we seem to
need to terrify ourselves, anticipating
tidal waves and catastrophes.
Now those things may
come off, and the San
Andreas fault may shift. But we can’t do much about
that.
What is actually
happening is something for which we, as human
beings, are personally responsible. |  |  |
It is very general. Almost everything we say
applies everywhere.
The real systems that are beginning to fail are the
soils, forests, the atmosphere,
and nutrient cycles.
It is we who are responsible
for that.
We haven’t evolved
anywhere in the west (and I doubt very much
everywhere else except in tribal
areas) any sustainable systems in agriculture or
forestry
At the very least, we have a desperate future. Our
children may never believe that we had surplus food. It is mainly because of
utterly ridiculous things.
The entire output of atomic power in the United States
is exactly equivalent to the requirements of the clothes-drying machines.
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I literally can’t stand being on the American
highway. To me it is almost like being in a prison of madness.
I can stand the
background; but I can’t stand the highways, everyone driving like crazy people.
Where
are they going? And why are so many of them going in that direction?
Are they
all fleeing something, I would like to inquire what is in those trucks that are
tearing down the road. Is it something of no use at all? Or something which is
present where it is going?
And often I have seen trucks, apparently carrying
identical cargo, going in opposite directions, carting it here and there.
The
drivers tell me that they are carrying widgets.
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Now all of this, including the energy problem, is
what we have to tackle at once.
It can be done. It is possible. It is possible to
make restitution. We might as well
be trying to do something about it as not. We will
never get anywhere if we don’t
do anything.
The great temptation, and one in which
the academic takes total
refuge, is to gather more evidence. I mean, do we
need any more evidence?
Or is it
time to cease taking evidence and to start remedial
action on the evidence already in?
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In 1950, it was time to stop taking evidence and
start remedial action.
But
the temptation is always to gather more evidence.
Too many people waste their
lives gathering evidence. Moreover, as we get more
evidence, we see that things are
worse
than they had appeared to be.
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Edited without permission, for more info about the Father of
Permaculture, please visit; http://www.tagari.com
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