On permaculture, entitlement, and that pesky third ethic: all aboard the elephant in the room
“Contact with the soil reminds us that we are an integral part of nature, rather than feeling shut out and excluded. The simple acts of growing and eating our own food, recreating habitats in which nature’s diversity thrives, and taking steps to live more simply are practical ways of living which connect us to an awareness of Nature’s seamless whole. Permaculture is a spiritual reconnection as well as an ecological strategy.” — Maddy Harland.
Care for the Earth, Care for the People, and….
Permaculture starts with three foundational ethics.
First, care for the earth, because the earth sustains our lives.
Second, care for the people, because we need to look after ourselves and each other, and because people are the primary cause of damage to the earth.
And that brings us to…
that pesky third ethic.
In his monumental Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual (1988) Bill Mollison taught the third ethic as “limits to population and consumption.”…
