At times like these, it's critical to step back and look at the the 3 ethics as a whole, because we often, in Permaculture, get stuck on Earth Care with a narrow view of Future Care: our food forests, our soils, our local bioregion, and we can lose track that we are after a whole systems thinking and living, something that is community-based.
When I first realized Permaculture didn't have principles for People Care I was a little surprised. David Holmgren's approach has a holistic edge that gives it traction in this area, but I've never seen any principles anywhere. Reading the opening of A Regrarians Handbook, I was inspired by my mentor and friend Darren Doherty's opening list of principles, ethics, and wise words from his mentors - it was a humble, earnest, and straightforward. The kind of thing that cuts through and hits you in the heart. Permaculture is about CARE, so let's be clear about it is what I felt then and what I feel now. I created a proposed list to start the conversation around what principles we should have and how they should be worded. I have done the same exact thing with Permaculture Education Standards - we didn't have them, so I made them public for comment and ended up editing them a lot and now they are amazing and being adopted in schools all over. I want the Social Permaculture principles too to evolve and go out into the world.
I'm sharing the lectures from my Social Permaculture section of The Advanced Permaculture Student Online, not because I think it will sell more signups - I'll share the entire section in complete, but because it is the place that is unlooked at by most of the permaculture online community. In permaculture's action-ables and busyness, we can all too often externalize our problems and fix things around ourselves to fix what is within, but in People Care, we have self-care too, and in fixing ourselves, we can better serve others and more deeply partner with nature itself from that place of centered clarity.
Here's the 4 part series in its entirety so if you've missed any, you can click to it specifically:
There's been a lot of contention lately online and in the world, and it has led to many people declaring where they stand. If my work and my actions have not so far made that clear, I do so now to make doubly sure: I'm on the side of Care, of Peace, of Equality, of Justice, of NonViolence, of Love, of Compassion, and an Ethical & Abundant Future.
Grow Abundantly, Learn Daily, & Live Regenerativey,
Matt Powers