Intended to speed not the plough, but rather the philosophy of a new and diverse approach to land and living, and make the plough obsolete.

For myself, I see no other solution (political, economic) to the problems of mankind than the formation of small responsible communities involved in permaculture [and gatherer/hunter life ways].

I believe that the days of centralized power are numbered, and that a "re-tribalization" of society is an inevitable, if sometimes painful process.

Unwilling as some of us are to act, we must find ways to do so for our own survival. Not all of us are, or need to be, farmers and gardeners. However, everyone has skills and strengths to offer.

To [make use of] public land [and squat it, guerilla garden it] and to join internationally to divert resources from waste and destruction to conservation and [defense of wilderness and our communities].

I believe we must change our philosophy before anything else changes. Change the philosophy of competition to that of cooperation in free associations, change our material insecurity for a secure humanity, and petrol for calories.

But the greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this there is enough for everyone. Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens [or other means of living outside of civilization], who depend on the very system they attack, and who produce [only] words and bullets, not food and shelter. It sometimes seems that we are caught, all of us on earth, in a conscious or unconscious conspiracy to keep ourselves helpless. And yet it is people who produce all the needs of other people, and together we can survive. We ourselves can cure all the famine, all the injustice, and all the stupidity of the world. We can do it by understanding the way natural systems work, by contemplation and by taking care of the earth.

People who force nature force themselves. When we grow only wheat, we become dough. If we seek only money, we become brass; and if we stay in the childhood of team sports, we become a stuffed leather ball. Beware the monoculturalist in religion, health, farm, and factory. He is driven mad by boredom, and can create war and try to assert power, because he is in fact powerless.

To become a whole person, we must travel many paths, and to truly own anything we must first give it all away. This is not a riddle. Only those who share their multiple and varied skills, true friendships, and a sense of community and knowledge of the earth know they are safe wherever they go. There are plenty of fights and adventures at hand: the fight against cold, hunger, poverty, ignorance, overpopulation and greed; adventures in friendship, humanity, and applied ecology. Which would be a far better life than you may be living now, and which would mean a life for our children. There is no other path for us than that of cooperative productivity and community responsibility. Take that path, and it will change your life in ways you cannot yet imagine.

[Taken and slighly modified from the Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison]

Survive