Re-Posting

This is a picture of our cat Kami. She has nothing to do with this post but is cute. I have been going over my Soil Classism post in my head. Haven't you? It wasn't organized very well. So here is my second go at it. If you weren't interested in the issues from the original post don't bother reading further!

I disagree with Hemenway on two main points. One, I don't think moving to the city is the answer to a sustainable life. Two, I don't think it's wise to turn away from land that is degraded and/or has sub par soil. I think this is exactly the land that needs permaculturing most. AND (and this is what I did not make clear in my last post) I think this is where human settlements should be. If we used all the land with existing fertile soil for farming and polycutlure then we could go a long long way to food security. Unfortunately, as I pointed out in my last post, many cities and suburbs are built on just such great soil. What to do? Well I don't know really but plopping my own house on that soil or encouraging others to do so is not ethical. In good conscience I couldn't do it. Maybe our grandchildren's grandchildren will indeed have to tear down all those McMansions to get to the black gold underneath. Maybe they will think us insane for covering the best soil with concrete garages and acres of sheetrock and stucco.

Most people in the world can not move to better soil. Most people in the world move only if forced to by famine or war. These people could use permaculture to make their world better right where they are, which is usually with less than stellar soil. We should be trying these techniques out in the less optimum places ourselves and then sharing the knowledge. And frankly there might be some privilege guilt going on here with me. I live in a very wealthy country. To have the best soil also would just leave me feeling very spoilt indeed. With my difficult soil I can accomplish several things. With work and design, I can restore some wildlife habitat, I can increase the biodiversity of my area and I can figure out how to bring low fertility soil up to greater production for plants, animals and people. Then I can share the information on this blog. For free!!

So there. For all of two of you who read this post thanks for letting me rehash my points. :)