being angry at bad guys vs. build a better world

At the breakfast table this morning, there was talk about some recent movie that was intent on how to make the world better. The ideas presented seemed to be the stuff I've heard a thousand times before: there are bad things, so we should all get together in a huge mass and hope that the bad guys will then stop being bad.

I am glad that there are people fighting the social justice fight. I do wish I could have a steering wheel over those people and focus them all on one real problem, and once that is solved, to have them focus on the next real problem. Too often it seems to me that they are trying to solve a red herring than a real problem. But I'm open to the idea that they are right and I am wrong - I look forward to seeing how that turns out.

But about 98% of it seems, to me, to be wasted human energy.

When I try to think through the world problems, I think of all the paths that I can travel where I can make a very real difference. Rather than saying "stop the fracking" or "stop polluting wilderness creeks with mercury from burning coal" or "stop destroying rivers with hydro" or "stop putting so much carbon in the air" .... I think all of those things would not happen if people elected to not give their money to the monsters.

So, over the years, I have put together stuff about how people can save thousands of dollars on energy (the most significant being the stuff about rocket mass heaters, wofati, and how I cut 87% off my electric heat bill) - thus less money goes to the monsters. Between all of the bits of information I have presented, I am hoping that I present options where people can live a more luxuriant life for a fraction of the cost - thus less goes to feeding the monsters. Far more progress can be made. Far more progress is happening. Between all of the things I have presented so far, I think it is possible that we could cut global energy use by 70% or more - with a strong focus on a more luxuriant life and/or saving money. And then we have a 70% real world solution.

World hunger: create systems that pump out food with a tenth the effort (hugelkultur, swales, adding texture to the landscape ... large scale polyculture gardening rather than massive scale monocropping). By demonstrating and documenting these techniques, people can save thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars by growing their own. And they then know the REAL story of their food. Rather than depending on corrupt food systems, just grow your own. If a person has a ton of food growing in their yard, it could save a few trips to the grocery store. And if these techniques become more and more well known, the seeds can get into the hands of people that live in places where food is scarce. If this knowledge can find its way to the global population, then I suspect that we may have ended all world hunger.

Epic, chronic illness ... epidemic levels of cancer: Rather than pouring billions into helping companies come up with a way to get rich off of illness, maybe we should simply explore the idea that a sick person can go to a place that has 97% fewere toxins than where they normally are. If the illness disappears, then doesn't that suggest that a rather obvious path. This one is still a huge mystery to me, but I suspect that this could be the root solution to 80% of the people suffering from some illness.



The list of global problems is massive. And I think the reason we see so many people getting angry is because they authentically care. But they seem to get stuck at being angry. A person can spend a hundred hours a week for 20 years being angry and not much changes. But I think if they spend a tiny fraction of that time playing in the permaculture playground, their global positive impact is a thousand times greater.



Nearly all of our global problems are solved with homesteading and permaculture.



A lot of really smart people are trying to engage the bad guys on a rigged playing field. I try to find the solutions to world problems in my backyard, and the backyards of a few others. If I share those solutions prolifically, these ideas might spread. Then, the bad guys and their bad things shrivel up and blow away. This is my strategy for world domination. I hope millions of people will, someday, make it their strategy too.

FUCK YES!!!

Thank you Paul. I'm re-inspired, and have a clearer view of my goals thanks to you, and this piece. You rock dude.

I vote with my money, in how it is earned and in how it is I spent.

A good portion of my money is earned reducing the need for raw materials and energy.

I'm careful about where I spend it. My customers often let me influence certain choices that cause them to consume less.

I no longer attend rallies.

paul wheaton wrote: But they seem to get stuck at being angry.

Yep. When solutions are at hand. All we have to do is apply them.

But maybe for some people, getting angry is easier than actually doing something.....

R Ranson,

I just finished reading all the stuff you wrote in yesterday's dailyish, including the link to this thread.

Thanks! That was a nice boost to my day!

paul wheaton wrote:R Ranson,

I just finished reading all the stuff you wrote in yesterday's dailyish, including the link to this thread.

Thanks! That was a nice boost to my day!

I'm glad you didn't mind me taking the liberty of changing up the daily-ish a bit.

Been having some really shitty experiences with people in my day to day life, it makes me appreciate the friendly atmosphere at permies a whole lot more.

Thanks for hosting this site, Paul.

A big huge thank you to everyone here for making this world a better place and encouraging others to do the same.

I used to be really active at a political blog, then a big tree blew down in my front yard. I went searching for more information about this thing where you put the wood in a berm, and found this forum.

The line "making a better world through learning good things rather than being angry at bad guys" really struck me, and soon I was spending more of my time here and almost no time at the political site. I still vote, and I canvassed for Russ Feingold back when I was in Wisconsin, but I decided that spending time getting outraged and reinforcing each other's emotional responses in an ideological echo chamber is a waste of time.

ooooooohhhhhmmmmmm

I would pay money for a bumper sticker that has "make a better world through learning good things" along the top, then "permies.com" (with logo) big in the middle, then finally "rather than being angry at bad guys" along the bottom.  With the design tying together the two lines via color, font, etc.

I'm thinking that the logo and permies.com would be big enough to be visible at a distance, and the top and bottom lines can only be read if someone is behind me at a red light, or stuck in traffic, or whatever.

Anyway, I think that politics has gotten way too divisive and I'd love to point folks to this forum as an alternative or antidote.  I have no stickers at all on my electric VW Golf, but I would adorn it with a permies.com bumper sticker.

Well, then. I guess I'd best get busy and make you a bumper sticker, Julia!

I manage a beekeeping group over on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/treatmentfreebeekeepers/

The principals are very permie oriented; using natural selection to breed for disease resistance, rather than using medications.

We face a lot of hostility from mainstream beekeepers. We get complaints like "your bees harbour disease that kill our bees" (unsubstantiated), or that we are being "cruel" (because dosing whole colonies with vapourised oxalic acid as a treatment is totally benign!). Our group of moderators have very much tried to keep the focus of the group on just getting on with doing it and letting the results speak for themselves. Over the past few years the group has grown in numbers (over 20,000 people) and the hostility has gradually been fading away as these ideas seep into the mainstream.

When two paradigms collide there is little to be gained from confrontation. Just do what you do and over time make the old paradigm irrelevant.

I vote with my money, in how it is earned and in how it is I spent.  

awesome, i want that as a bumper sticker Dale!

Paul, I think the only way to create a better world is by keep on keeping on. Education made as accessible as possible--Permies--and fixing failed systems. Permaculture is logical, bettering the planet is logical, people can sometimes be logical ergo we should keep educating. I've been trying to get a permies group together to meet on a monthly basis at my public library, share experiences and carry on these types of discussions in person. I don't make a huge impact with such a small community, nor does my five acres compare to the millions being monocropped, but we do what we can and hope to change the world.

Julia Winter wrote:I would pay money for a bumper sticker that has "make a better world through learning good things" along the top, then "permies.com" (with logo) big in the middle, then finally "rather than being angry at bad guys" along the bottom.  With the design tying together the two lines via color, font, etc.

Surely there has to be a place that prints and ships bumper stickers one at a time.  It would seem that tracy could create a bit of a side business filling the site with bumper sticker designs and collecting a dollar every time somebody buys one.

Is anyone on permies interested in putting Paul's quote on an organic cotton t-shirt? If so, I'd love to buy some. If not, I'll take it on. I would need some advice on how to be sure a fair share of revenue supports Paul's work.

Renee Lawver wrote:Is anyone on permies interested in putting Paul's quote on an organic cotton t-shirt? If so, I'd love to buy some. If not, I'll take it on. I would need some advice on how to be sure a fair share of revenue supports Paul's work.

I have tried the t-shirt game so many times ....  please, keep those funds.   I am glad to help people get some residual income streams going.  

If a person wants to help the empire, I would ask that they buy pie and hand it out whenever they see good posts.

I will buy pie!

Anger is simply a disguised form of fear. An age old quote from Hilda Braun goes...' there is no wrong doer, without the hidden will of us all'. This shows me that blaming, is simply, a mechanism that keeps me distracted, from looking within.

paul wheaton wrote:

Julia Winter wrote:I would pay money for a bumper sticker that has "make a better world through learning good things" along the top, then "permies.com" (with logo) big in the middle, then finally "rather than being angry at bad guys" along the bottom.  With the design tying together the two lines via color, font, etc.

Surely there has to be a place that prints and ships bumper stickers one at a time.  It would seem that tracy could create a bit of a side business filling the site with bumper sticker designs and collecting a dollar every time somebody buys one.

Cafe Press does this.  I saw someone selling custom bumper stickers for $3.50, saying that is the base price, no profit for them, so if you sold them for $5 you would make $1.50 each.

I like the idea of creating lots of different kinds of stickers, t-shirts, mugs, bags, etc. Then Permies can pick the one that appeals to them. I think I'll just do that!

Cafe Press prints on LOTS of different items - from hats to flip flops. Fun!!

Zazzle is also a great place to create merchandise.

I think of the energy of this world in terms of permaculture structures and when we shift our perceptions we really can take control of our own world.

Simple terms. What we resist persists.

Who are WE serving by being angry? That is a hell of a lot of energy that we could be using to create a better world one garden at a time.

Think about it.

Just my thoughts on the subject:

If there are bad guys in the world, and I'm pretty sure there are, it seems natural to get mad at them.

But, our anger is exactly what they want,  because our own anger blocks our ability to create a better world.   When we unite with like-minded people with love,  our power to co-create is far more impressive than anything the bad guys can come up with.

They are just afraid of us.

We can shrug them off like a bad cold, and clean up their messes like the bad children they are.

Spot on Tomas.

In order to build a better world my approach is to begin with my own world instead of becoming fixated on the worlds of others. Since each of us gets what we deserve from our own actions, my attention is on my own choices so I can constantly be learning how to make better ones. This approach leaves others free to make their own choices and to get what they deserve for their own actions. If it's for better or for worse is up to each of us, for whatever consequences we set into motion are totally our own personal responsibility.

Yesterday a dozen people where here helping to stuff the new books into a mountain of boxes.  



Just now I was reading another thread and noticed the "similar threads" at the bottom that led me to this thread.  Wow.  It's the book!

Paul Wheaton presenting 72 Bricks back in 2013 at the Southern California Permaculture Convergence  is a great way to spend a cold and dreary late fall evening.

I'm one of those [evil] windmill fighters. I became that after I learned fighting them was a purchased thing I could not afford. I beat up my fair share of them, even though others said you couldn't.  Most those fights were for others who'd already been devastated by a windmill.

Fighting isn't always a bad thing. Consider HOA's, cities and towns that are said to prohibit growing your own food in a small location.  Often what is passed for law is just convenient interpretation, but it takes being willing to throw yourself into the fray to change things. That may include promoting the idea of changing a law, or challenging those with a different mindset.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, yep - changes to lifestyle can make life a lot better. Not just for the disconnect from artificial persons, or reduced connection, but for the emergencies that sneak up on us, like the recent bitter cold.

Long before I ever heard of rocket stoves and gasifiers, it drove me nuts to hear friend talk about "only using four cords of wood" to heat their energy efficient homes.  Around 72, I rented a two story farmhouse with zero insulation. I heated it, comfortably, using what, today, would be a tall brown ceramic coated stove.  I heated that old farm house in well below zero weather (Bridgeport, Wash. (home of Chief Joe Dam)) off a cord of fruit wood and a quarter cord of fir, used most to get the 12" logs of apple/cherry going.  In short, I'm not that impressed with the lack of real improvements to commercially built wood burners over the last fifty years.




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World hunger: create systems that pump out food with a tenth the effort (hugelkultur, swales, adding texture to the landscape ... large scale polyculture gardening rather than massive scale monocropping). By demonstrating and documenting these techniques, people can save thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars by growing their own. And they then know the REAL story of their food. Rather than depending on corrupt food systems, just grow your own. If a person has a ton of food growing in their yard, it could save a few trips to the grocery store. And if these techniques become more and more well known, the seeds can get into the hands of people that live in places where food is scarce. If this knowledge can find its way to the global population, then I suspect that we may have ended all world hunger.

I think the message in this thread is one of the reasons I like it here on permies so much. Making the world better one post at a time - thank you all!

Hi Nancy,

Indeed, the approach put forward has infected my mind.   I find myself using this approach in my everyday life.  I filter my comments several times over and try  to seek positive ways to impact the world.   And, I seek to be Nice.