There are many solutions that haven't been thought of

In a message dated 7/12/00 11:45:57 AM, karim@rnet.com writes:

<< How in the word are we going to

come up with a solution that is acceptable to all parties?  How do you

reconcile the capitalist's desire for profit and capital accumulation with

exploited/oppressed people's need for basic human rights- such as freedom

and equality?  How do you reconcile the multinational corporations' interest

to explore new sites for extraction of surplus value with people's

aspiration to have a decent life? Can you offer some concrete suggestions?>>

Have you heard of the "endrun" or the way of aikido? 

Here's a strategy: We foment a global movement to make individuals and 
communities more self-reliant, autonomous, and resilient. By sharing low-tech 
sustainable information over the internet and thru being models locally. The 
first and maybe easiest step, would be to grow our own food. 

Up until now, this would not be feasible, as to many urbanites have no land, 
space, or time to even consider such an idea. But now, good fortune has lead 
me to a feasible way which for the first time overcomes the space/time 
problems. It really works and is available to many people. There is the need 
for a small submersible pump, a timer, 6 mil plastic, cinderblocks, pvc 
pipes, 1/2 inch tubing, 2 liter plastic pop bottles, seedlings, sunlight, 
electricity, maybe pond liner, water plants, fish. This may be too much for 
some 3rd world people, but perhaps they can find substitutes or something. In 
the industrialized world it is pretty inexpensive, especially in relation to 
the cost of organic produce and over time it will pay itself back many times.

One must wonder why over time, the human race hasn't refined itself into a 
paradise for everyone. I believe its because their are two major 
inconsistencies/cancers that have interfeared and will continue to interfear 
until they are gone. That is Capitalism (paradigm of competition and 
exploitation) and sovereign entities (nations, dictatorships, corporations, 
governments). This may simplistic to some, but I think that the existence of 
these 2 things make for the tragedies that face the human race and the planet

An alternative to this, would be a decentralized world. A network of small, 
non-sovereign communities, mutually collaborative, relatively 
self-sustaining. Wherein accumulation of things would be traded off for 
access and freedom. Cooperation, connection, and compassion would be the 
modus operandi, the conditioning.

It may sound fanciful to some, but there are many pockets of this kind of 
thing that already exist today and have existed in the past.

By making individuals and communities more self-sustainable, we would be 
laying the groundwork for this kind of world, exchanging interdependence for 
dependence, and if the 2 cancers don't fall on their own, their relative 
importance/influence will be greatly diminished.

Now this is pretty much what you would have to call an anarchistic vision and 
I would hope that if there are flaws in the logic that we can resolve them 
thru discussion.

I will leave finally, the plans for growing your own food, because this, 
IMHO, is what needs to be done first and is something we all can do if we so 
choose.

The greenhouse part:
            If its not too windy, you can make it easily by using rebar, 
sticking it in pvc pipe, sticking the rebar into the ground, bending the pvc 
to make an arch and putting rebar into the other end of the pvc and sticking 
into the ground. You can use cinderblocks to anchor the rebar if its on 
concrete or you can use them for extra strength and fill them up with dirt 
and stones after you stick the rebar into it. I would put the rebar in the 
ground first, then bend the pvc over. Depending how big you wanted it, would 
depend on the length, diameter, and quantity of pvc's you would need and 2 
rebars (3-6' long) for each pvc. Then attach 6 mil plastic with duct tape or 
whatever. If its pretty big, you could build a wood frame for a door at each 
end. In the tropics you will need to ventilate alot, cause you don't want it 
to get too hot inside. You could make a more substantial one using old glass 
windows. Use your common sense and intuition. All this is so basic.

As you can see in the photos at <A 
HREF="http://www.geocities.com/anttiveikko/HP/hp.html">M Y S I G H T</A> .

Now the fish/ecosystem part:

Depending on the space/size you have, you can dig a hole, trench, pond, or 
use a container (garbage can, or whatever) line it with pond liner preferably 
Pond <A HREF="http://www.totalpond.com/index.html">Supplies by Unit Liner </A>
(the cheapest I have found so far) though you could use a couple layers of 
6mil plastic, though this is a little vulnerable, to hold the water.
Find local plants that float on water in streams and ponds and place them on 
the water (water hyacinth, duckweed,etc), these plants both help clean the 
water and some feed the fish. You need a small submersible pump, depending on 
the size of greenhouse, to pump the fish water up 1/2  inch tubing which you 
attach overhead to pipe attached by plastic tie-ons to bent pvc pipe (frame) 
and go to a hydroponics or garden store to get this and little plastic 
dohickeys to stick into holes (get a hole puncher there too) to direct the 
water down into the 2 liter plastic pop bottles which will hold the vegetable 
seedlings. And a timer that plugs into the whole thing where you can regulate 
the use of the pump ( I pump every 15 minutes for about 45 seconds all day 
and night), you have to adjust this as you will so the roots aren't too 
saturated, but don't get dry, and the fish water gets cleaned from the 
bacteria in the roots of the vegetables, and the water is aerated by the 
action of the water dropping thru the plastic bottles and back down into the 
trench/pond.

I used cheap wire fencing for gardens, cut it with a pliers to make it one 
long ladder like thing that could hang from the top of the greenhouse and I 
could attach each 2 liter plastic bottle to it with one thin wire around the 
neck of the bottle. The first bottle needs an additional wire around the 
thick area of the bottle to keep it straight, the rest of the bottles which 
are all placed upside down direction uses the top of the previous bottle to 
hook over it to keep it straight and so that the water continues down thru 
each bottle and down into the fish area.

The bottle is cut off at the end where there is line or crease in the 
plastic, the end piece has 5 holes drilled into it to both catch the water, 
hold the roots, and let the water pass thru, so use your judgement as to the 
size of the hole ( I use about a pencil's diameter size). Place the end piece 
inside the pop bottle toward the neck, cut 3 holes above the edge of end 
piece with a pallet knife ( I make 2 slices to make a triangle flap that can 
be poked out, to place the roots of the seedling thru), the leaves being on 
the outside, the roots resting on the end piece of the bottle inside, then I 
place clay balls or stones or whatever over the roots to help anchor them and 
for the water to have something to splash on. Oh, I forgot, each plastic 
bottle needs to be dipped into a can of black paint first, about 2/3 the 
length of the bottle, from the bottle opening. This is to mask the insides 
from the sun producing algae. I float a roll of hay in mesh bag to keep algae 
out of the ecosystem/fish area. Algae gunks up the whole thing and you have 
to start over to get rid of it.

The order: First the trenches/pond/hole must be dug, the greenhouse 
constructed, the ecosystem created (may take a few months for the plants to 
proliferate), install the vertical 2 liter plastic pop bottles with veggie 
seedlings, finally, the fish.

That's pretty much it, refer to the photos. I may have forgotten something or 
it may need some clarification, so check with me, if you like.

Organically,
Tom Osher (aka Mofwoofoo Woofuaza)
San Francisco
www.bagelhole.org   
415-824-4214