Re: There are many solutions that haven't been thought of

O.K, O.K, it all sounds fine and dandy.  But how are you going to do it?
The bourgeoisie, the state, the imperialism will sit on their hands and
watch you passively when you build up your great anarchist paradise?  I
guess not.  They will resist you tooth and nail, or even better they will
absorb you, as they have incorporated a big part of sixties radicalism as
harmless fashion statements. I don't mean to disrespect your visionary zeal,
but look, some autonomous organic food growing community here and there do
not threaten global capitalism in any meaningful fashion. And once you
really begin to threaten them they will try to suppress you whatever way
they can.

I am all for democratic socialism.  But I know quite well, as the
Guatemalans (in 1954), Chileans (in 1973) and  the Sandinistas in Nicaragua
will testify, imperialism abandons its pretension of being democratic once a
pluralistic regime challenges their interests.

Do I know how to accomplish global revolution?  No, I don't. I am not even
sure whether the classical marxist vision of revolution as a cataclysmic
event has any relevance for today's world any longer.  All I can say is that
if we are really serious about a qualitatively different social system, its
not going to be all Sunday school, all harmony and local community building
and organic food growing.  The struggle for a better future is something
more serious, something more desperate, and I am afraid, something more
unpleasant than that.

Manjur Karim

p.s. I apologize for the confrontational tone.


----- Original Message -----
From: <Bagelhole1@aol.com>
To: <gdrouet@brutele.be>; <wsn@csf.colorado.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 10:16 PM
Subject: There are many solutions that haven't been thought of



>
> 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
>