Driving Towards Nothing

I get inspired by books, by radio programs and podcasts and sometimes I write about them. This time it's a book. I guess you could say I stole this book. I downloaded a pdf file online. It was free. The authour passed away some years ago and after reading a bit of his book I am sure he would not mind. The One Straw Revolution, written by Masanobu Fukuoka is one of those life manuals that are often overlooked by the mainstream. It has had brief surges of popularity over the past 35 years but most people have never heard of it.
Fukuoka was a farmer in Japan. He maintained some of the most productive lands in that country with natural farming practices. He used no fertilizers, no chemicals, no conventional compost methods and, possibly most impressively, never turned the soil. He called his method "do-nothing" farming. This is slightly inaccurate, the true expression has been lost in translation from japanese to english. It was Fukuoa's belief that humans could not fully understand nature, as the complexities of the relationships found in nature are beyond our mental capacity. This is a view that I share. He also came to realize that our beliefs and efforts are meaningless, self centered even if in the best of intentions. This is a hard idea to grasp for alot of people, but it is so true. We are only part of a cycle. Life and death.
Our egos drive us. Everything you do throughout your whole life is the name of self aggrandizement. Your feelings, happiness, embarrassment, anger, frustration, lust, all ego. Perhaps the only one that is not directly tied to ego is true love. True love cannot be explained. It's natures' realm. Like one of the elements. I suppose every living creature feels love, yet only humans have the capacity to be driven by ego.
So are we truly driving towards nothing? I have been asking myself this question alot lately, have written about my frustrations with the system on this blog. Fukuoka has shown that a productive existence can be lived without the means of modern industrial methods. A small group of people are trying to incorporate this knowledge into the mainstream and we are largely being ignored, or pointed out to be radicals, anti establishment and political extremists. We are the permaculturists.
We do not arm ourselves with grenades and rockets. We do not use violence. We do not inflict damage upon the land, nor impose ourselves upon the rights of others. We pledge ourselves to a simple element. Love. Love of nature. That simple element goes far beyond the realm of our understanding but we do not fear. We can only observe nature and try to duplicate her methods to the best of our abilities. Once we have found success in our work and have gathered enough resources for ourselves we must share the surplus. It is in our ethics. This is why we share our knowledge with you. Often free of charge, for only in times of no surplus can we accept payment for our duties. We are born with nothing and so shall we return to the earth free of material belongings. Our legacy is in the systems we create that will sustain life in natures' terms for decades after we are gone.
If any of this makes sense to you, or if you are completely baffled by it but intrigued at the same time, get yourself a copy of One Straw Revolution.

Little Green Lies

Today has been interesting. It was my last 12 hour night shift before a well deserved week off. Today is also my travel day, so after working all night I get to sleep for an hour or two before I have to pack up my belongings and head for the airport. I do not have a vehicle in Fort McMurray so I use transit, taxi or my own two feet. It works and is way less hassle than you might think. Suncor provides our transportation to and from site, this helps alleviate much of the traffic on the highway north of town. Once again I find myself going of track...
To make a long story short the airstrip in Comox was fogged in so my homeward flight was diverted to Victoria.  Now I am riding a bus north to Comox.  I spend alot of time on the bus! What a green way to travel right? Well maybe not so much.
Throughout the last couple years I have been interested in and studying the way we live. Let me tell you, the more I learn the more disgusted I become. Green tech is all the rage right? CFL, low flush toilets, low-e windows, high eff gas furnaces and water heaters, fuel efficient trucks with ecoboost 400hp engines, plant based water bottles, green detergents, green cosmetics, the list goes on. Guess what? All that stuff, all that new, cutting edge tech, it's all bullshit. It's all a consumerist fucking lie and society is buying it hook, line and sinker.
All these innovations are patches on a ship that has already sunk.
What I ask of you now is to go to youtube and search a man named Michael Reynolds.  Alternatively type in earthship. You will find some short videos, Ted talks and most importantly a full length video called "Garbage Warrior". Once you have watched a few of these videos you will begin to form an understanding of what real green tech is. We're talking permaculture living. Biotecture. It's an art of passion. It's almost too easy to believe. Total freedom. What a way to live. My dream. A necessity.