As humanity continues to dominate and degrade the globe, the cultures of people must undergo enormous scrutiny and reform for our species to transform its way of life and live in harmony with the planet. Cultures drive the motivations and actions of people based upon a ethical systems. The ethics represented in the culture come from underlying values that the population holds as necessary, important and worth acting upon. Unfortunately, the dominant cultures of the world do not value life as highly as autonomy. This disparity between individualism and collectivism makes collective, ecologically-affirming action nearly impossible. When liberal individualism drives the culture and thus the actions of people, personal well-being trample social and environmental health. Odum describes this phenomenon as “the tyranny of small decisions”, whereby many individual, seemingly insignificant decisions (such as the displacement of the Florida Everglades for canals, roads or villages) collectively contribute to an ecological crisis (such as the resulting reduced surface flow of water causing drought and destructive fires). Thus, autonomous (though more likely individualistic) values dictate our decisions and the consequences of the environment scream out as flattened forests, wildfires and polluted oceans. Dr. Freyfogle explains this problem in terms of private land ownership and similarly calls for a reform of values that includes the whole of humanity and the planet. He proclaims that in order for us to create a habitable world in the coming decades, people will need to “come together and work together to craft collective lives and to give shape to sensible landscapes, where they all might thrive”. In other words, our global social groups need a major rehaul of culture. Therefore, transitively, one may also argue that humanity as a whole needs a new set of values by which we live. What, then, might this new collective and ecologically-affirming value system entail? I personally believe that the ethical foundations of the permaculture movement provide an excellent foundation for this new culture. Permaculture values diversity, cooperation, social and ecological health, and above all the mutually beneficial relationships created between humanity and the rest of the planet. The three ethical foundations of permaculture as follows:
Care of Earth –
Above all, we must care for our one and only home. The first principle of permaculture places the utmost importance upon a healthy planet. By putting Earth first, we have direction and a lense to observe our actions through. We might all ask ourselves: Do my actions result in healthy ecosystems? Do my choices allow other species of life the resources to flourish? Does my way of living interfere with natural systems? By critically examining our personal and collective choices, we can cultivate awareness about our relationship with the planet and the rest of life. In this way, our culture will facilitate behaviors that create conditions conducive to life.
Care of People –
In order to care for the Earth, we must take care of other people. Simple enough to say, but what would caring for all people of the planet really look like in practice? Furthermore, how might we organize social institutions to facilitate a healthy, ecologically-affirming culture? I suggest that societies form around bio-regions, that communities form as a result of the particular biome. This way, smaller communities will know best how to facilitate the landbase and also provide for a directly democratic political system. I believe that smaller groups of people will succeed living in a more communist establishment, where public land and resources dominate. In this way, if one particular group of people try to take over the system and control, the population of the region will allow for effective retaliation to reestablish equilibrium. This scene seems much more likely to happen in a smaller, bio-regional community as opposed to communism practiced in a country with an enormous population (and thus enormous military).
Redistribute the surplus –
To further increase the well-being of people and thus the probability that they will consciously protect the landbase, we must learn how to share and enjoy equally the abundance of the Earth. By doing so, resources will not become concentrated in one particular family or group in the society, and equality will prevail.