I believe that the Permaculture concept of Stability
Through Diversity applies to economic as well as environmental
matters. In Western economies we are losing economic diversity with the
growth of big businesses and franchises, I'd suggest that this is
resulting in our economy and society becoming less stable. It could be that the
internet, through websites like this, and
Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, wikileaks.org
that makes public information that might otherwise be suppressed and
Google
that rates websites by the relevant links to them, will bring about a reversal of this
trend. Big businesses in Australia have grown their influence, in part, by
their control of information through the power of network advertising on
commercial TV. The internet is based on the free exchange of information
giving it stability through diversity.
GetUp
is an independent, grass-roots community advocacy organisation giving
everyday Australians opportunities to get involved and hold politicians
accountable on important issues, using the internet as well as the
mainstream media. Another organisation using the power of the
internet to provide an exchange of ideas is. The
Centre for
Policy Development. It is a public interest think tank
dedicated to seeking out creative, viable ideas and innovative research
to inject into Australia's policy debates. They give a diverse
community of thinkers space to imagine solutions to
Australia's most urgent challenges, and connect their ideas with
policy-makers, media and concerned citizens. This website implements the
stability through diversity concept via our
Link
Policy
that allows us to promote any unique WA business, organisation or
innovative individual that will provide a reciprocal link. We also
include links to many that don't reciprocate if their content is relevant
to the general thrust of this site which is to promote sustainability
and healthy fun in WA.
The stability through (bio)diversity concept forms a part of the basis of
Natural
Sequence Farming developed by Peter Andrews and explained in his book
Back From The Brink . For years Peter was
ridiculed by the land care establishment for his ideas. Peters treatment
is symptomatic of the dilemma facing innovators in the Western world that
has adopted the scientific principals that states that nothing is true
until it is proven. On the face of it this seems an entirely reasonable
proposition, but the problem is that it is very expensive to prove
anything to scientific standards so it is only big businesses that stand
to generate money from a product or idea that have the funds to prove anything.
This extreme scientific approach allows the corporations to deny a whole body of
human knowledge
gained over generations. This process has resulted in an industrial
food and medical system in the Western world. There is no doubt that
modern science produces some spectacular, well publicised cures for
disease, but how many of these diseases are the result of an industrial
food system? How can it be that Australia has a first world economy
yet our state of health is such that we have to recruit doctors from third
world countries to fill our needs? Why do we spend billions of dollars on
medical research but very little on researching
agricultural practices
that avoid the use of chemicals in the food chain?
Australians are fortunate to have a government funded
national broadcaster, the
ABC that is able to present stories in the
national interest, sadly unlike our national research organisations that
have become pawns of multinational chemical companies. The
Australian Story program raised awareness of the
work of Peter Andrews and more recently of
Dr Maarten Stapper who
is doing ground breaking work on agricultural practices but has shunned
by the research establishment.
Al
Gore is reported as saying that "he sees a threat to
citizens independence with the concentration of media ownership to fewer
and fewer owners. With increasing wealth and power of the media there has
been a corresponding increase in public disenchantment and apathy.
Media and journalism before 1960's was based on a conversation with
detailed reports in the newspaper, but since TV overtook newspapers as the
main source of news and information, individuals have been unable to have
their voices heard - only those that can afford to pay for advertising,
the major political parties are able to participate. Al Gore sees
the internet as a sign of hope for people to have a conversation and to
use knowledge to regain our collective power" ( Newsletter
for Men
Of The Trees Western Australia Dec 2006 Issue #106) The
indifference that many people seem to have to the threat of climate
change to their own future prompted CSIRO's former climate director,
Dr Graeme Pearman, to study psychology, which he
describes as the new frontier in climate change. A form of commercial censorship exists in the
mainstream media that gives the views of big business precedence over
small businesses. This website and our radio programs have been set
up to reverse this bias, we only promote the unique local attractions and
products of Western
Australia. There is now a growing acceptance of Organic
Farming principals and complimentary medicines that
form part of a growing Health
and Wellbeing Products and Services industry. People are voting
with their dollars and saying that they don't care if something is
scientifically proven or not, if it works for them it is OK. The
Internet is playing a part in this process as it is breaking down the
"cathedrals" build around the medical and some professional
establishments who have previously controlled information to underpin
their position in society. The internet, is evolving to present balanced
information without interest group or commercial bias. There is obviously
a lot of misinformation on the internet, just like the mainstream media,
but if you follow the flow of links from more reputable websites you can access information
and make
up your own mind what to believe. I'm not questioning the
dedication and commitment of health professionals but ask if the profession
hasn't allowed itself to become too closely aligned to drug companies that sees a profit in illness rather than looking
to prevention.
There is great hope
for the future with young doctors actively raising awareness of the
influence of marketing efforts by pharmaceutical companies among their
profession through the website
Pharma Phacts. West Australian, Dr Peter Dingle presents a
scientific approach to health with out excessive use of drugs with his
DEAL: Diet Environment, Attitude
and Lifestyle. His
newsletter is well worth subscribing to.
Another West Australian using the internet to expose the myth of ADHD
Martin Whitely through his website
adhdspeedupsitstill.com Websites like Elaine Hollingsworth's
Doctors are Dangerous provides information that allows you
to take control of your health and escape the sickness industry. Interesting ideas
about the place of water in
prevention and curing diseases are presented by
Dr. Batmanghelidj
who has dedicated his time to promoting
public awareness of the healing powers of water.
Breath
Connection developed by Dr Buteyko teaches people how to
breath properly and can cure afflictions that drugs can only mask. Another
great example of an individual changing the status-quo is Leanne Preston
and her company, Wild Child. Leanne set out to produce a natural cure
for head lice and founded a company on a philosophy of a desire to help
children. In doing so she had to take on the pharmaceutical
establishment and bureaucracy, as well as challenging the business idea
of placing profits ahead of ideals. Hers is an inspiring story and her
book is well worth reading. Any hope for the future of our society requires science
to
develop sustainable energy sources rather than continually consuming the global capital of non-renewable energy. If any of this makes sense to you
then you'll probably be interested in ideas discussed by
Clive
Hamilton and in the
Wellbeing
Manifesto
. I'm in no way endorsing all that Clive has to say, but
he does make some interesting observations which can be balanced by
comments by
Paul Kerin in the Weekend Australian. No doubt,
eventually, economics will decide outcomes, if we waste finite resources
eventually they will become to expensive and we will no longer have
access to them. Is there then a place for government to show some vision
and develop policies and education programs to bring about change to
extend the availability of resources rather than rely on market forces
to decide? Paul Kerin argues that the people
are best equipped to decide how to spend their money, but given that
Australia is in the middle of a mineral boom and the national debt is
growing rapidly, perhaps we are not making good decisions. Government
supports anti smoking programs because it is not good for our health,
perhaps they should support anti consumer debt programs because they are
not good for our wealth.
Money is obviously very important, but when money becomes the
driving force, as has happened in Australia in the last 20 years, we loose
sight of human values and the health of our society and its members
suffers, bring about the need for organisations like Beyond
Blue. Change is starting to happen, driven by thinking
people who see that there is another way. This is happening
through things like Farmers
Markets ,
Organic
Farming, Permaculture and the Slow
Food
movement. All are part of a process of people taking back control
of their food supply and economic destiny, that in recent years has been
hijacked in the western world by
multinational corporations. In Australia the advent of compulsory
superannuation has resulted in Capitalism taking on the economic characteristic of a
Communist economic model. The productive assets of the country
increasingly are owned by "everybody" ( via Superannuation
funds) or foreign
companies so governments are reluctant to enact legislation that
limits the power of these organisations. As a result a hand full
of unelected individuals are making decisions affecting the lives of millions
of people. We now have a situation where the capitalist and communist
models have merged, both seem hell bent on destroying true private
enterprise - look how Coles, Woolworths and Bunnings are destroying small
retail businesses. I'd welcome someone in authority to explain
any error in my
logic. If what I've written makes sense to you, then you might be
interested in the following pages Farmers Markets
, Organic Farming,
Permaculture
, Slow Food
and
Sustainable
Living .
If you agree with the ideas expressed here, please feel free to link to
any of these pages from your website this way you are helping to
spread the concept of stability through diversity! If your website is relevant to the
content of this site I'll happily provide a reciprocal link.
Aren't we fortunate to live in a democracy that allows its citizens
to express an opinion, and at a time when the best of American enterprise
and technology
has produced the internet and
Google, allowing for the free exchange of ideas.
Barry Green, Managing Director, Western Tourist Radio barry@touristradio.com.au
Recommended Reading
The Permaculture Home Garden, Linda Woodrow ISBN 0 670 86599 0
Back
from the Brink, How Australian landscapes can be saved Peter Andrews
ISBN 978 0 7333 1962 4
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