Who to trust?

[Iver Lofving]

Who can we trust to build a community that will weather peak oil and climate change?

We'll have people from all social classes, and I only trust the middle class.

I live in a small town in Maine, and I really don't trust too many people around here.

I think it's the same everywhere. We're not going to be in a perfect place when it all comes unglued.

We'll have to work with the people around us. What do you think?

We have a small woodlot and maple syrup operation and it's been vandalized at least 4 times.

It doesn't bode well for the future.

[David Eggleton]

These are valid, important and honest observations. The gaps between people in places are enormous now, but will close, for better or worse, as big systems that have sustained and widened those gaps (for the benefit of a few) collapse. This movement (Transition) is to anticipatory and participatory proactivity, because it's easier to build/create what's life affirming and life enhancing when comforts and conveniences are present than when they've vanished from the scene, never (perhaps) to return.

Give all people chances to (pleasantly) surprise you! Frequently invite new connections, with new, local arrangements as a purpose. Above all, be worthy of others' trust.

May the Force be with you!

[Kathy Jacobson]

Hi Iver, David and all!

We're not going to be in a perfect place when it all comes unglued. We'll have to work with the people around us. What do you think?

People are never in the perfect place when disaster strikes...that's why it's called a disaster. People usually come together in such situations and humanity often shines...it's called disaster utopia. But why do we tend to wait for disaster to help each other out? Why can't we see that we are in a disaster right now and that we can manifest utopia now?

My point, knowing that, is that we are supposedly an intelligent species. If we know the shit is hitting the fan why don't we start working together now to build very resilient systems of preparedness, mitigation and response? A disaster is still a disaster but at least we will have done our homework.

Develop relationships with law enforcement, public health, and other emergency response partners. Learn about the national incident management system (NIMS) so everyone will have at least some familiarlity with a common language. Our emergency partners need our help but never never assume they are going to be there to take care of everything when the shit starts flying.

WE the people need to get our acts together while working with our community partners.
Transtion = bottom up/top down systems approach.

I only trust the middle class.

That's an interesting statement. I suppose such a perspective is what may qualify as an example of classism.
I interact with individuals of all economic, cultural and political backgrounds. The key there is that they are individuals and when it comes to making a judgement on whether I feel I can trust someone it has to be on that level. In addition, as things get worse and someone needs assistance I am most certainly not going to base my decsicons on what class they may have been in at one time.

Transition is about all people working together with great diversity of class, age, culture, etc.


I always get on a roll on this topic and its been awhile since its come up in conversation. I dont' mean to sound preachy , go on and on, or whatever; please understand that it helps me to write about this stuff from time to time. Thanks for being the catalyst.

In my area...the future is now and it is only going to get worse. It is reality, learn to adapt, love, care for each other compassionately and develop the systems you need to protect yourself, family and community. Get to work or rather get playing with this stuff...prepearedness and emergency drills are a lot of fun...espeically if you come out of one where things mostly worked well. But, it's also fun when there are major glitches in the systems...if you are dedicated to learning and improvement processes.

I live in the middle of a very rural frontier region with great poverty. Folks are having a really hard time already, folks are self-medicating with alcohol, drugs...including meth, crack, pcp, heroin. I live on a known drug running road and there is not a sheriff or any other law enforcement/emergency medical services in the area. Everyone knows such services will show up after the fact...so what do we do?

Who/what can we trust?

We certainly can't trust our pre-programmed assumptions and knee jerk reactions due to the well-worn neural pathways that have gotten us, as a species, into our curent situation on the planet.

We can usually trust our gut reactions and our dogs when it comes to human interactions.

We can trust in the fact that we have the biological coding for protecting of our progeny and taking action to ensure survival.

We can pay close attention and watch for warning flags while walking the middle path of "trust no one, trust everyone" with great compassion.

IWe can avoid making assumptions and/or believing all the rumors that may be circulating and being propagated between various neighbors who are feuding with each other and carrying on family traditions.

We can trust in the value of caring compassion with a deep desire to serve community.

We can trust in the value of building community networks and systems of interdependency while getting to know our neighbors.

I do not inherently distrust my neighbors or the folks travelling our county road or the hunters cruising through the woods but I practice of prevention and preparedness at all times.

I am neither predator or prey, nor do I position myself in vulnerable positions. I do not intend to be the victim crying at the table saying ... if I had only locked my doors.

Many violations could be prevented if folks just lock their doors.

If someone locks their doors and has a locked gate on their driveways ...does that mean they are paranoid and/or so scared that they feel a need to lock themselves in for some sense of illusory security.

Is someone paranoid, non-spiritual, aggressive, violent and/or an extreme survivalist if they have guns, a supply of ammunition and know how to use them?

No way, no how...and that kind of attitude needs to change.

I take these things very seriously while also keeping my sights on the positive goal oriented path toward building greater resiliency in all arenas, including health, safety and security.

Who in your neighborhood do you seeing as serving as your local security force?
Vision the future and move toward it, while also watching your back with worse case scenario contingency planning.

Yes, these things are serious and there is no time to sit around worrying about it.

I am seeing safe zones, havens, where are children can survive and I am preparing to serve as the mother bear protectoress.

I will share as much as I can within a system of reciprocity but if someone, a roving band shows up thinking they can misbehave I will not tolerate it. I've had dreams about this stuff. They weren't nightmares...it was positive goal oriented guidance from the realms of the subconscious.

Is it time to consider these things? Is it time to get prepared and learn to adapt to the changes that are already unfolding around us? What do you think?

I have a picture of me around here somewhere that my son took with me in a dress, ammo belt over my shoulder and shotgun on my hip...it was taken with a certain degree of jest and we call it "Appalachian Home Land Security":-)

I have also taken steps to help spread the rumor that I am the crazy old witch on the hill with the shotgun and a couple of well trained guard dogs...prevention and preparedness.

It is time to conduct risk and threat assessments, identify your weak areas, strengthen your positions, teach, encourage and practice preparedness and self-defense strategies.

Energy descent plans should include visions and plans for protecting your family, property and community while keeping an open caring heart filled with compassion.

Fear is disempowering and often triggers less than beneficial behaviors and reactions.

Get over the fear and become empowered...lay out a step by step strategy. If we think this is going to be an easy idealistic ride ... all we have to do is watch the news and remember that Amercia is not in some kind of bubble of immunity...it can happen here too.

Visualizing the ideal future and backcasting stories to help us develop the plan to manifest our goals is vital.

But I am also a prevention and prepearedness queen and do not have trouble visualizing worse case scenarios while developing mitigation, preparedness plans and systems and strategies for emergency response...just in case.

Why is your sugar bush getting vandalized? Who do you think is doing it? What can you do to prevent it? If the community sees your sugar bush as a valuable resource to survival...everyone will come together to make sure the vandalism ceases.

I am offering a workshop out here tomorrow on forest farming, ginseng and goldenseal. There are big time poachers going after ginseng in the woods. Is it smart for me to offer a workshop on it and draw attention to my forest farming practices?

If I were disempowered and basing my decisions on just a sense of selfishness...I would say I am pretty stupid. But hell, folks are going to find it if they want to anyway and we have a great need in our community to bolster our economic avenues as much as possible and to educate the young, uniformed sangers about sustainable harvesting. I am trusting in my interconnected community ties where we watch out for each other and the rumors/reality that "we" as a community are actively protecting this space. The deed may be in my name but it is not "my" property, nor is the ginseng "my" ginseng. It is community ginseng and a project for our kids.

Once we all get on the same page regarding community, future generations, etc. we will be able to better handle and manage the predators and the misbehaving ones.

It's going to require a major paradigm shift in this country given our strong individualist selfish soicety. There is the very good chance that we may have to hit the wall of extreme crisis before we as a society really see how valuable community and interdependent systems really are...so get prepared!

[Anna Gurol]

Kathy's advice is really sensible. I admire the fact that a not-so-sunny view of human nature does not prevent you from being generous and giving toward your neighbors and community. That's really important.
It's hard to be a leader unless you are sunny; most people only want to hear about positive futures.
Do you realize we are reaching the time when almost everyone who endured the Great Depression has died? WWII is also fading from memory as people identify with the capitalist dreams/communist paranoia of the Fifties.
It's a hard sell to explain to people that everything could collapse quickly; we believe it is TOO BIG TO FAIL but I for one, agree with you that this Transition may be too quick for many things and many people. We do all we can now to make it smooth, though.
I appreciate Kathy's realism.

[Anna Gurol]

Is it in human nature to thieve? I think not, but the culture we have grown up with inhibits theft by social pressures that we may lose in a crisis. (In the short run, to prevent vandalism, get a big dog.) The middle class person really believes in property rights and will respect them, up to a point. As long as our crisis is gradual there will be time to re- tool before roving bands of Viking thugs on the one hand, or authoritarian forces of martial law, on the other, take over our civil society. These scenarios of violence are still possible, especially in isolated geographic areas. Everybody believes in property rights until their kids are starving. After Katrina national guardsmen defended grocery stores against hungry people at gunpoint.
It's great to start a permaculture in the suburbs because you have more protection through proximity of neighbors. However it means more wandering dogs to threaten your livestock, less respect for agriculture in general, little appreciation for what you are trying to achieve. However the real impediment to permaculture in the suburbs is the high land prices.
If you set up out in the sticks you are kind of on your own. Remember that the permaculture we really lack is the social permaculture. Building that is extremely important. On our social connections we will sink or swim as a species over the next 100 years. So make friends, tell your neighbors about the vandalism, get a dog. As the ancient Arabs said, "Trust in god, but tie your camel."

[Iver Lofving]

Thanks for the feedback. I have installed cameras and we have friends in the area of our sugarhouse. It could be that those friends are feuding with others up there. I am a teacher at the local high school, and I may represent something, but I have always been the teacher the kids love. It is deeply disturbing because we all want to feel accepted and this is the opposite. Sadder but wiser. I think it may be a good thing, because I really thought that land would be a great thing to have in case of trouble, but now I'm not so sure.

A great thing happened after the sugarhouse was shot up. I was cutting wood and at least 3 neighbors and fellow sugarmakers stopped by to offer assistance. We talked and I think that they are going to be on the look out for whoever did this. Maybe it strengthened our bonds somewhat.


Only time will tell if it was for the best. We are still in business anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISbkO-NKA9o

[Anna Gurol]

That sounds really painful. I am sorry you were attacked. Random violence always comes as a surprise.
I once attended a talk by Maxine Hong Kingston. A really funny thing she said that made me think a lot. She said , " I am Chinese. The Chinese invented gunpowder. From gunpowder you can make fireworks or weapons. Maybe people make war, not for political reasons, but because it's fun to blow things up."
Sometimes what looks like horror is really just kids having fun --- don't think I am trivializing! When a neighbors dogs ripped apart five lambs and the one mother ewe that stood her ground, the dogs really were just having fun, by their standards. Everybody loves dogs, they are the essence of love to many people, but they are bloodthirsty monsters just for no reason at all, too.
Nature and human nature, likewise. I agree it is REALLY hard to get one's mind around this. Life is not benign but also evil, but it is also benign... % I

[Kathy Jacobson]

They shotup the sugarhouse! :-( My mind initially went to vandalism like spray paint, trashing stuff, etc. But pulling out a gun and shooting up a sugarhouse...that's a whole other level and Very serious stuff.

Glad to hear the neighbors showed up to help...yep, folks often come together over unfortunate events. I am sending my best wishes and hope things will improve for you; that something good will come of it.

I think stewarding the land is a wonderful thing, setting up shop for survival, knowing my sons and some of the other young ones who have helped this place come into existence can explore the world while knowing they will always be able to come back here if necessary. However, such an approach comes with great responsibility and it can be tough trying to get things together for others when they're no longer contributing to the goal. It might be easier to just not prepare things for other folks and to just ignore it and hope someone else will take me and/or others in when things get bad but I figure it's one of the most meaningful things I can do with my remaining breaths. How it all turns out is yet to be known.

I love the video! Thanks for sharing it. Great operation.

I am in the midst of crop tree release here and the maples are bing identified and tended for the future sugar bush/house. I have a friend who is in operation with Sticky Pete's Maple Syryp...yumyumyum...it's one of my favorite gifts from the land.

I'm in se ohio though and many folks are already talking that if one wants to continue to seriousely work a sugar bush...they're probably going to have to move north due to climate change. I'm still hoping to be able to tap the trees and get into sugarin' but can't see investing a lot or making it a high priority right now. Your video helped me better understand what it all entails though. Very nice composition and comprehensive presentation.

Thanks and Best wishes! Hope you can hang in there. kj

[Kathy Jacobson]

Hello!
How nice to read this exchange; thank you.
I too am an advocate for more widespread understanding and application related to the principles of social permaculture.
Best wishes and hope we stay in touch. kj

[Iver Lofving]

Thanks. We invested some time and money in the sugaring operation, and I guess we are like pioneers. Pioneers get a lot of arrows in the back, so I guess it's what happens. We installed a couple of cameras. I guess it's not such a bad thing to learn a little about security at this stage in the game. I think we contacted the person who did it and told the police, so it may be over. We hope.

I think it was a message that we shouldn't get too attatched to things, even if those things seem to be precious.

We are going to keep sugaring, but it won't be as public an event as it was now. We had our sugarhouse on the list for Maine Maple Sunday, but we took it off. It may be time to maintain a lower profile now.

[Kathy Jacobson]

Yes, I agree that it is good not to get too attached to things; even though I always do to some degree as it seems to be a part of heart opening.

I too have hosted open houses, tours, workshops, etc., but am also getting the feeling that it may now be time to assume a lower profile.

[Iver Lofving]

I will still be open to people who know about what's happening, and I had a fellow peak oil person come up and visit last winter. We talked about what's happening and what can be done. Some guys came up and learned about sugaring also. It's a great place to learn about how sugaring works and how to manage a woodlot, so I will continue to show people I trust.

When we're sugaring there are lots of our friends out there.

It just won't be open to the general public any more.

[David Eggleton]

To be blunt, I don't believe the trend of this discussion is toward the security, combining social capital and preparedness, that Transition promises. Maybe as rural folk you have the option of guarded self-sufficiency, but I imagine that desperate people will soon discover and have their way with the oasis you're operating. What good will an extra couple of weeks or months in anticipation of their arrival do you?

Have I failed to understand something? I hope so!