On Reflection: From Earning to Learning

A personal reflection from Dan.

Something interesting is happening here and I wanted to write it down. I think maybe it is a sign of the times and potentially a very promising one for folks concerned about the state of the planet and wanting to take serious steps towards doing something about it.

Like so many others who have realised just how seriously we (as participants in industrial civilization and agriculture) have wounded and are continuing to wound the living planet we are part of, I have long pondered the whole issue of land.

So many people have told me that yes they are just itching to grow more of their own food, to establish serious food gardens, to plant trees, and so on. To reconnect and put down roots, to deinstitutionalise, to find their tribe and become indigenous to some place.

Yet in situations where the land they live on is not theirs, it is hard to get around the idea of pouring energy into a place only to have to leave it behind when the land owner decides they want to do something else with the land (in our case revert it to lawn).

While I believe it is worth doing it anyway, for the skills you learn, the community you build, and many other reasons, I know that this is a serious impediment for many of us.

After pondering possible loopholes in the system for a year or two many of us reconcile ourselves with not only the idea of owning a bit of land but of working in some job to make the money required to buy it. Then, we figure, we can put down roots with the peace of mind we're after. Knowing that the trees we plant will be there to feed our grandchildren.

Given that the planet is in a state of severe crisis it is hard to get one's head around working in the city (or where ever) for ten years (or whatever), but unless a mystery relative happens to leave us a whole bunch of money it seems there is just no other way. Many folks consider joining or forming intentional communities but of course these usually require money also, and many people seem to have hesitations about the risks of communal situations not working out in the long term. Some of us seriously consider just roaming, doing what we can wherever we are and not being attached to any particular future. But I suspect most of us probably yearn for a piece of this planet to connect with, to be part of, to form a long term relationship with.

For a little while I've been wondering if there isn't another way of living on some land with security. This whole Thomas Street situation has brought me to the conclusion that there is. We have now had something like eight serious offers from land owners, in a variety of both city and country locations. Some of the people know us, others don't. Half of the invitations are from people interested in having us as tenants, with others offering to have us live and develop permaculture gardens on their land rent free. This includes possibilities such as living somewhere for 5 years and then signing a 99-year lease. Though we hope to remain at Thomas Street for a while yet, Cat and Adrian are serious about pursuing one of these opportunities. I am considering another.

These offers haven't come as a result of any unique attributes we have. They have come because we are people with an genuine interest in caring for the earth, growing our own food where we live, building community and so on. There are many thousands of people like us!

This situation has reinforced my feeling that we are fast moving towards a culture in which there will be an increasing number of landowners, usually older, sometimes without the skills or capacity to develop the land themselves, yet who want help doing something productive with their land. A large contributor to them wanting this will be peak oil and the associated rise in the costs and fragility of relying on industrial agriculture for food. Another contributor will be the raising awareness of how unhealthy industrially produced food is, for people and planet. People in this situation will increasingly consider the option of entering into some long term agreement with folks, usually younger, in the category of people without land, but with the skills, capacity, and motivation to develop it. Various informal and formal arrangements will be made. Quite possibly new terms and legal arrangements will evolve or become better known.

The upshot, for me, has been that I am slowly stopping worrying about how I'm going to fund my bit of land. I am increasingly pouring my time and energy into communities of like-minded others acquiring skills together. Skills like food gardening, weeds as food and medicine, sourdough bread making, sprouting, raising chickens and so on. Skills of connection, engagement, empowerment. These skills will serve me so much better than money will, and in acquiring such skills, it is so much easier to engage with reality - to orient myself to what's going on and what is coming without freaking out too much. In doing so I am learning more about being part of healthy, happy and mutually beneficial relationships with communities of like-minded others. I am finding my tribe.

So, if anyone was to ask me for my two cents worth, I'd say phase out of an existence where your time is based around earning dollars. Transition into a space and a place where you are learning skills in a community context. You'll not regret it.