The last page excerpt
“Introduction to Permaculture”

By Bill Mollison:

“…. I believe we just change our philosophy before anything else changes. Change the philosophy of competition (which is now pervades our education system) of that of cooperation in free associations, change our material insecurities for a secure humanity, change the individual for the tribe, petrol for calories, and money for products.

The greatest change is from consumption to production, even if on a small area, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this there will be enough for everyone.. hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who produce words and bullets not food and shelter. It sometimes seems we are all caught. all on earth, in a conscious or unconscious conspiracy to keep ourselves helpless. And yet it is people who produce all the needs of other people, and together we can survive. We ourselves can cure all the famine, all the injustice, and all the stupidity of the world.

We can do it by understanding the way natural systems work, by careful forestry and gardening, by contemplation and by taking care of the earth. People who force nature force themselves. when we grow only wheat we become dough. If we seek only money, we become brass, and if we stay in the childhood of team sports, we become a stuffed leather ball. Beware of the monocultureist, in religion, health, farm or factory. He is driven mad by boredom, and can create war and try to assert power, because he is in fact powerless.

To become a complete person, we must travel many paths, and to truly own anything we must first give it all away. This is not a riddle, Only those who share their multiple and varied skills, true friendships, and a sense of community and knowledge of the earth know they are safe wherever they go.

There are plenty of fights and adventures to hand: the fight against cold, hunger poverty ignorance, overpopulation and greed; adventures in friendship, humanity applied ecology, and sophisticated design– which would be a far better life than you may be living now, and which would mean a life for our children.

There is no other path for us than that of cooperative productivity and community responsibility. Take that path, and it will change your life in ways you can not yet imagine.”