Grumpy Acres Farm Group
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Un-Apologetically Capitalistic….
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Un-Apologetically Capitalistic….
I recently posted a quote from Bill Mollison on our community page at the Grumpy Acres Farm YT channel. It read:
“The greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there is enough for everyone. Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on the very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food and shelter.”
Even though Mollison was speaking about being a Permaculture Revolutionary, the sentiment extends beyond that. One of the areas it extends is in to is our finances.
Borrowing the phrase from Spags Unfiltered, one of the things we are pursuing in our quest to be free, is to create alternative streams of revenue and build alternative economies. The best way to do that is to be un-apologetically capitalistic. The sad thing is that in today’s culture, to most people that sounds incredibly boorish and bad. People will call you a sell out and only in it for the money. If you are using the existing structure; i.e Amazon, Paypal, et al, they will say that you are supporting the system you say you are trying to be free from. That is farther from the truth than can be imagined. The alternative economies, even if they use the existing structure, and these new revenue streams are revolutionary, because they take power away from the system.
Two people that I have come to respect made some comments recently that really struck home. The 1st was Darren from “Hacks for the Homesteader”. I was hemming and hawing about the price to charge for doing Permaculture Design Consultations. I felt that the price William from Perma Pastures Farm had suggested to me was too, high, even though that is what he was charging and that people were willing to pay. Darren flat out said, “If you don’t put that money in your pocket, someone else will.” He’s correct, and that someone may not be like minded, and that money may go right back in to the system in a way that works against what we are working for.
The 2nd person was John WIllis from SOE. He just happened to be talking about being an Amazon Affiliate, right at the time I was debating using the program. I didn’t want to feed the Beast. He made the point that as a consumer, by clicking on Affiliate links you are literally taking 1% to 2% out of the pockets of Amazon and putting it in to the pockets of of people you support. How revolutionary is that?
I guess where I am going with all this is to say is that while Grumpy Acres’ stance is that we should look primarily at options outside the system,we say make hay while the sun is shining. If we believe what we say we believe, we are going to be facing rainy days sometime in the near(ish) future. On the flip side, if you are buying anything (i.e. a consumer) help out those that are trying to get out from under the system, no matter where they are. There are creators and sellers who are out there solely to make a buck. They eventually out themselves, though. Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water trying to steer clear of these people.
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1 Reply
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Yes yes yes! There is no objective way to completely withdraw yourself from everything that works against you. We make consessions where needed and we withdraw where we can.
In the end, we make the money, we spend the money within our community. We become the counter economy.
100%
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