The key to being REAL Green is behavior. From behavior comes activity but also spiritual strength. Acceptance comes into the equation in the very beginning. The starting point is finding one’s limitations and understanding the limitations on civilization. It is this duel reality that is important. First as an individual one has to understand the limitations of his local of people and place in regards to how far green prepping can be taken. Green prepping is preparations for a coming shock but also planetary caring. Resilience and sustainability are a footprint lowing strategy that is both preparatory and green. The key for the individual is understanding how far he can take this effort. Even before this one needs to come to the awakening that this is the way. Acceptance is faced once being honest about the science of the planetary path of succession. This is a decline of complexity.
The planet is in succession with ecosystems but also the human ecosystem we call civilization. The individual has to be awakened to this reality to find acceptance. He must be honest that technology and efficiency suffer diminishing returns eventually so technology will not save us. We are near this point and this is expressed by the fact most all technologies have draw backs. This is a “hole digging” reality. There are limits to efficiency that are more than cost benefit analysis they also represent lifestyle decline. The modern man is destroying himself in many ways by hyper efficiency. Globalism is one such effort. If the individual is awakened to this reality of decline and limits he then sees the carbon trap and path dependencies that limit civilization’s advance of progress. Progress is now on an undulating plateau of growth and decline. Decline is winning.
This acceptance of the macro leads to acceptance in the micro for the individual. The individual will reflect on these macro limits to adjust his local of people and place. Keep in mind the trap the individual is in is both macro and micro. The macro is obvious if civilization is in decline so is the individual. In the micro the situation is different. The trap is one of dualism. The individual is trapped in how far he can adapt away from this macro reality of a greater trap. The individual is locked into the reality of interpersonal relationships where his significant others may not be awakened or care. The individual must make money and pay for things to survive so he must use the trap to adapt to the trap. The local is delocalized by globalism. Often is the case resources we rely on are outsourced globally. So the individual must deal with his own limitations and those of his greater community he lives in.
If the individual is honest about the science of this then he will take steps to adapt locally by green prepping. Preparing for shocks that are possible and probably in the future because of decline and delocalization is one adaptation. The individual will then reflect on the macro of a planet and our human civilization in succession and decline in place. Meaning is found in this activity of decline that is normally demeaning. Shrinking in decline is offset by finding spiritual meaning. Spiritual meaning comes from embracing the way of the planet in green caring. Acceptance is the key to this transformation that allows vigorous activity. Keep in mind this is not a transcendence because we are all trapped even the awakened. This spiritual awakening does not take the place of your existing higher power. It is an add on to this. You can be Christian, Buddhist, or atheist and still go REAL Green. REAL Green is about a realistic approach to risk management and the reasons for it. Acceptance is the turning point and trigger to activity that is fortified with spiritual meaning.
There is no place in REAL Green for paralysis. If you probe the truth then you will go forth on its behalf once you have been awakened. You will face the abstract death of decline and decay with micro growth in localized niches. Ecosystem decline of planetary succession is a destructive change but one that frees up niches as complexity breaks down. Micro climes of growth are available to those who are aware of places where constructive change can take place. To find these niches requires awareness and orientation. To get to awareness and orientation takes acceptance of this decline process and the understanding of the individual’s local trap of people and place. You can only do so much. You are defined by your local.
Know your limitations. Some can go much further than others. Some will be called on to be modern shamans of change. Shamanism is as old as intelligent humans and was primarily an individual the tribe looked to for spiritual guidance. In modern times you can be a spiritual guide to this process for others to orientate. You can possess the force of the planet’s way. This is a subtle power for those who are awakened and it will guide you to proper and successful action. What this means is when you orientate to the planet it will assist you. Some can take this much further than others because they have education and resources.
Be one of these planetary warriors if you can. If you can’t then help those who can. Touch your local with this power and see the transformation. Do this in humility because this power is lost when used for selfish reasons. Humility should also come for acceptance of decline. No matter how much of this power you possess you are still at the mercy of your local of people and place. A community that is not sustainable and resilient will take you down too. This is why you should get out of a bad place if you can and migrate to a place with a future. If you can’t then fortify what you have and do this in acceptance of decline, decay and even death. The truth is the ultimate motivator of the enlighten human. This is the truth because this is the way of the planet. Reject the human narrative of manifest destiny and embrace a humanity in harmony with the way of the planet. Do this relatively to your local of people and place and your spirituality of your higher power. These are your limits so accept them and then go forth on the planet’s behalf.
REAL Green Adaptation 
What a breath of fresh air your ideas are! From what little of your writing I have read—I just found your blog today—it would appear we are in similar places regarding our perception of the state of the world and how we live in it.
For years I was an angry (and self-righteous) activist preaching the evils of industrial civilization and the need for (domesticated) human beings to regain their hold on the truth of our mortality, our need of the living world, and our respect for our magic home, Earth. In 2006 I moved to Cambodia to do community development/climate change adaptation work. We worked with local communities in building rooftop rainwater harvesting systems, home-scale biological-sand-water-filters, digging small-scale irrigation ponds, providing training on organic food production, and started a community bank serving several villages. I am still engaged in this work and still living in Cambodia with my Khmer wife and our 4-year-old son. However, it was in Cambodia where I came to the realization that societal-scale change towards sustainable living was not going to happen.
Without exception, every person in Cambodia and throughout South/Southeast/East Asia (where roughly 60% of the world’s population lives) that I have spoken with wants to be financially wealthy and be able to buy: big homes, cars, and all the luxuries and comforts that affluent modern life has to offer. Individuals/families are willing to work hard to achieve their dreams of material abundance and security for their loved ones. Looking at it objectively, money buys the goods and services we need, so people wanting a lot of money is reasonable.
Without fail, societies want to be wealthy.
After decades of learning about and working on social/ecological issues and their possible solutions, I have broken my view of the human world down to this:
• Science tells us that wealthy individuals and societies are by far the primary destroyers of the living world
• Nearly every individual and every society with wants to either retain their wealth (and add to it) or become wealthy
• As long as this is a dominant worldview, we domesticated humans are not going to address humanity’s current and ongoing rate of societal and ecological decline.
In response, my wife and I have been building a 1-hectare permaculture farm in northwestern Cambodia. I am humble enough to accept that my own affluence and entitlement has given me the resources I need to learn about building a permaculture farm and putting the resources into action to make this farm a reality. Like you, I am not trying to “out green” anyone or point any fingers at others who are living differently than my family and me. I am thankful for what we have, thankful to hold my wife and child in my arms every day of my life.
I am looking forward to diving into your blog and seeing where that leads me.
I wish you the best in your work and life.
David
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You are just the type of person I am reaching out to in fact it is deeper than that because the planet is speaking through me to you. Let me explain this because it is important not to confuse the source of power in this statement. I have been awakened and through this awakening process which is really the course of my entire life of ups and downs I am now speaking on the planet’s behalf. Keep in mind I am an imperfect mouth piece but still a planetary voice.
The planet is now in abrupt change and flux. The web of life in succession. The human system is being forced by this also. Humans as a species are growth based and seek comfort. This is completely natural as all species seek the path of least resistance to attain life giving energy. Humans because of our rational faculties have the capability of awareness but also fantasy. It is the mix of the two that allows creativity but also dangerous systems that over time become self-organizing in adaptive determinism. We educate and embed human values that result in system-based responses of the entire species. What we have now is a system of growth within a planetary turning into succession. Because of this the human system will be forced to change. Humans forced it and now the planet is reacting. Of course, this is just a small insignificant event within epochs but none the less for humans it is huge.
Back to the planet’s voice. There are those among us who are honest and aware of the planet’s intensions. Keep in mind I am not trying to humanize the planet like we do with a Christian white-haired grandfather in heaven looking down on us. I’m expressing a force that permeates all life plus is within the planetary systems. Humans because of our self-reflection of the ego can come to know this and lose this. Our ego can self-absorb into our body and mind but also transcend this into the holistic. In other words, humans have the ability to get lost in themselves which leads to a spiritual transformation into the sacred through complete loss that the ego taken to extreme represents. This often happens when intellectual exploration reaches a brick wall of nothingness. We cannot dwell there for long because we are flesh and blood that must survive. This requires difficult decisions and involves decay of the body and decline of the mind but the spiritual is that aspect of the human that can always be reborn and as such is man true meaning. The spiritual wealth of meaning is what the awakened ultimately seek.
It is people like us who have come to this place and now go forth on the planets behalf which is on behalf of our human local of people and place. When I speak now it is on behalf of the planet and its way and this is for others and expressed locally. I am now a modern shaman to offer other humans’ direction. I am nothing very special just awakened. A modern Shaman must keep scale proper and not seek this planetary power for his own use. This power is subtle and abstractly can only be ridden not dammed up and used to personal advantage. So, this then becomes a very local expression. There may be those out there who will tap into this planetary power and cause a great human transformation but that is not for me nor is it my message. My message is for people like you and it is support for people like you. Even though you are almost on the other side of the world bellow my feet we are right here together on one planet within one ecosystem.
My manifestation of the planets message is REAL Green which is a relative and realistic effort to change humans locally with people and place. This is done within the status quo of growth but using this human liquidity to strengthen my local of people and place. I am dedicated to localism and my particular expression is low carbon capture of solar energy in the form of a low stocking rate multispecies rotational grazing system of cattle and goats. This grazing system is on a polyculture pasture that has space for wildlife. Included in this is a very efficient dwellings complete with lower complexity solar power and batteries. I also use grid power so I am a hybrid of solar and grid. I heat with wood that I collect from the farm. I collect dead and dying trees or manage the forest to open up areas for wildlife and farm animals. I have a garden, orchard, and grapes. I also know the best forage available. I don’t hunt but others do. I will if needed if food gets scarce. Three quarters of our 400 acres is managed for wildlife. I am carbon trapped so I use tractors and equipment. I have no choice but I espouse the importance of human and animal labor in systems that embrace the planetary hydrologic, nutrient, and carbon cycle systems. If I could I would promote these over my machinery. I am trapped and know my limitations so I use what works. The key to this is the scale of localism. Low carbon capture looses effect once it expands out and this is why modern techno greens will fail.
I am a green prepper that is prepping for the decline process. What is good for prepping is also green. Resilience and sustainability are green if it is awakened to the planet’s way. I am reaching out on an obscure blog with this message in the hopes of finding people like you that are doing the same. I am reaching out to those who have this force. It is similar to the Jedi of Star Wars but without the techno hype. The planets power is very subtle but all powerful in regards to our life force. It is higher than human’s binary of good and evil because the planet is without reflection. But since humans are a part of the planet, good and evil are relevant just not dominate as humans want to believe. So, to tap into this requires scale and behavior. The behavior is ultimately acceptance of decline and failure of the human system and the transformation of this. Behavior is the key and from this comes activity naturally just as a tree grows and a beaver builds his dam. As a human with our outsized mind it is critically important to have this behavior so humility can be attained but also acceptance of our imperfections. We cannot transcend this but we can instead embrace our failings and turn them into strength. In other words, once our demons become angels, we can go forth on the planet’s behalf guiltless even with guilt.
So, a long story short is from what little you have told me you are on this path. Your activities are Cambodian but reflect my activities in the Ozarks of Missouri. Permaculture and localism are our expression. Humility and blessings are used for others with scale. We understand those who are lost. We see how the human system is in a turbulence that is full of decay and decline that is forcing the web of life. Instead of pointing fingers we choose to change what we can locally. As a green prepper I also realize my local is trapped and limited. I cannot decouple from the greater world I am in so my weak link is my greater community and its lack of resilience and sustainability. I try to change this in small way with the acquiescence of the planet. I am constructing a monestary of best practices and things to give to those who follow me. All that I do might end up as an estate sale without any caring or reflection but it is those small infrequent connection like what you and I have today that matters. If one piece of knowledge or thing touches someone someday once I am gone then this monestary I labor on has planted a seed of positive change for humans and the planet.
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