Agriculture Archives - Page 4 of 5

Our problems are deeper than “capitalism” (and “socialism” alone can’t solve them)

May 13, 2019 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Plowing a field

Complaints about “capitalism” have become more common the last few years in the United States. This has been a welcome development. Anytime the collective perspective is widened, it’s beneficial to at least some degree. In a complementary way, calls for “socialism” have also become more frequent.

We can credit these trends to social conditions. First, as such conditions have worsened by several measures — such as those that track economic factors and health statistics — more people have been willing to question the status quo. As the system falters, the number of folks no longer willing to play along goes up.

Secondly, some credit is due to the activists, scholars, artists, etc., who have kept fringe ideas alive through the times that were leaner philosophically (though wealthier financially). Occasional eruptions of activity have provided necessary exercise for these ideas, such as the turn of the century Anti-Globalization movement, and Occupy.

However, I put “capitalism” and “socialism” in quotation marks for a reason. The main issues that have been raised — income inequality (including falling wages and rising executive compensation) and a disintegrating social safety net (like lack of access to affordable healthcare, housing and education) — are grievances with Neoliberalism,* and the principal solutions, especially as enumerated in the Green New Deal (the Democratic party version) — such as increased government action and spending to create jobs, redistribute wealth and provide essential services — would not be Socialism, per se, but rather a return to, and ramping up of, Keynesianism.

This is not about splitting hairs. This is about getting to the root of the matter.

FDR’s New Deal (and Johnson’s Great Society) were both Keynesian; that is, they followed the theories of economic philosopher John Maynard Keynes, who developed them in the 1930’s (good summary). Keynesianism was not at all Socialist, and in fact sought to preserve Capitalism by blunting its sharper edges. With Keynesianism the sword is left entirely intact, and remains in the grip of the ruling class. With actual Socialism, by contrast, the workers seize the sword from the ruling class and wield it themselves.

What is the nature of this sword? Ironically to some — not the least of whom would be many in the Pacifist movements — this sword is a kind of plowshare; both are murderous. The multiple, intertwined crises we are facing today — whether economic, social or environmental — all precede Capitalism by several to many millennia. Capitalism emerged in Europe in the 1500s and 1600s (with no small help from the colonialism and slavery that marked the euphemistically named “Age of Exploration”) and Socialist thought rose in the mid-1800’s, as the massive dislocations of the industrial revolution demanded a reasonable response.

Yes, the depredations of Capitalism (and “capitalism”) have been horrifying, and yes, Socialism (and even “socialism”) offer something marginally softer, or more “humane” in comparison, but we must look back further in history than these relatively recent philosophies and practices if we want to address underlying causes.

I am speaking here of what Jared Diamond called “the worst mistake in the history of the human race”: Agriculture, which burst onto the scene about 11,500 years ago.

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#WeedsArePeopleToo: Springtime reflections on farming & its damages

May 3, 2019 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale)

I woke the other morning to the staccato sound of a Woodpecker pecking. He (I am guessing, based on appearance) was tap-tap-tapping on a dead branch on a nearby Oak. The rhythmic noise was not disturbing, even first thing upon waking, because I had been observing and appreciating this bird and his habits for the last few days on this particular tree. But the vibration also brought me sadness, as I knew the tree was not much longer for the world, and was in fact scheduled to be cut down that very day. Why? Such is agriculture. Read on…
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Counterpunch review of my book

April 13, 2019 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

I was thrilled that writer Nick Pemberton reviewed my book, “The Failures of Farming and the Necessity of Wildtending” on Counterpunch. Here is an excerpt and a link:

Kollibri’s book is wide-ranging. He shows us how agriculture is unhealthy for us. He exposes the health effects of agriculture as well as the sevre environmental impacts. He interviews a Native Americans about Western world views. The format varies but the themes seems fixed. Kollibri successfully links the rise of the so-called modern world with the rise of the West and the rise of agriculture. Thanks to the many formats of his chapters, Kollibri can take the reader to places both specifically scientific and broadly historic. I won’t give away the details here. But much of the book’s strength lies in the way it addresses accepted and practiced everyday truths by pointing to an alternate history seldom explored by our history books.

…The term intersectionality, while extremely useful, is often used in a superficial way. What struck me about this book was how well it used intersectionality in a material sense. This is an uncompromising book in regards to the patriarchy and U.S. history. There is a certain deep imagination here that uses history to point to the development of present conditions and assumptions.

The most unique and rewarding part of the book is the specific details about how the world actually works in a scientific sense. There is great detail and well-organized science in the book. Such material is not necessarily the internal biology one learns in school. Rather, Kollibri is most interested in real world application. Upon learning about the earth and the way it functions the reader is met with shame. How ignorant our modern world is. But the book is not there for that purpose. It is there to uncover the truth in both a historical and ecological sense.

Read the whole review here

The Troubles of “Invasive” Plants – zine

January 16, 2019 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

“On the topic of so-called ‘invasive’ plants, we don’t have an axe to grind, but there sure is one we would like to dull.”

“The Troubles of ‘Invasive’ Plants” is a 21,000+ word project by Nicole Patrice Hill & Kollibri terre Sonnenblume for Macska Moksha Press. Excerpts are posted online (see below), but the full version is available only as a zine that you can download here free-of-charge.

Hardcopies are for sale here.

The Scarlet “I”: Climate change, “invasive” plants & our culture of domination

January 16, 2019 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

This is part three of a three part series. Read part one & part two. The full series, along with additional material, is available as a zine, here.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis) [Photo by KtS]

By Nicole Patrice Hill & Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Changing plant communities at the local scale are symptomatic of the changing climate globally. Patterns of temperature, precipitation and seasonal timing are shifting, and with them, the patterns of birth, growth, reproduction—and survival—of all living creatures.

One widely observed syndrome is “season creep,” in which Spring has been arriving progressively earlier in the calendar year. This does not mean that every Spring starts sooner than the year before, but that an overall trend has been observed. For example, a survey of leafing, flowering and fruiting records from 1971-2000 for 542 plant species in 21 European Union countries showed advanced timing for 78% of the plants. According to other sources, “Spring events, such as blooming, frog breeding and migrant bird arrivals, have advanced 2.3 days per decade.” Winter snow cover duration—as measured from Fall to Spring—has decreased throughout the Northern Hemisphere since 1978. The earlier the snow melts, the less water is available during the hot summer, which affects a wide range of plants, animals and other life.

Winters have been warming. For example, the average February maximum temperature in the US rose by 0.3 F per decade from 1895-2016. This general rise in the “floor” has been accompanied by an increase in “extreme” events, such as “false Springs” when temperatures warm up enough to trigger life cycle stages in a variety of species. When more “normal” weather arrives later—or another extreme event follows, but this time on the cold side—a plant can be injured or even killed. A common example is when a hot spell causes fruit trees to flower, and then a frost—even just a “normal” one—zaps the flowers, thereby taking out that year’s harvest.

When we were farmers, we experienced how extreme events affect crops. In the Spring of 2013, periods of warmer-than-average weather alternated with periods of colder-than-average weather a few times, and the transitions between them were quick, as in 36 hours. Spring greens thriving in “normal” cool temperatures would go to flower prematurely when the temperature rapidly heated up. Then, warm weather crops would stall out when the temps fell. Annual vegetable plants don’t do well with such erratic conditions and we watched helplessly as our failure rate climbed.

The Troubles of “Invasive” Plants: Collateral Damage, Monsanto, and the tragedy of Pinyon-Juniper eradication

January 3, 2019 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum) [photo by KtS]

By Nicole Patrice Hill & Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

This is part one of a three part series. In this part we discuss: a) the negative effects of invasive plant removal methods, b) the involvement of Monsanto in popularizing invasion biology, and c) the tragedy of Pinyon-Juniper forest eradication in the western U.S. under the rubric of “native invasive species management.”

Defining “invasive species” is a slippery proposition.

The U.S. federal government defines it as “an alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.”

The National Wildlife Federation elevate s environmental considerations, describing it as “any kind of living organism… that is not native to an ecosystem and causes harm.”

The Connecticut Audubon society is less discriminating about the effects of introduction. For them, an invasive is any “non-native species that has been introduced, either intentionally or accidentally into a new habitat or has escaped cultivation.”

A plant species doesn’t have to venture far outside its native range to be considered invasive. Such is the case of the endangered Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), which “ is a frequent target for the chain saws of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department—even though two small stands in Monterey, just fifty miles south, are cherished and protected as natives.” Meanwhile, a 500 mile drive north of its relict range , a large specimen planted by European settlers in the 1850’s is an officially designated “Oregon Heritage Tree,” which we assume grants it some safety.

Agriculture as wrong turn

December 6, 2018 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

The following is an excerpt from my new book, “The Failures of Farming and the Necessity of Wildtending,” available here.

Farm field in southern California and meadow in eastern Oregon

The news here is that the lives of most of our progenitors were better than we think. We’re flattering ourselves by believing that their existence was so grim and that our modern, civilized one is, by comparison, so great. —John Lanchester[1]

The “Agricultural Revolution” is lauded as one of the greatest achievements in the history of the human race, proof positive of “Progress” and of our own exalted status “a little lower than angels.” Doubtless, it is among the most momentous changes that our species has experienced, on par with the utilization of fire, the development of language and the splitting of the atom. However, a closer look, based on research and scholarship, reveals that the adoption of farming led to declines in human health, caused sharp social inequities, started a war on the environment, and put us on a road that’s headed towards extinction.

But wasn’t life before farming miserable? Notoriously “nasty, brutish and short?” Weren’t hunters and gatherers always on the edge of starvation, constantly focused on survival, and never able to enjoy free time? According to experts who study history: No.
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Ordering info for my book, “The Failures of Farming and the Necessity of Wildtending”

November 30, 2018 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

“The Failures of Farming and the Necessity of Wildtending” is a collection of essays I wrote between 2011 and 2018. I approach the basic thesis—”agriculture as wrong turn”—from different viewpoints and styles, varying from journalistic to scholastic to reflective to ranty, and two of the pieces are interviews.

Read an excerpt here: “Agriculture as Wrong Turn,” which was also published on Counterpunch and Resilience.

Read a review by writer Nick Pemberton on Counterpunch here.

You can order digital copies directly from me at this website. You get four formats for one price: PDF, EPUB, MOBI & AZW3 @ $4.95.

[purchase_link id=”7808″ text=”Add to Cart” style=”button” color=”blue”]

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SPECIAL DEAL:
I just received some misprinted copies of this book. I can’t return them because the misprint is due to my error, so I am offering them at a discount. Regular price is 12+s/h. Discount is 5.95 incl. s/h!

[purchase_link id=”9357″ text=”Add to Cart” style=”button” color=”blue”]

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Paperback is currently available only through the evil empire, Amazon, for $11.95+shipping. Sorry! [ Click here ]

Clear-cuts, Wildfires and Insecticides: My 2017 Pot Farm Observations

December 10, 2017 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Note: This is the third part in a trilogy on the topic of Cannabis cultivation in northern California. Previously published: How Green Is Your Pot? Questions for Conscientious Cannabis Consumers and The Mark of Malice in California’s “Emerald Triangle”

Cannabis growing outdoors in Mendocino County

2017 was my fourth season in a row working in the Cannabis industry in California, and it might well turn out to be my last, considering how rapidly the industry is changing, especially since the 2016 passage of Proposition 64 for adult recreational use.

My employment has always been hourly, arranged with handshake contracts, and “at will” for all parties. Never been a boss and haven’t wanted to be. I’d already had my days of running-the-whole-show when I was farmer in Oregon growing vegetables, seeds and herbs (but never pot) for the ten seasons up ’til 2014. Since then, I’ve been perfectly content as a helper for somebody else‘s headaches. Though not elevated in the hierarchy, and certainly not privy to all matters of the trade, I’ve appreciated the “inside” vantage point I’ve had to observe the transitions in the industry, at least as they’ve been playing out in northern California.

I’ve always been strongly in favor of the complete decriminalization and legalization of marijuana for a few reasons. First and foremost, there’s the racist, classist drug war and its unjust imprisonment (an entirely redundant phrase, I know), which must end. Secondly, its ridiculous to outlaw either a plant (no matter its qualities) or a state of mind (no matter how altered). Thirdly, Cannabis has impressive potential as a source of fiber, food and medicine. Cultivating it widely could reduce more destructive practices such as logging, cotton-farming and prescribing pharmaceuticals.

I am thrilled that, as laws are relaxed, fewer people are being jailed and previous sentences are being reduced or dropped. This is non-negotiable. At the same time, I have been keeping my eye on other effects, which have been mixed. Watchdogging is needed; the pot industry is a force to be reckoned with, especially in Calaifornia.

Though still a sector of “the informal economy” (as it is properly called, the “black market” existing only in other countries) marijuana is the biggest cash crop in California. The exact annual take is a matter of debate but what’s not is the burgeoning economic size of the industry itself, in a state that, were it an independent nation, would rank as the sixth largest economy in the world.

The sins of pot farming are many, as is the case with all agriculture. As an historical wave it represents the third (and likely final) ecologically extractive economic boom in the area, the first being gold and the second timber. Indeed, the rapid expansion of the Cannabis industry in northern California has been dubbed the “Green Rush,” an unfortunate moniker considering the genocide and ecocide of the “Gold Rush.” To put it coldly but factually, Cannabis is the financial engine of the current generation of settler colonialism in northern California, and thereby enables the ongoing occupation of stolen native lands.

So what? you might say. That’s how it is everywhere in the US.

Sure, and that’s why it matters everywhere in the US. The widespread nature of our collective crime doesn’t make it less criminal. Here are my observations of the shape of oppression in this place.
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Mass Shootings, Toxic Masculinity and their Roots in Agriculture

November 17, 2017 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Local newspapers

On November 14, a gunman in Rancho Tehama, California, shot 15 people. Five died. It was the 318th mass shooting of 2017 in the US. Of these, it ranked as the fifth deadliest (tied with a June 5 attack in Orlando, Florida). In terms of injuries, it was the sixth worst (tied with May 20 in Philadelphia and January 27 in Brownsville, Tennessee). The assailant was himself killed by law enforcement.

As it so happens, I arrived in the area later that same day, on my way from Portland to Mendocino County. My plan was to harvest olives from an untended orchard near the town of Corning.

I’d been listening exclusively to MP3s on the drive, so didn’t hear anything about the shooting until I stopped in a restaurant for dinner. It was a Thai place, which is always a great choice for meatless and gluten-free food, which are my preferences. Though it was around 7pm, I was the only customer. The owner immediately volunteered why that was.

“Everyone’s nervous to go out tonight after what happened today,” she said, and then detailed the violent event after I expressed my ignorance of it.

“We’re taking it hard,” she added. “This a small place and we all know each other.”
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