Book finished, I feel freed

#2677

I am going to increase. the energy here, commenting on serious issues concerning the plausibility of implementing Gardenworld. I am just back from Sabas in northern Borneo where the government has worked to convince farmers of the desirability in income from planting palm oil. But palm oil kills the ground. Flying over some of these areas is tragic and seem to mirror the traffic and high rise destitution of the development model, The purpose of the trip was to help think through how to get farmers back on diversified crops with larger and longer term income. This implies throwing out the palm oil development strategy the government is relying on for taxes.

I of course have been critical of all development as co2 producing, but in this intermediate case the idea is to increase crop income while returning to village ways of living.

In one place I stayed. a village in the jungle (orchids not tigers) had built a community center where I stayed, open lattice walls f r easy ventilation and many stair levels. in the morning a group of eight children about 2 to 8 yers old, ran wild and and barefoot, energized, chasing and throwing each other around jumping down sets of stairs, stopping to sing songs, the older teaching the younger and no adult supervision. Some of their parents worked in the kitchen but never interfered. This level of physicality and movement would be impossible in the town or city setting. Their feeling freedom was thrilling.

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I began to view effective leadership in the new environment as more akin to gardening than chess...Within our Task Force, as in a garden, the outcome was less dependent on the initial planting than on consistent maintenance. Watering, weeding, and protecting plants from rabbits and disease are essential for success. The gardener cannot actually 'grow' tomatoes, squash, or beans— she can only foster an environment in which the plants do so."

GEN. (RET.) Stan McChrysta1