Michael Pilarski: Green Employment
Michael Pilarski
is the founder and creative force of the Friends of the Trees Society, a grassroots non-profit that has been operating continually in Cascadia since 1978. The deep ecology mission of Michael is hard to categorize; it transcends the sum of its many parts: permaculture; biodiversity; edible and medicinal gardening; organic seed, oil, and herb production; agroforestry; rooftop greenhouses; transition economies; cooperative models; relocalized community development; even an annual Fairy and Human Relations Congress. All in the name of good health and good wealth.
After many years spent establishing a permaculture community in and around Tonasket WA, "Skeeter", as Michael is known to friends and students, is now based in Port Townsend. His Friends of Trees Society website ( Click: http://friendsofthetrees.net/ ) features information on available workshops and courses of study, as well as thoughtful blog entries on sustainable living and deep ecology applications.
Previously from "Skeeter" :
Employment, Unemployment, and Misemployment in the United States
Building a new economic system based on useful jobs
Michael Pilarski
February 28, 2012, Edition #1
The problem = the solution. The main thesis of this article is that there are large numbers of people not doing useful work and a large amount of useful work that obviously needs to be done. Let's put the two together. Look at how many people are available for useful and needed work!
Unemployed, official and unofficial.
Unemployed because of mental or physical handicaps.
Underemployed.
Employed but doing useless work.
Employed but doing harmful things to the earth and/or people.
The biggest underutilized, resource in the world today is humanity. Incredible amounts of them are not being given the chance to be productive, and large amounts of them work at jobs which are counter-productive. Counter-productive jobs tend to be higher paid then productive occupations. Wall Street for example as compared to farmers.
A Pew Research survey found more than half of all adults in the labor force had either lost a job or suffered a reduction in income because of the recession. It is real hard for youth to get jobs. Times are tough for a lot of people. People with jobs are hanging on to them. The clamor comes up from the unemployed:
“Jobs, jobs, we want jobs! We'll do anything.”
In the name of a job people will do things that:
A) are bad for their health;
B) they will do things that hurt the environment;
C) they will do inane and useless repetitive tasks;
D) they will submit to bad bosses and dangerous workplaces;
E) people will commit crimes;
F) people will prostitute themselves in many ways.
How sad and insane is this?
The current US economic system is insanity. The 1% are rewarded with billions and trillions of dollars for doing what? The more useless the job the higher the pay? Useful workers are having their pay reduced. Millions of people are denied jobs while our cities and environment go to wrack and ruin around us.
What kind of jobs do we want...?
Also from Friends of the Trees Society:
The Fairy and Human Relations Society
The Fairy and Human Relations Congress convenes each summer in the countryside near Twisp WA for a festival of song, dance, healing workshops and spiritual rites, all toward enhancing a childlike belief that yes, other worlds of experience are possible by revisiting Nature on the wings of love, joy and community. Poignantly captured and conveyed by a stunning, reverent, 6-minute video report from the Spokane Spokesman.