timBoucher » The Amish Fight Terrorism!

The Amish Fight Terrorism!

Look at some of the text from that anti-animal RFID tagging suit, filed partly on behalf of Amish farmers:

“All plaintiffs preserve and protect Americans’ agricultural heritage and traditional farming techniques, they maintain and protect heirloom varieties of plants and animals constituting a valuable genetic resource which may help to protect America’s food supply in the event of a disease outbreak, and they also provide a national security benefit founded in a diverse system in the event of a terrorist attack or natural disaster that interrupts the distant transportation of centrally produced food across the country.”

I actually personally agree with the statement being made their, and I’m beginning to see the outlines of perhaps that way of thinking in other places: like Jeff Vail’s hamlet economy or “resilient community.” I believe there was some quote floating around at one point from Lyndon Larouche arguing basically the same thing about hippies and the psychedelic movement in general: that certain elements of the US government had been involved in its inception and/or furtherance, at least partially as a testing ground for alternatives to current social organization, in the event of a catastrophic event happening on US soil and the breakdown of central order.

Anyway, nevermind that these types of heirloom farmers and their heirloom lifestyle represents a pretty close analogue or at least a high degree of compatibility with lots of permaculture-y, organic-y, sustainable-y, green-y type of thinking. I don’t know where that leaves us, but probably someplace pretty interesting. These types of legal battles are happening all over in the shadow right now which will greatly determine life in the years to come, but few people are drawing the pieces all together and looking at where we are headed, why, and how we can function effectively together to change or divert its course.