The Plowboy Interview
(Page 15 of 18)
PLOWBOY: To sort of bring it down to an
individual level, if people reading this interview are
inspired by this idea-are moved by the concept-what courses
of action could they take?
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SNYDER: They could certainly begin by
making contact with bioregional networkers in their area.
Such groups are gradually emerging around the country.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Seethe list accompanying this
interview.] So if people are interested, they can
write or visit the nearest bioregional networkers, and they
can also start by themselves, if they want. To do
so, you have to erase current county and state and national
boundaries from your mind, and then ask "What's
really here?" That means study ...and finding
teachers. The teachers are scientists, old farmers and
loggers, and your region's Indians. Scientifically, you'd
learn the ecology of your area, learn the plants. From old
settlers, you'd learn skills and lore. From the Indians,
deeper questions arise, such as "Who are coyote
and raven?" and "How do we learn proper etiquette?"
And people who follow this track tend to run into each
other. They slowly become a new society in an old nation,
evolving a shadow economy.
Have you seen the new issue of Raise the
Stakes ...on bioregional selfcriticism?
PLOWBOY: No.
SNYDER: It's a good issue. It proposes
that we criticize the shortcomings and presumptions of this
movement, including its goofy polysyllabic terminology. And
there are some pretty good articles. Jim Dodge edited this
issue.
I put a critical thing in there, in which I said that
bioregionalism is not a panacea: In a sense, it's just a
part of the search for exterior proprieties. Setting proper
boundaries is not unlike spelling reforms, or the metric
system, or any kind of exterior propriety which in itself
doesn't necessarily change human character, doesn't
necessarily make human beings any better. I speak as a
Buddhist a lot of the time-well, actually, all of
the time-and it's part of the Buddhist insight that
imperfection and asymmetry are always going to be with us,
and that there's no ideal that we'll ever arrive at. The
closest thing to the ideal that we can hope for is to live
completely aware and mindfully and on balance in this
moment.
Ultimate things are not accomplished in history or in time,
and this moment-right here and now-is as good as any moment
is ever going to be anywhere. So we can't actually
count on some postindustrial, bioregional future
that will be better than right now.
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