She was a pachuca, a chola.
Young living at a fast pace; wild, wicked, reckless.
Cruces on her hands and tattoos up her limbs. …

But the wine and dope and years wore her down.
Now she is truly lost.
La belleza que era aimlessly wanders the downtown parks of this bustling business town.
La chula del pasado is a blank page viewed through dead eyes.

And my heart aches for her.
………………………
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ5QnzGUkos (I had lusted for a pachuca–with that cool special slow stride and a little panza–when I was in high school in south Texas in the 1960s. However, she was both older and much more street-wise than I … with a bad pachuco boyfriend.)

Joanne Lauck (Voice of the Infinite) believes “that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm”. We humans create a “hostile world”. We teach prejudice. … Moreover, “there are real reasons why we mistrust and fear insects. Few have much to do with the actual insect. Most involve misperceptions about them and about ourselves, and are tied to a multitude of beliefs about our place in the Earth community.”

Nevertheless “there are no freaks, misfits, or accidents. There are only things that humans do not understand.” Mutant Message Down Under, Marlo Morgan

“Our psychological ties to insects (also) stem from ‘biophilia’ a term coined by ant authority Edward Wilson* for our inborn capacity to love all life forms.” Therefore, “ecological restoration is at its essence a restoration of ourselves … ” and a “journey to wholeness”. [* http://www.pbs.org/program/eo-wilson/ ]

Margaret Wheatley (Leadership and the New Science) “believes that generating enough information and interaction between people (and weathering the state of confusion that it brings initially) is the place to be if the members of an organization want to be open to new thoughts. The period of chaos is an essential part of a deep ordering process that, given time and enough interaction, can arise from a stew of ideas and people.”

We do need to reject “the tyranny of efficiency”. “In Kinds of Power, James Hillman says that ‘efficiency is a primary mode of denial.’ It elevates the job being done–in this case, agricultural productivity–above all other considerations. The Nazis killed people efficiently, Hillman points out, and now we are raising food efficiently, supposedly to end world hunger–at a cost we have yet to comprehend.”

[Also. I would hope that you will view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHQbSw2BG7Q and then read Voice of the Infinite!]

Though he tried–in the clutter of conventional capitalism, commerce, materialism, and consumption; artificially manipulated high-speed electrons and electromagnetic waves (and many, many algorithms); and other aspects of an “invisibley handled”, high-input/-throughput world system– Páv?los had trouble getting the real attention of even family and friends closest to him. Moreover, although David Orr pointed out in his classic paper, “What Is Education For?”– http://www.context.org/iclib/ic27/orr/ that we need to holistically and profoundly understand and observe the Second Law of Thermodynamics, even one of Páv?los’ closest collaborators (in their perceived crime against human behaviors driven by conventional capitalism and of trying to achieve resilient and sustainable community) teased Páv?los about the recurrence ad nauseam of the Second Law in Páv?los’ discussions and essays.

Nevertheless, as family members–Helen Bain, Jeremy Bain and Ian Bain–sat listening (some more than others) to Páv?los Bain, Páv?los waxed not so eloquently and articulately, but tried to make a point about necessarily staying within the confines of the Second Law:

“Like many others—especially males, those north of the Tropic of Cancer, ‘white’ folk, and those in environments conducive to obtaining a fairly good education toward a livelihood–I enjoy the fruits of this artificially-fragile high-input world system which is so negatively exploitative of the Commons, Land, Nature and the relatively powerless, including other species. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that lower-input systems based on daily solar energy couldn’t bear adequate fruits for all of humanity and other species in better and just as enjoyable ways.

1. Now … go take a look at this NPR piece from yesterday: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/08/05/429345848/green-pie-in-the-sky-vertical-farming-is-on-the-rise-in-newark and reflect on what might be possible as sustainable agriculture.

I do believe in local food sheds. But this idea of raising food indoors under grow-lights, and “aeroponics”, and elaborate systems of plastic and metal, is very illustrative of the desperate need for world-wide (positively ethical applied community) ecology across-curricula (including processes of teaching employees and members, and of continuing education) and across-campuses of schools; businesses; NGOs, governmental and bureaucratic entities; clubs; churches, families; and communities. Highly artificial urban food production systems such as the one highlighted in yesterday’s NPR report, which are “perpetual motion-type” ideas and which are directly and indirectly dependent on high inputs of fossil energy/materials, are ridiculous to even investigate. (You all look to the Land Institute– https://landinstitute.org/ , Agroecology in Action– http://agroeco.org/ , and sustainable community gardens– http://www.greensatx.org/community-gardens/community-garden-network for much, much more realistic, resilient and sustainable approaches which recognize the Second Law and principles and processes of applied ecology.)

2. Even though I have avoided the rat race of purchase of a cell phone or and continuing purchases and consumption of mobile computer technologies, I do regularly use a PC which one of my sons put together for Elisávet and I from used components, and I do often enter into the high-input/-throughout world of computer hard and software and the internet. Moreover, Google is too much of my life. … As I read and listened yesterday about Google’s new road to and within the San Antonio, Texas region– http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Google-Fiber-coming-to-San-Antonio-6425372.php , I recognize that we do have to begin to begin to confront the realities of incongruities of these highly artificial systems so dependent on high energy transformation and flux and high material flow … and the Second Law and principles and processes of ecology. Finally, I do suggest you read Wendell Berry’s “Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer”– http://home.btconnect.com/tipiglen/berrynot.html .

…………………….
In recapping all of this, I just want to emphasize that we need to:
• keep things (local and global systems) as truly Natural, Small, Slow, and Simple as possible,
• remember that (too much of our own) order creates chaos (for others), i.e., the Second Law, and
• abide by this Second Law of Thermodynamics.”

After publication in the Seguin Gazette, the following (with somewhat of a focus on Seguin, Texas) was posted in 2014 on Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/paul.b.martin.54/allactivity ) and Banned Books Cafe ( http://bannedbookscafe.blogspot.com/2014/08/respectecological-justice.html ).  A version of this is also in our book Games We Play by paul martin ( https://www.kite.pub/sustainability/games-we-play ).  I wish I had included a statement about respect for the LBGTQIA community:

Respect [From the Latin verb respicere “to look back at.” … “An understanding that individuals, communities (including other species), the ecosphere should be treated in a just and appropriate way.”
Modified from Oxford; Merriam-Webster dictionaries]
paul bain martin

“Entre menos burros, mas elotes.” Dicho de Mexico “Me? … We!!” Muhammad Ali
“The free bird thinks of another breeze … and he names the sky his own. But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams … his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.” Maya Angelou

Respect within relationships among individuals, demes, populations, and communities–locally and across the globe—is dependent upon profound and comprehensive comprehension. During my formative years and afterward I played, studied and worked with young and old of various shades of color and various roots–and social behaviors–in Devine, College Station, Florida, Georgia, Mexico, Poland, Brazil and other locales (and during the “Freedom Summer” of 1964—after a feed mill accident–my life was saved by Afro-Mexican American coworkers, Lacy and Gene Haywood, which must have in part spurred my quest for respect and justice). But I respectfully acknowledge and confess that despite my good fortune to have relative power, money, education, resources, and time with which to work toward improved states of respect, I can be very lazy and I need to work much harder at learning how to respect various peoples and assist in the realization of justice for all. To wholly respect others it takes a life of learning the nuances of their ethnicities, behaviors, languages, culture, sexual orientations and history. I also recognize that I need to spend more time communicating with the poorest of this and other regions and countries–including ancient (indigenous) and recent immigrants–and to afford them with the power, resources, time, and communication skills (in their native language, English, mathematics; through computers and algorithms) to understand me and my culture and history.

As touched upon above, a goal of realizing respect is as simple as the theme of the 2014 prestigious TLU Krost Symposium, environmental justice, i.e., ecological justice, or … just justice! It involves simple affirmations that we will do unto, e.g., Haitians and other peoples as we would have Haitians and others do unto to us if we were in their extremely challenging situation. It is simply the achieving very significant reductions of consumption by the 1% of humans who consume 75 times per capita what the poorest 20% consume. It would involve drastic reduction of this consumption also because it is decimating populations of other species. Moreover, this simple goal would include the transfer of a large portion of that power of consumption of the 1% over to the 20% who are hungry and undernourished and poorly clothed & sheltered, and to other species. In addition, it would involve short and long-term management of population growth of humans and domesticated animals. It would necessarily be a process of working toward equality and equity through “applied ecology across curricula and campuses” … curricula and campuses of churches, businesses, government entities, not-for-profit non-governmental organizations, as well as school systems–public, private and home schools. It would be the beginning of what I call a generation of positively ethical applied community ecologists/PEACEmakers who have sustainable livelihoods. (Herein, community always includes all species in an area!)

On the other hand, the reality of even the beginnings of a realization of just a bit of a dream of ubiquitous and universal respect truly is perhaps not so simple, but is very, very, very complex and muddled. It involves grassroot work in the trenches in local communities all over the world as well as heavy-duty politicking at the local level and on regional, state, national and even international scenes. Certainly the great works of Sam Flores, A.J. Malone, Dolores Huerta, Willie Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, Betty Friedan, Harvey Milk, W.E.B. DuBois, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez, Mahatma Gandhi and others who have fought so hard for respect and justice—but only partially achieved it–have attested to that.

A journey toward truly holistic respect is about positive relationships with other humans and with Nature. And it is about real action. It is not “Yes sir!” and “No sir!” to the status quo, including our current world systems’ status quo of rampant transformation of energy and subsequent loss of existing topsoil, quality of water systems, & biodiversity. Respect is not bowing down to the power structures who worship big and fast at the expense of others, including other species. It is most certainly not a neglect of going to the voting booth and a disdain for getting involved in the political process. An attitude of respect does not involve the acceptance of our current socio-political/economic systems which are so exploitive of relatively stable natural economies. Respect is looking hard for a different route toward individual quality life which is quality life for all of the community. It starts by speaking truth to power and to apathy, and to ignorance of ecological processes and principles. (Global and local power might include the moneyed, transnational corporations, politicians and bureaucrats, the majority in a democracy, the military-industrial complex, or religious institutions.)

Down these lines, I have to say that too many of us—including yours truly–are often quite satisfied with our sheltered “life” in comfortable artificial bubbles. But surely we should begin to more fully live and launch a critical mass of relatively wealthy, powerful and ”good” christians/muslims/jews/hindus/buddhists/humanists/others who would travel to troublesome sites in great numbers and use strategies and tactics of civil disobedience and non-violence to stop: wars in Syria, Central Africa, Ukraine, and other areas of the world; continued production of weaponry; extreme poverty in Zimbabwe and Haiti and other countries; ecological disruption all over the globe … and perhaps one day take us a bit closer to open borders, cosmopolitan and relative peace.

…………………….
Respect must start with self, but self must also include local and global community. Respect is an effort toward pristine and natural and is not polluting and not so artificial. It recognizes anthropogenic detrimental changes in Nature/the Land. We are but one of many species working at survival, but we are the dominant one on this ecosphere and we need to recognize that an excess of this dominance can lead to extinction of quality life for more and more. … Respect is having Faith in the power of good & community. But respect also gives Science equal weight and works to conserve and share with others the resources of mineral and hydrological cycles, photosynthesis and biodiversity and the daily solar energy which arrives on this ecosphere. (On the other hand it is not imprudently and totally getting on the bandwagon of STEM and many of the values being pushed in these programs. In some ways this currently fashionable “education” process of STEM has little respect for positively ethical applied community ecology or faith in Nature/the Commons/the Land, and is far too focused on faster and bigger, pseudo-growth, inappropriate technology, upward mobility, and money … and power over resources.)

As far as the Latin derivation of the word respect is concerned, in looking back I appreciate any good/god I may have in me which would have been contributed from the villages in which I have lived, including Seguin! I am grateful for the freedom of continuing development these villages provided or are now providing toward eliciting freedom songs from “caged birds” and enabling “free birds” to realize “We!”

Finally, I want to get back to the point made in the 3rd paragraph herein that respect is a complicated and confused process. It is an understatement to say that humans and human relationships are not perfect and that change toward real conservation, resilience, & sustainability–i.e., social justice, humaneness, and ecological sanity–is tough and very challenging. But across the ecosphere much does exist in the way of healthy relationships, dialogue, discussion, listening, diplomacy, and consensus-building. And we do need to shed plenty of light on this good which is taking place in community. Indeed there is much that is happening in many communities which might get us on a road toward increased respect and good-/god-liness, i.e.,:
• voter registration drives
• some research into community’s sustainability status (and a committee on sustainability)
• dialogue about better and more holistic educational systems including continuing ecological education
• initiatives at more art, historical knowledge, learning of other languages, including mathematics and computer languages
• programs to increase individual/family/community physical and spiritual health
• scholarships and leadership programs focusing on the less fortunate
• naturalists working to protect and enhance green space
• programs to achieve more nutritious, energetically-sound and user-friendly food systems a library which is being constructed with goals of the long-term conserving of energy and resources
• some efforts at reducing, reusing & then recycling
• an effort at mass transport, some bicycle lanes and increased bicycling for transport rather than just for exercise or recreation
• efforts toward quality life in Honduras, Mexico, Haiti, Africa and other parts of the world
• a realization that land fills and waste can be very problematic
• perhaps some realization that (conspicuous) consumption and the desperate grab for & transformation of energy can be a serious problem …
• the respect campaign which initiated this article and which was been ongoing much of this year of 2014 and onward!!

“To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of Creation. When we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily, destructively, it is a desecration. In such desecration we condemn ourselves to spiritual and moral loneliness, and others to want.” Wendell Berry

Thoughts toward realizing a sustainable community garden:

Most important–

o Visit other community gardens in the area and in other regions-Learn from others
o “Institutionalization”-Make the garden an integral part of a truly sustainable community organization/entity  …  and over time, make it a part of a dynamic local foodshed/hub
o Steering committee-Set up a formal, hard-working, can-do steering group from a cross-section of the community
o In every way possible get the whole of the community involved-Focus on the youth, seniors, working families, various ethnicities; use community organizers/activists; have neighborhood meetings; do block-walking; put up flyers; use PSAs and the local newspaper; have garden parties, festivals; etc.
o Raise needed resources-Raise funds locally/have a donation drive for resources, equipment, supplies for the short- and long-term operation of the garden
o Expertise-Utilizing and listening to good leaders who are experts–for guidance–is critical
o Use the garden for appropriate education toward: regeneration & conservation of sustainable, resilient community-Have regular educational walk-throughs; make the garden inviting and easily accessible to the community
o Integrate community garden efforts into public school curriculum/campuses-We have to get our youth involved through ecology across curricula/campuses
o Stay on top of bermudagrass & johnsongrass challenges-When more nutrients and water are introduced, these are major competitors
o Utilize good organic soil tilth and nutrient-enrichment practices, and plant at appropriate times utilizing intercropping-This is the best way to manage pests
o Work toward realizing a position/office of “Community Garden Facilitator” as a city position-This will help the community gardens be more sustainable
o Utilize a tried and true process of community assessment/involvement, holistic goal-setting, strategic planning, policy development, action planning, continuing assessment, replanning-There is plenty of help “out there” for this
o Spread the planning, decision-making, and work load of the garden across the community-Don’t make it onerous for the few and burn folk out
o But jump in and get started!!!-There are always excuses for procrastinating, and the plan/system for the community garden will never be perfect. “Fix it” over the long-term.

Less important???–

o Start with easy crops which can feed lots of people-Turnips, radishes, greens, beans, basil, cilantro, dill in the cool seasons and okra, Vigna beans/peas, Tatume squash in the warm seasons
o Make the garden aesthetically attractive, and attractive to a cross-section of community-Use raised beds, rocks, benches, kiosks, labeling of crop plants and associated plants, signage dealing with: nutrients in crops, possible uses, and appropriate harvesting/processing/storage/preparation
o Incorporate animals-Chickens, grazers and browsers, pigs (Animals make the garden operations more challenging, but kids really love animals.)
o Try to employ cover crops, rotational schemes, trap crops, crops/plants which are good habitat for beneficial arthropods-Biodiversity is good!
o Attempt to go no-till-This will allow for: appropriate soil microbial/macroinvertebate sustainability, mycorrhizae, nitrogen fixation, build-up of organic matter, tilth, moisture
o Have kitchen facilities associated with the garden(s)-Produce, but also teach how to utilize
o Employ rainwater catchment systems-We will have more droughts in the future
o Try eating some of the insects/quelites/”weeds” produced on the crops-If you can’t beat them, eat them!

o Build a safe, healthy and sanitary composting toilet for garden worker-/visitor-/community-use, and for recycling beautiful nutrients

o Plant perennials (pecans, fruit trees, herbs, asparagus) for a more long-term contribution to the local foodshed

o  Begin to measure energy flux and material flow of the garden-These and other sustainability indicators–ecological (psychological, social, political, economic)–are necessary if we are going to be able to goal-set, plan, set policy, take action, assess and replan toward sustainable community!