culture versus nation

"many of the social units that comprise a complex society perceive increased advantage in a strategy of independence, and begin to pursue their own immediate goals rather than the long-term goals of the hierarchy."- joseph tainter. "the collapse of complex societies"___________________________________________________"those grand solutions ( public policy initiatives )are inherently anti-native because they are unable to vary across the varied mosaic of our ecosystems, from the cold deserts of eastern washington to the deciduous forests of the east, with the nebraska prairie in between." wes jackson. "becoming native to our places"____________________________________________________culture isn't a simplification of some national ideal...it is adaptation to local conditions and as the bureaucracies that serve the interests of the elite become more removed form the everyday local reality they no longer maintain even the pretense of relevance...there are a multitude of "immediate goals" antithetical to those of the elite's hierarchy...a clean as opposed to "fracked" environment...a lake that isn't a sewer for bp/ammoco to dump benzine in..healthy as opposed to industrial food...i live in a rural/suburban nexus and i know what will grow here...and i know what the hierarchy wants to grow here...i see it every year...and i will be looking at it tomorrow...soy beans and dense yellow #2 are what covers the crop land here...and those plants are the extension of those "long-term goals" that are "unable to vary"...monoculture...the antithesis of agriculture...neither of those crops is native to this ecosystem even though they seem to thrive here ( a chemically induced fecundity...verdant if nothing else )...there are numerous edible native plants though...i know...they inhabit my yard ( and i have overtly put one in the community garden and covertly allow another by failing to classify it as a "weed" )...the first three photos are all natives...all edible..all healthy...all with their own bundle of nutrients to deliver...jerusalem artichokes, lamb's quarters, and purslane will all do you more good than harm and they are happy to be here without industrial chemotherapy...i did not have to inject anhydrous ammonia in my yard to help them along...a bit of compost and the occasional shot of water ( not so far this season though...it rained again today and there is more in the forecast..i cannot be certain if those ollala potatoes in the bottom photo have died back because their season is through or if they drowned )...if, as the needs of the political center become more inimical to ours, we need to be more independent that independence will turn, at least in part, on our ability to feed ourselves...community supported agriculture, community gardens, and kitchen gardens are all a step in that direction and a step away from the "long-term" monoculture of the industrial food system...time to figure out what wants to grow here and how we can help it along...time to go native.