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Dear readers,
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no bounds! Young and old alike are treated like refuse and live on the streets
from hand to mouth. Only the powerful have rights, which I have seen and
experienced for myself. In addition, this happens in areas where no one should
have to go hungry, because the soil is fertile and the weather is favourable.
There should be more than enough food for everyone. Many people have lost
their land to powerful landowners and with that the ability to provide for their
families. They have had their independence taken away, which then becomes
very difficult to take back. So many of these people live rough on the outskirts
of town in terrible conditions, whilst their land is relentlessly overworked and
ruined.
Many people think that this cannot happen in Europe, but we are already
well on our way! Most small farms only provide a subsidiary income, because
the farmers do not know how to make enough money from them to live on
any more. Today, very few people dare to forge their own way and consider
alternative farming methods. Instead many people look to subsidy programmes
to tell them how to run their businesses and alter their farms accordingly. Either
that or quantity is prioritised over quality and farmers try to compensate for low
prices with a larger volume of produce. The result is a monoculture maintained
with large quantities of chemicals. Many people are deterred by the bureaucratic
obstacles that are put in their way when they try to practice alternative farming
methods. It is every person’s duty to defend their rights, land and even their
concept of democracy and make them their guiding principles. If we do not,
there is a real danger of finding ourselves in an administrative and bureaucratic
dictatorship.
I have already described how difficult it is to forge your own way in my
first book. Some years ago I had a visitor from New Zealand. This visitor was
the late Joe Polaischer – our lives took similar paths. He chose to leave Austria
and emigrate to New Zealand to set up a permaculture farm under difficult
conditions. He had visitors all the way from Europe and they were delighted
with what he had accomplished. Joe was a remarkable man. He was a teacher
and had a great deal of practical experience, which is exactly what we need right
now. His achievements should make it clear that there are people on the other
side of the world who want to live in harmony with their environment and not
at odds with it. Treating our planet and fellow creatures with respect – and not
being motivated by rivalry, jealousy or hatred – is the only way!
My dear friend Joe, for your commitment to using land sustainably, your
contribution to the development and teaching of permaculture in Austria, you
have my most heartfelt thanks.
I would also like to thank my colleagues of many years Erich Auernig and
Elisabeth Mohr, who have always supported me in my work. Without their tire
less efforts it would never have been possible to raise such a large amount of
public interest in my farming methods. With their help, I have been able to show
thousands of interested visitors around the Krameterhof and oversee countless
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