Living in the future series
Living in the future means adapting to restrictions which have not yet become the norm for most of the people reading this newsletter.
Living in the future
For over five months our area went without any municipal water (or any mail), because of what we’ve taken to calling the fear hole. No real fear involved, just a small amount of shifted earth that has completely disrupted the modern infrastructure essential for life—which, let’s be real, most people take for granted.
“Haunt the dreams of your comrades, and the nightmares of your enemies; live in a future that never came—be a specter, a memory, and a herald. Remind them that the current state was not inevitable until it came to be. Do not occupy yourself with the question of why this very possible future failed, leave the victorious to grope for answers. Be the question, and do not heed your impotence. A ghost has no need for material presence or action, you just need to shimmer.”
- Alaa Abd el-Fattah, You Have Not Yet Been Defeated
Not being polite
The myth of ‘modern water’ already afflicts the US, where, contrary to the belief of equal universal water accessibility; race, ethnicity, and even citizenship status play major roles in determining access to clean water and indoor plumbing.
More tragic yet, the Oxfam report from this summer, Water War Crimes, “finds that Israel’s cutting of external water supply, systematic destruction of water facilities and deliberate aid obstruction have reduced the amount of water available in Gaza by 94% to 4.74 liters [a mere 1/4 bucket] a day, per person—just under a third of the recommended minimum in emergencies and less than a single toilet flush.”
Deterrents as relationship
Without predators, the population is exploding and while we find them adorable, they are a nuisance to farmland. Wild pigs are known to tear up 1/4 acre in a single night as they root for yautia or hunt for worms, leaving craters where crops once stood. Many of our neighbors have decided to defend their harvests with traps and guns, but we’ve been developing a more holistic response.
“We are bound up with one another. Anywhere and everywhere you are, you can get in the way of the death machine; hold somebody’s hand tight, and get in the way together. Revolution until victory for all of us.”
Entering our fourth year on the farm
We are still living in a tent. We do not own the farm. Nothing is promised, and nothing has gone according to plan. The stability in our life has come directly from our efforts in building with our community. This month we’re reflecting on this and the last four years of living in the future. (All of our