Creating My Earthseed Community (Parable of the Sower)
Explain TWO (2) real-life issues that make it necessary to create your Earthseed community. What are you seeking shelter from?
Two real-life issues that make it necessary to create my Earthseed community include systemic racism and overconsumption. Systemic racism is embedded in society, within every system, structure, and organization; it has led to those who are deemed inferior or othered, most often minorities such as those who are Black, Indigenous, or a part of the LGBTQ+ community. The system has continuously disadvantaged minority groups by excluding them from jobs despite having the qualifications or creating laws that purposely keep them from improving their circumstances, such as redlining, environmental racism, voter suppression, and equation inequalities. These practices and systems in place have caused disparities for generations that have caused irreparable harm to these communities, leaving many to face poverty, incarceration, and, for many, early deaths. Overconsumption has also caused devastating impacts on the environment as society and companies have shifted from creating long-term items with an emphasis on quality and lifetime warranties that offer repairs to manufacturing quantity over quality, items that are not made to last, and replacement services rather than repair services. Having low-quality goods and fewer services to repair them has caused an exorbitant increase in unnecessary items and goods that leaves mountains of discarded clothing and items in junkyards or shipped to countries that are not equipped to handle such immense loads, further putting strain on countries and polluting the environment.
Quote two (2) Earthseed verses from Parable of the Sower and show how you will apply them to your community. You may be creative in your interpretation.
“Embrace diversity. Unite— Or be divided, robbed, ruled, killed By those who see you as prey. Embrace diversity Or be destroyed” (Butler 150).
I would apply this Earthseed verse to my community as a message and a reminder of the importance of diversity and inclusion. To be united in diversity is to survive and thrive as a community. Dismantling systemic racism is to utilize each individual and culture’s perspective to devise a community that does not view one race, sexual orientation, or group of people as superior to others because the moment the community does, it is corrupted and destroyed. Systemic racism leads to disconnects and gaps in wealth, education, and access that harm countless individuals, leading them to be preyed upon and oppressed. Creating a community without this system embedded will ensure that the community is united by respect, understanding, and empathy, which ultimately is the key to its survival. Viewing the community as a collective, with no life superior to others, where one person benefits the community benefits, is integral to dismantling systemic racism.
“Create no images of God. Accept the images that God has provided. They are everywhere, in everything. God is Change— Seed to tree, tree to forest; Rain to river, river to sea; Grubs to bees, bees to swarm. From one, many; from many, one; Forever uniting, growing, dissolving— forever Changing. The universe is God’s self-portrait” (Butler 239).
This verse of Earthseed is integral to how the members of the community will view the Earth, as a gift that should never be exploited. The Earth, although constantly changing and adapting, has always given the resources needed to survive and in return humans need to be respectful of these resources, never taking from it more than they need. Every organism on Earth is connected and overconsumption disrupts its harmonious balance causing the extinction of animals, plants, destruction of land, and a rise of products such as textiles that take 200+ years to decompose, effectively damaging and destroying the Earth that provided these gifts. To accept God’s image is to accept its creations and to treat them with respect and care, never taking or using more than needed.
Explain WHERE you will create your Earthseed community to be safe.
I would create my Earthseed community in a remote part of the world where there is an abundance of healthy soil, adequate farming weather, and enough resources to sustain the community for decades. The area would have to be disconnected from any city or community, ideally surrounded by tall trees and plants that help disguise our presence from planes. The area would also include a specific pathway that only those in the community know how to find, access, and navigate to help safeguard the community from threats.
Who can join your community and why? Who can’t join? Why not?
To join my community, people must be open to differing opinions, accepting of others, and respectful of others. In order to dismantle systemic racism, having respect for those around them is essential in providing opportunities for all groups of people, especially minorities, to thrive in the community. Those who are hateful, bigoted, or intolerant of other people for who they are or how they live their lives are not welcome. People also have to show care for the environment and the planet and agree to only take what they need. They must give back to the community with the skills they have or will learn skills that will be used to provide for the community. Those who are greedy and like to take advantage of resources or who do not give back to the community are not welcome, as that opposes the founding principles of Earthseed.
What will your leadership model be for your community?
For my community, there will be no main specific leader but appointed leaders for each specific job. Each job will have a maximum of 5 appointed leaders who will be democratically elected, and no person within the leadership committee will be more powerful or important than the other. No one specific leadership community for their job will have more power or influence than the other. Before each consensus is made, each leadership committee is required to listen to the people, their thoughts, and opinions to ensure that the people inform their decisions.
Create a FUTURE TECHNOLOGY (one on the horizon, not something like teleportation or time travel) to help improve life at your Earthseed community.
Future technology to help improve life at my Earthseed community includes a technology that speeds up harvesting time while also maintaining the soil moisture without negatively altering the life of the plants and food that will be harvested. This technology will also allow for any rapid growth of our community due to children or accepting more people who meet our criteria. Another future technology includes technology that allows those in my community to all speak or sign in their native language and instantly understand one another in their own language. Having this technology will drastically improve communication between community members, allowing individuals to communicate in their preferred language without needing to assimilate and learn a new language if they don’t want to. A third future technology includes a technology that allows large amounts of water to be purified for the community to have and distribute as needed.
Explain/show how your Earthseed community will SURVIVE.
My community will survive based on mutual respect for one another, acknowledging and highlighting our similarities and celebrating our differences. There will be weekly community meetings where individuals can express their thoughts and suggest ideas to benefit the community. Everyone will have access to any service they need, including healthcare and mental health services, which will never cost them any money to visit. All individuals in our community will have all the basic necessities needed to survive and be taught basic life skills necessary to continue surviving and giving back to the community. Our Earthseed community will survive by adopting the mentality that surviving in my community is by understanding that our survival is a circle: whatever is given to you, you will also give to others; the skills that are taught to you by someone, you will use to help others in return, and no person will take more than what they need. By following these guidelines, the community will survive.
Explain/show what TWO steps your Earthseed community will make to build a better future, i.e. education, housing, conservation, farming, etc.
One step my Earthseed community will take to build a better future will be to implement educational courses for those in the community that discuss systematic racism, the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory. These courses will be offered for every age group and will continuously touch on more nuanced topics the further the individual is in the course. These courses will be mandatory for all individuals to take to officially be included in the community, to ensure that those in the community have an understanding of systemic racism and how it devastated communities, allowing for greater empathy and respect for everyone around them. A second step of my Earthseed community will be for everyone to be taught basic life skills, such as how to garden, cook, clean, build, and use simple household items. Those interested in specific skills can improve their skills and use them to contribute to the community. For example, if an individual found a passion for planting, they could help plant seeds for the community garden. If an individual finds interest in building and fixing items, they can learn woodworking skills and could help build the houses that will house the community members. Those who do not find a specific calling may choose to pick a way that they can contribute to the community as long as it is beneficial to the community and improves the lives of the community in some way, shape, or form. In addition, all food eaten will come from a community garden or a farm we maintain. Nearly all parts of a food item will be used in any shape or form, and nothing unnecessary will ever be taken. Anything found extra will be used for emergencies, and anything spoiled will be put in compost to help fertilize the soil.