Page 20 RAIN Januar 1978 The Right Wing and A.T.: The Possibility of Mutual Aid Increasingly, a. t. is seeming too much a step-child of only ·the welfare-liberal wing of the Democratic party. Yet there are many philosophical and practical aspects of appropriate technology that should appeal to conservative Americans: local control, personal sel{-sufficiency, "no free lunch" attitudes, distrust of government taxation and bureaucracy, wariness of multi-national corporation ripoffs, preferenc,e for small business and family farms, a "do-it-yourself with friends" attitude rather than having it,"done-to-and-for-you" by the government, non-processed foods, and many deeper personal values. Likewise, there is a strain of "self-responsibility" in the soft technology movement, which is palatable to both anarchistdecentralists and•right-wingers. It is not entirely coincidental that many early U.S. centers for a.t. experimentation were founded in hotbeds of, variously, New England Yankeeism and Canadian self-reliance-the New Alchemy Institutes at Cape Cod and Prince Edward Island, Great Plains hill-country populism- the Institute for Maximum Potential Systems at Austin, Texas, and intellec~ual anarchism -the Social Ecology Center at Goddard College. Yet, in our normal American fascination with-simply "doing-it," it seems we have used too little energy trying to understand the ethicalvalue roots of a.t. thought, with an aim to identifying those we hold in common with now-ignored potential allies we'll need to regain citizen control of our country. Indeed, the best inquiry into this generally unexplored area is still The Politics of Alternative Technology by Dickson and the infrequent movement self-critiques in Undercurrents magazine, both of Great Britain. The inost useful self-reliance ideas these days come not from the "more-of-the-same" moderate 'political center, which cannot hold even itself together, but from the radical right and left fringes. Only the ideas from the very edge of political sanity seem to enliven our future prospects today, while the middle ground is dull, if not deathly, in its tread toward the impersonal, bureaucratic fascism of large institutions and of answers to.o big for our human:-scale problems. ' If you'd like to broaden your perspective on the practical concerns of the neglected right, you might check out: How to Remodel an Existing Home to Prepare for SelfSufficiency, Joel M. Skousen, from: Survival Homes Box 163. Provo, UT 84601 Other courses with a. Mormon orientation on food storage, wood heat, greenhouses and family self-reliance are available. Survivor's Prim_er and Up-Dated Retreater's Bibliography, Pon and Barbie Stephens, $12.00 from: Drawer 1441 Spokane, WA 99210 Covers all aspects of retreating individually, in families and in groups, 3:nd living more independently. Many other publications are available. Ask for price list. Matter of Fact Magazine, $2.50 for 6 issues/year from: . 5905 S. Regal Rd. Spokaqe, WA 99203 Usually about 50 pages on practical self-sufficiency and crafts for "people tuned to the earth," with related advertising. Reaso_n Magazine, $15 for 12 issues/year, from: Box 40105, S Santa Barbara, CA 93103 Covers the theory and application ,of libertarian philosophy and politics, with articles on survival preparation and planning. I The Ruff Times, $55 for 24 issues/year, from: Target Publishers Box 172 Alamo, CA 94507 Conversationally written with personal thoughts of Howard Ruff, on current items in the news, relev<1,nt interviews and coverage of personal finances, food storage, bureaucracy and product reviews, with an air of "Be Prepared" Mormonism, tempered by an understanding of glo,bal economic and natural resource linkages. Yet we need some perspectives which integrate right and left wing thought by combining the experiences of such people as Karl Hess, Murray Bookchin, Howard Ruff, David Morris, Hazel Henderson and Don Stephens. We need to screw up our courage and step out from our present comfortable, yet still relatively powerless political niches and talk with those we've ignored for too long, to the quiet gratitude of the middle-road Democrats and Republicans. We need not agree on everything or on strategies for changing America more to our liking, but I suspect we'll find enough to make the effort worthwhile. It's time to re-read Kropotkin's Mutual Aid and then stretch out an open hand. LEE JOHNSON
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