Collateral consequences

In military speak, collateral damage is "damage to things that are incidental to the intended target. It is frequently used as a military term where it can refer to the incidental destruction of civilian property and non-combatant casualties."

In other words, "I was aiming for the munitions warehouse and I accidentally hit the building next door."

Or in Shakespeare speak, when the prince begins the duel by saying he didn't mean to stab his friend's dad but had killed him accidentally while aiming for someone else:

Sir, in this audience,
Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house,
And hurt my brother. 

-Hamlet 

Hamlet, Act V, Scene 2

He's not claiming "I didn't do it" but rather "I didn't mean to do it."  

In my life I've broadened the term from collateral damage to collateral consequences since both positive and negative consequences flow from every decision.

I moved to the country to farm and I wind up hitting deer, eating roadkill, laughing about it with my new friends, and blogging it all out.  I got to choose my decisions but I don't get to choose the consequences.
 
A wonderful example of positive and negative collateral consequences is in the Northern Exposure's Thanksgiving (Season 4 Episode 8). Marilyn, a native Alaskan tells a haunting story of the meeting of the First Peoples and the European settlers, of death and the gift of pumpkins. 

 January 2013

We cut down trees to create our orchard, unintentionally breaking our neighbor's heart.  His view changed from peaceful to ugly.  

 

 historical photo by our neighbor

 

January 2013

The background of many wonderful memories was gone in one weekend of chainsawing.  The view in much of his art was changed.  

 

 historical photo by our neighbor

Ugliness was not my goal but it is a collateral consequence of my choice to put in an orchard on our convenient southern slope.

January 2013

Our first draft hugels and mulching were very ugly as the photo he attached to illustrate his emailed point clearly reveals.  

 

 view of R Farm from our neighbor's driveway, fall 2013

The mulch wasn't staying and the garden was eroding and the logs were protruding and the cardboard for weed suppression was in disarray.  Ugly and not functional.  A lose-lose combination in a garden.  Hopefully our second draft this spring will be better.  We're trying to make substantial changes to the hugel structure which will lead to greater functionality by allowing mulch to stay put and as a positive collateral consequence also keep the mulch tidier with less effort.  That's the theory anyway. We'll see how that plan survives engagement with real life.  


Will these choices minimize the negative collateral consequences while still moving us towards our goals?  

Gosh, I sure hope so. I hope that the permaculture philosophy that the problems are the solution is true.  We're betting our time, energy, and money that this second working draft will be an improvement over the first. 

Here's to hoping for better consequences all around!