Collecting Data and Using It,

  In Donelle H.Meadows Book "Thinking in Systems" on page 89 she says " When systems thinker encounters a problem, the  first thing  he or she does is look for data, time graphs, the history of the system.  That's because long term behavior provides clues to the underlying system structure. And the structure is the key to understanding not just what is happening, but why."

  To me this means, in order to figure out why something is going well or why something is going wrong we really need to look at all the facts.  And furthermore, it makes me question why even sometimes with the positive facts out weighing the negative facts we still seem to ignore certain systems that work.  The one system that we choose to ignore in America that has so much potential is Hemp Production.  I do not understand how we can turn our backs as a nation on something that can clothe, feed, shelter, and so much more.

     Lets get one thing straight, Hemp is not Marijuana, Hemp has no "Drug" properties.  It simply cannot intoxicate a human.  But what it can do has its own power and value.  Hemp seed can be made into a food protein in many forms.  Hemp fiber can make strong durable clothes, clothes that will last three times longer than cotton.  It takes one acre of Hemp 120 days to produce as much usable fiber as 3-4 acres of trees can produce in 7-8 years.  Hemp in the last few years has been made into a concrete type material, that homes can be made from.  And Hemp oil can be used to run cars.  To grow hemp you just need water and sun, it is usually pest resistant so no pesticides need to be used.  It is such an amazing plant with so much potential yet we can not grow it in the US, just import it, which drives up the cost to work with or buy, even though it is only a "weed".  It is a "system" that has worked for 1000's of years, it has founded countries, help discover new lands, and its future is wide open, as long as we let it in.