On the sunny side of the street

Anthropologist Anthony F. C. Lewis wrote about various Native American “revivalist” movements, and gave what I think is one of the best statements on why people look for a “revitalization” through a re-tooling of their world view. In 1956 he wrote that people have revitalization movements because they are undertaking “a deliberate, organized, conscious effort by members of a society to construct a more satisfying culture.” That brings me to a moment I had with my students.

Two weeks ago we wrapped up the quarter in World History by having the students read Our Word is Our Weapon by Subcomandante Marcos. Of those that read the book (about ½ the class) there was a pretty sharp divide regarding the actions of the Zapatistas. Some were disgusted with the EZLN and Marcos. The EZLN was nothing more than a farce and a sham foisted on Indians who would once more see their hopes crushed. In a nutshell, they sounded a bit like the folks over at Dissident Voice speaking about those who long for a past that never was and future that never will be. “We are a people bereft of real choices because our capacity to imagine a real world–a doable, viable world–has been shattered,” wrote Gary Corseri in August of 2008. That is exactly what the students sounded like. Greed, they said, was the essential nature of man. Hobbes, they argued, was right, and that only a the guy with the biggest cudgel will keep us from ripping each other apart, not some false dream of community autonomy and cooperation. The EZLN, they said, was wasting their time – just get out of the jungle and go get a job in a factory some where. Wow. Those are what my mom used to call “gloomy Gusses”

The pro-EZLN students on the other hand found Marcos’ vision enlightening. Respect for human rights and dignity, cooperation, local autonomy and the practice of community democracy seemed like what they wished the US would be. Somebody needed to take a stand, said they, and instead of just protesting or yakking about it in a classroom, the EZLN went out and DID something. Even if they failed, at least they had tried.

The kicker – the divide was not along conservative / liberal lines. Both conservative and liberal students were so jaded they found the EZLN a folly, while both liberal and conservative students found the EZLN a commendable vision.

All things considered (including the EZLN), I think there is cause for optimism in the Americas at this moment. With a few notable exceptions, nations from Tierra del Fuego to Baffin Bay are starting to do what Corseri has said we lost in the US – they are imagining a doable, viable world. Indigenous rights gain momentum, a balance is even being found between the rights of the poor and the rights of the wealthy in some nations. Have we reached perfection? No. But to roll over and die should not be an option, just as ripping nations apart because we don’t get our way the first time should be replaced by patient and effective action. For example, Mexico, I aver, is perhaps one to two presidential elections away from finding some sense of balance in party politics and casting aside the constant recourse to cries of corruption. So many places have come so far in just over a decade that optimism should be the word of the day.

Hey, I may not agree entirely with John Lennon’s vision from Imagine, but I certainly can agree that we need to dream. What is wrong, as Wallace says, with seeking that "more satisfying culture."

***And FYI, the simple citation of Dissident Voice doesn't mean I'm on board with everything that goes on there - but they do have some good writers some times. Check them out and make your own decision.

Ecuador and Correa . . . oh, We Forgot About Him

While Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales have been making a big splash with the protests and elections in their country, and while Chrissy K. has been ramping up the nationalism in Argentina (oooh - there's an original trick), Rafael Correa has been slipping under the radar of most news organizations. This is a guy to watch, and since the only news organizations that seem to be paying attention to him are Bloomberg or Lloyd's List, I'm betting he's going to play a part in South America's next great drama.

His 2007 refusal to renew a US lease in Manta at the Alfaro air base and instead offer it to China was dismissed as bluster at the time, but it appears he's still moving ahead with the deal, according to Dow Jones Newswire coverage by Katerine Erazo. Manta is the closest deep water port in South America to China, and a Hong Kong based company is currently expanding the port at a brisk pace (though not fast enough for Correa who is threatening to boot the company if they don't get it done faster). Meanwhile, China has grown its crude extraction in Latin America (much of it in Ecuador) by 24%.

I'm not sure what keeps the cameras away from Correa. Perhaps as a US trained economist he doesn't have the "Indian Sexy" feel that Evo does, or the "Third World Strongman" feel of Chavez. I'm pretty sure his vocal Catholicism is a major turn off for some on the left, though I'm pretty sure why the murder of an Ecuadorian citizen in New York failed to make much of a splash.

Correa is a mixed bag - probably something that will turn out to be a healthy decision for Ecuador. While Chavez, Morales, and Kirchner are all looking like figures we have seen come and go before, Correa looks like his more pragmatic approach might give him some staying power. Let's see if he can manage to put more of a leash on big oil (including China).

At any rate, I think this could be a guy to watch - and let's hope his low profile with the world public and his high profile with business doesn't earn him a visit from some of the mechanics that worked on Torrijos' plane.