[Scpg] Reflections on Cochabamba, Part 5: Working Groups, Capitalism vs. Socialism and what might be in between

[Barbara Wishingrad]

this is the fifth of the planned twelve articles in the series and the last one 
I've completed to date, so the last one that I'll post here until I finish 
another.

http://hopedance.org/blogs/reflections-on-cochabamba-part-v-working-groups-capitalism-vs-socialism-and-what-might-be-inbetween.html



Reflections on Cochabamba, Part 5: Working Groups, Capitalism vs. Socialsim and 
what might be in between
 
Before the conference, some of the working groups’ themes just plain scared me.  
I  did not want to get into discussing structural causes of climate  change, a 
climate justice tribunal, climate debt, financing, or the  dangers of the carbon 
market.  First of all, I was not very informed on some of these subjects.  I 
felt I could contribute more to other topics.  But there was more than that.  I  
was not convinced of the validity of some of the topics, or that they  were the 
best strategies to create worldwide consensus around climate  change.  



One  of my concerns about the tone of some of the documents I had seen  relating 
to these themes is that they seemed to me to be rhetoric  instead of 
deeply-thought-about considerations and solutions.  Much  of the wording seemed 
to be repetitive and the thinking to me was black  and white, oversimplifying 
complex issues into good and evil.  I  believed in many of the concepts 
presented, such as favoring harmony  with nature over unlimited (economic) 
growth, but I didn’t consider that  I was anti capitalism in all forms

 Structural causes of climate change was another way of saying that we need to 
get rid of capitalism as a system.  Although  I have long been an advocate of 
people before profits,  anti-consumerism, anti-competition, and anti-multi 
national  corporations, I felt that these were extreme imbalances in the  
capitalistic system, sometimes referred to as corporate capitalism, and  that 
some of the practices in capitalism, mainly innovation and small  business 
entrepreneurship, are valuable and beneficial overall.  Indeed,  one of the 
highlights of the conference was the large-scale fair-like  atmosphere that 
prevailed outside of the meeting rooms and  auditoriums—two long meandering rows 
of booths where people,  organizations, and companies were giving away or 
selling information,  books, CDs, T-shirts, plants, herbs, components, and more. 
This was one  of the most vibrant and energetic parts of the conference, a 
reflection  of the diversity of the gathering, a way to share with each other 
that  was spontaneous and often one-on-one. There were also vendors selling  
beverages and all kinds of cooked and prepared foods, both on the  grounds of 
the university where much of the conference took place, and  along the streets 
on the way to the event.  Here was capitalism in the midst of the cries to 
eliminate capitalism.  



As a person who has spent much of her adult life self-employed, I am in some 
ways an example of a capitalist.  I have benefited from tax breaks in the US 
that favor small business.  True,  I have undertaken enterprises that I have 
considered right livelihood,  in which people came before profits, and many 
aspects of these  enterprises were considered illegal by the larger culture of 
which I was  a part (herbal medicine, homebirth midwifery, even selling jewelry 
on  street corners in Mexico was technically against the law in many of the  
towns we frequented, and doing so while in possession of a tourist visa  was not 
allowed).  I had no bank account for years, and worked mostly for cash, 
sometimes for barter.   I  was willing and eager to, and did, give up the 
American Dream and live  outside of the US for much of my adult life, instead 
choosing to  experiment with the idea of Living Well. Yet, even with my 
background, I  found myself squirming when I read the frequent anti-capitalist  
sentiments in conference literature and on the website.  I noticed my discomfort 
but didn’t dwell on it.  I  looked for ideas that I resonated with, of which 
there were many, and I  was curious about what I would find when I actually 
journeyed south.  Later I would become ready to look further into my resistance 
to these ideas.

I  must admit that it has been hard for me to imagine giving up having the  
final say in the decisions in my own life, even if that is an illusion  in the 
culture we live in. I watched the development of state socialism  or communism 
in other parts of the world in my youth; although I did not  pay close 
attention, what I understood about these systems did not  endear me to them even 
as I struggled with the concepts and realities of  capitalism.  Perhaps my 
feelings have the same roots as  wealthy persons who protest sharing their 
resources with all members of  society; I hope not, but am trying to understand 
where and how my  feelings have originated.  I fear the loss of my artistic 
license, the freedom to think and act for myself, to be a unique individual.  I  
fear it because I have found myself on the fringe, or cutting edge, or  
someplace not where most people’s comfort zones lie, for most of my  life, even 
as a child.  Ideas I first considered a generation ago, on a wide range of 
topics, are starting to take hold in today’s world.  I  thrive when I allow my 
intuition to lead me and my mind to explore  whatever ideas show up. I don’t 
want to give up my unique perspective or  the choice to live as I see fit; even 
if I do so at the expense of  wealth, security, or social approval, in the 
greater North American  culture, I am still able to make those choices.

I remembered my early years in Mexico when I had  discovered that capitalism and 
communism both served as models in  distinct economic situations in that 
country, instead of vilifying  communism and glorifying capitalism as we do in 
the US.  I loved that!  I  loved that people could find what worked in a given 
situation and use  that model, instead of being stuck on only one way of doing 
things. For  example, the modern-day ejido system is a process whereby the 
government  promotes the use of communal land shared by the people of the  
community. The ejido system was introduced as an important component of  the 
land reform program that began in Mexico after Lazaras Cardenas  became 
President in 1934. It was one of the promises of the Mexican  Constitution of 
1917.  Ejidatarios did not actually own the  land, but were allowed to use their 
allotted parcels indefinitely as  long as they did not fail to use the land for 
more than two years. They  could even pass their rights on to their children.

Like Living Well in the Andes, the concept of the ejido in Mexicois prehispanic; 
however, present day ejidos stem from the theories of democratic communism. Our 
USsociety is based on democratic capitalism in which the individual and  not the 
community determines what he or she is going to do. In a  communistic society 
the community as a whole determines what it is going  to do, including agreeing 
upon how the land they hold is to be used.  



I am not sure as to the status of ejidos in the Mexicoof today. In  1991, 
President Carlos Salinas de Gortari eliminated the constitutional  right 
to ejidos, citing the "low productivity" of communally owned  land.  Salinas de 
Gortari was one of a series of Mexican Presidents who had been educated at 
Harvard.  He also signed NAFTA into law in 1992.  Certainly  the big boys in 
Mexico, the US, and Canada felt that NAFTA was the way  to guarantee economic 
growth and stability in North America, at least on  the books of the governments 
and in the pockets of the multi-national  corporations.  From the beginning, the 
Zapatistas in  Chiapas protested the move, and declared that it would adversely 
affect  the small farmer and merchant in Mexico, which it did.  There  are 
those, I’m sure, who will still argue that NAFTA and the embracing  of 
capitalism over concepts such as the ejido were necessary to protect  the 
economy in Mexico.  Yet, although immigration from  Mexico to the US has been 
ongoing for the last hundred years or so,  there are many more immigrants today 
than there were before NAFTA was  enacted. These numbers far exceed what could 
be accounted from more  members of a younger generation.

During a trip to Venezuela last spring, on my way  to the People’s Conference, I 
began aware of the difference between  state socialism and what has been called 
21st century socialism, which includes participatory democracy, especially on a 
local level.  The main values of 21st socialism are said to be liberty, 
equality, social justice, and sustainability.  I am intrigued and I want to 
learn more.  Twenty first century socialism seems to offer solutions to the 
drawbacks of state socialism of the twentieth century.  



Still, there are those in the US who shut down upon the mention of the word 
‘socialism’.  I  asked a relative recently what her concerns were, and she 
answered that  if people’s basic needs are met, they won’t be motivated.  In 
their  late 70s, my relatives had grown up in the Depression and seen a variety  
of economic policies over their lifetimes, as well as the promise and  benefits 
in their own lives that economic growth and materialism brought  them.  They 
were hard workers who had dedicated their  lives to getting the comfort and 
security that they had set out to  achieve. They were concerned about their tax 
dollars paying for social  programs for others who weren’t as motivated to ‘put 
their nose to the  grindstone’.  Having made very different choices in my own  
adult life, I am now looking at how I can reach people such as them,  listen to 
their concerns and point of view, and share mine, without  alienating them 
altogether.  We made a good start during  our recent visit, but 
dialog/conversation/consensus takes time, and  before it can begin, all parties 
need to be interested enough to show  up.

Before I even set out on my journey south, I noticed that I sometimes felt 
afraid about what lay ahead.  As  much as I would like to see myself as someone 
not influenced by fear,  especially in these circumstances, I cannot say that 
this was so.  I did hold a place of fear in my heart as I journeyed south.  It 
was not just about the unknown.  I  was hesitant about going into a strange 
situation by myself if the  dominant attitude there was hostility to the US, not 
just the government  but also the people.  I was not sure if there would be  
hostility and if so, how much hostility, towards US citizens, at the  
conference. I did not feel passionate about either defending or  apologizing for 
what might be considered structural causes of climate  change, which I 
understood to mean capitalism.  I did not  feel that I had the tools, the 
knowledge and the understanding, to  engage in debate about some of the working 
group topics.  I  did not feel that I had the wherewithal or conviction to stand 
up for  and state clearly and out loud what I believed if it was very different  
from the consensus of a group at the conference involved with one of the  topics 
that I considered controversial. 



I have mixed feelings about the idea that a people need to pay for something 
that their ancestors have done.  I  have also felt at various points in my life 
that I was blamed for what  white people in the past have done even though I was 
not related to them  and that the people from whom I am descended, the Jews, 
were also  persecuted over thousands of years.  Historically, the  Jewish people 
were not aggressors and conquerors; they were enslaved and  yes, sometimes had 
slaves, but for the most part, asked to be left  alone to practice their faith 
in peace.  Judaism traditionally was  a Patriarchal culture, and that is one 
reason I grew away from it as I came of age.  However, my ancestors did not come 
to the US until the early 20th century, and there are still those who would hold 
me responsible for how the slaves were treated in the 18th and 19th centuries. 
Appearances are deceiving—I am Caucasian and look more like those in the 
dominant US culture than other minorities.  Without  knowing the historical 
context of this nation, one could easily lump  all white people together. For 
example, many of my friends from Latin  America have been shocked when I told 
them that John Kennedy was the  first Catholic president in the US and how much 
that was an issue in his  election.  Generally, from where they come, all of the 
presidents have been Catholic.  I  also understand that in my lifetime I have 
reaped some of the benefits  and privileges that grew out of the exploitation of 
slaves and others in  early US history; I have also contributed to social 
justice on many  levels and tried to not exploit my entitlements. Being 
prejudged and  attacked based on the color of my skin and my nationality was 
what I  feared at Cochabamba.   I have learned that there are no arguments that 
are valid for those who want to point the finger at others.  And that it has not 
been the best use of my time, energy, resources, and talents to engage on these 
issues.
 
In the document that shared the final conclusion of working group 1, structural 
causes, I found this quote---Capitalism responds through militarization, 
repression and war to the resistance of the people.
But for me, coming to the south from the north, I see that this has been a 
pattern far more in the south than in the north.  We  the people in the north 
have not yet been attacked violently on the  same level and with the frequency 
as have the people  in the global  south. It’s true that some minorities and 
those in certain neighborhoods  or social strata more often meet with violence 
from armed officials of  the government; still, it happens more on a one-on-one 
basis. To date,  we have not yet violated the agreement in the US that the 
military not  take action against protesters on our own soil. The history of  
militarization, repression and war to the resistance of the people in  the 
global south terrifies me.  I am drawn to the hope and  possibility resonating 
from many of the documents written for and by  those at the People’s conference 
while being fully aware of the  repressive history of the region, and that it 
has lacked stability for  many years.  The recent resurgence of leftist leaders 
is  exciting to witness, and it is easy to jump on the bandwagon with the  hope 
and activism of masses.  But it is not the whole story.  The  US and other 
industrialized nations have played a big part in the long  standing repression 
of the people of Latin America, but not the only  part.  The School of the 
Americas, which has trained  paramilitary torturers and many involved in recent 
coups and  would-be-coups in the global south, also exists because the 
governments  of nations in the south send their personnel there for training.

As a friend from Ecuador pointed out, political  leaders there rarely if ever 
have lasted a full term even when  democratically elected. The people in Latin 
America have lived with  unstable governments, dictators, violence as a means of 
political  change, and a wide gap between the rich and the rest of the 
population  of any given country, since the Europeans first landed there.  



The ideas and solutions that I had thought to offer  at the conference were 
based on shifts in attitudes and practices  within the current economic and 
social structure of the global north.  Permaculture Design works to change 
invisible structures, but, would the others  (Fossil Free by ’33 and 
Architecture 2030) be  considered as false solutions as mentioned in the final 
conclusions,  Working Group 1, Structural Causes:  “Today, “climate  change” has 
become a business for the capitalist system. Governments and  ¨developed¨ 
countries are promising so-called ¨green¨ reforms of the  system.  These 
mechanisms of technological innovation are directed by  the creation of new 
sources of investment and business under the pretext  that this technology will 
resolve the climate crisis”.  I  guess that they would have been rejected as 
such, although I never  found out, since I did not participate in the Structural 
Changes group.  Naively, I came to Bolivia bearing the best gifts I could find 
from the region in which I lived.  And after the Inauguration was over, I headed 
over to join those dedicated to achieving consensus around Harmony with Nature. 
 
 
A  Permaculture designer, water harvesting advocate, and longtime  environmental 
steward, Barbara Wishingrad, attended the Peoples’ World  Conference on Climate 
Change in Cochabamba, Bolivia, April 19-22, 2010,  along with 35, 000 other 
people. She also traveled with a delegation  from SOA Watch to Venezuelato visit 
clinics, schools, cooperatives,and other social programs under  the Hugo Chavez 
government. Barbara has worked as an herbalist,  homebirth midwife, street 
artist, interpreter, and with special needs  babies, among other things; she is 
currently organizing a Water  Harvesting Co-op in the Santa Barbaraarea.   
Barbara has lived and worked among indigenous artisans and  midwives and has 
made sharing indigenous wisdom an important part of her  life work.  She is 
founder and President of Nurturing Across Cultures,  formerly The Rebozo 
WayProject:http://www.nurturingacrosscultures.org 


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 "Be aware of the influence humans have on the health and 
viability of life on earth. Call attention to what fosters or 
harms earth's exquisite beauty, balances and 
interdependencies. Guided by Spirit, work to translate 
this understanding into ways of living that reflect our 
responsibility to one another, to the greater community 
of life, and to future generations."


~ Orange County Friends Meeting 
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Santa Ana, California



      
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