This is a revisitation of when we were talking about capitalist globalisation, and the danger it poses to indigenous groups of people. I say danger because it has the potential of causing us to get fixated on one way of being, one mode of operation in our daily lives. I say this because as we were talking about the solidarity economy, my mind would begin to envision what it would be like to have a world like that. Not just a small community here and there, but a world – idealist dreaming, I know. In all honesty, what we were describing as went through the solidarity economy sounded so strange to me because it was so completely opposite to what I have been brought up and taught to believe. The idea that, rather than an economy where each seeks their own personal interest and hence by default helps others, there is an ideology and a system of being in which people seek the good of others and the environment. A system in which “me” is not the centre. The idea of socially responsible consumption, production and governance sounded so farfetched to me because I had not taken the time to see it play out. The idea that as humans we would want to see others better off from our efforts and that we would want to preserve the environment we live in should not sound so farfetched to me, but it did. Which brings me back to the danger of being told time and time again that there is one right way to do things. Just like the globalisation of capitalism can often endanger the values of indigenous societies, its continued promulgation in our lives, from kindergarten through college can lead us to believe it is the only way, which, as shown by the solidarity economy, it isn’t.
December 15, 2010 at 4:08 pm
What we know definitely isn’t the only way– unfortunately, KNOWING that we have an opportunity to live differently is separate from actually living differently. The first step is certainly that recognition, which is not taught in many schools nor socialized outside of education and which we are fortunate enough to be enlightened with as members of this class. What we (and others) choose to do with the knowledge of alternatives to a capitalist economy is what ultimately makes the difference. Many people, though they disagree with the way our society functions as isolated individuals, have trouble going adjusting their habits to reflect the ambitions of the solidarity movement. It’s tough to do things right when our society has made it so easy to make yourself and your immediate goals the center of the universe. When push comes to shove, we have to be willing to take the extra time to, not just acknowledge that there is a better way to live, but put in the efforts to live that way ourselves–despite what everyone around us is continuing to do.