Day 78: People’s Summit

June 17, 2012

this is the first moment i have to catch a breather and jot down the things i’ve heard. So many people are in the midst of intense struggles around the world. many having to face death daily. land thefts, forced and coerced labor, poisoned land and water, sexual violence, and so much more. less extreme, but damaging in the long run are the payoffs, buy outs and other ways corporations divide communities. some folks are paid to not use their land by corporations from as far away as the united states and europe. corporations will create conditions of extreme toxicity so that people can’t use the land at all for food and water.

there is lots of critique about the green economy. this is an effort of capitalist cartels to hold onto a decaying system. to destroy everything natural in the world by manipulating its constitution through genetic modification and privatizing it, commodifying it and allowing its value to be determined by market forces. moving from commodification of the products of nature to the commodification of the process by which nature produces.

such inequities exist. so many injustices. how does a people get to a place where they can uproot such inequalities when such fundamentals needs of food and water are not being met? this question was asked by one of the leaders of the world march of women. she raised it in a presentation as one of the questions that need to be addressed. it is true. this is a reality facing people impacted by the destruction of corporations and their puppet governments as well as those seeking to build movements for transformative change.

there are some who, based on their history and culture know that something is wrong and fight it. others are more easily conditions to accept the conditions imposed on them. and so i think the question about food and water as a precondition to fight is critical to address at the most fundamental level. you need to eat to have the energy to fight. but also people, once they become aware of their situation can draw on that reality to fuel their fight.