When modern states first initiated plans for exterminating the conservation cultures of the Fourth World, religious fundamentalism was the motivating belief of their dominant societies. Intertwined with that belief was an unquestioning faith in market economics. Over time, a rift developed between dominant society’s haves and have nots over these doctrines, but was not fundamentally challenged until the environmental movement brought into question the basic assumptions of market theology. Today, that rift has widened with the awareness generated by the anti-globalization movement, made famous in Chiapas and Seattle.
The current showdown between the UN and the World Indigenous Movement in Poznan, Poland is a classic contest between faith–based fundamentalism and scientific observation. With faith in market doctrine plummeting worldwide, the proven track record of First Nations in conservation economics places indigenous peoples in the role of teachers to the disillusioned former members of the market cult. Still in denial, market–based institutions like the World Bank are struggling to maintain dominance by force, using the UN agencies to implement its brutal schemes.
Illustrating the aboriginal precept that all things are connected, the convergence of the indigenous movement with the environmental movement and the pro-democracy movement signals an end to the wasteful way of life promoted by the World Bank and UN member states. How this plays out in terms of new relationships between such things as capital and ownership remains to be seen, but the likelihood of returning to business as usual becomes ever more remote as our collective consciousness surpasses market mania in presenting a vision for the future of mankind.
The library is dedicated to the memory of Secwepemc Chief George Manuel (1921-1989), to the nations of the Fourth World and to the elders and generations to come.
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