A Treatise in Globalisation (part 3)

So we left off with what appears to be an urgent demand from the masses for more equitable land rights. Father Greg said that a day does not go by without at least one person or family approaching him to ask assistance in securing their own land.

The Advanced Horticulturalist lifestyle is one so unique and precious to Guatemala. Where else in the world can mountain side land that would be deemed impossible for farming be 4 cropped by Maya farmers. This marginal land ends up being quite the opposite. It is fertile soil for maiz (corn), black pull beans, squash, and black beans. (This is San Lucas region). There is 12 months of agriculture as long as the lands can have access to water. They do not need to use chemicals because insects become confused among so many plants, so close together. It is almost ecologically perfect and it is disappearing. All of this with only 3 acres, a machete, and a hoe with some fertilizer (compost). But this type of farming is being forced to compete on a world market level against giant multinational corporations such as Monsanto and Cargill.

Many Maya have their own defenses as to why their land should be respected and theirs legally (as if they really needed one...well I guess they didn´t have a flag (sorry, lame Eddie Izzard joke)). I will be taking a more anthropoligcal/socio-economic approach that, unfortunately, would probably have more weight in the realm of first world politics. There are roughly 5 criteria that almost everyone recognizes as the basic human rights: food, shelter, medical care, education, and the right to work. Others include right to worship freely as well. This is what happens...

We look at a third world nation where standard of living is low. We see that they do not have many sustainable jobs. This is a market of cheap labor. We build factories, plants, mines, fields, etc. in this nation and employ workers at dirt cheap wages. Sure it is better than before, but are they better off? The country is now being depleted of resources that are being exported out of the country. The profits the company makes hardly makes an impact on the economy as all of it is being spent in the first world. Sure there are some good deeds, a school built, a clinic stocked with meds, but nothing lasting. It is a fact that people need less to live here. There is no snow in San Lucas. The temperature stays at about 74F almost year round. Their homes are simple. Close the window when cold, open it when hot. Is there something wrong with how they live in San Lucas...no. Is there something wrong with having winter clothing and insulated housing and air conditioning...no. Both climates demand it. But is what is happening ethical? A people are being taken advantage of. Often times, they become locked into their jobs and forced to withstand terrible working conditions (heat, pollution, overcrowding, long days, no breaks). This leaves no time for a lifestyle of one´s own. When someone needs to borrow money for some emergency such as an operation, the only one who can lend it is the company. They are locked in even further now. Labourers in Guatemala make about 35Q a day, a little under $5. A family of 6 needs 19Q a day in food. Let´s do the math and we see that nothing gets saved, only borrowed. How do we fix it?

Part 4 soon....muwahahaha