Re: Native American land rights

[Michael Perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Doug Henwood wrote:

> "Seductive" is a very loaded word here - it implies something devious is
> going on. Had you used "attractive" instead, the rest of the paragraph
> might have been impossible.

I used the word, "seductive", intentionally.  I think that outsiders see the
glamor, the glitz, and the convenience long before they see the dark side of
capitalist culture.  For example, many immigrants who suffered great hardships
to come to the U.S. returned disappointed. I don't have the data on hand, but
the number was surprisingly large.

> What's the point? That capitalist culture has
> lots of attractions that people should resist?

Maybe not resist, but they should see both sides.  I remember when I was in
Cuba along with Jim Devine.  Young people that I met on the bus would tell me
that they were communists but that they wanted to go to Miami because levis
were so cheap there.  They never seemed to ask about the higher costs of rent
and medical care.

> If so, why? From what
> vantage point can you criticize people for "giv[ing] up their ways" to its
> "lures"?

Not at all.  If my posts are not clear on this subject, perhaps it is because I
myself feel a great deal of confusion.  I am sympathetic to the idea of
reparations to blacks.  I, like Louis, feel that we are incurring a great loss
when a traditional people succombs to Coca Cola and Marlboroughs.

I also realize that during the 19th century, many whites, who were kidnapped by
the Native Americans, refused to be liberated when they had the chance.
Franklin and Madison were upset by this reaction.

Can such people survive today?  I don't know.  I would not want to be in the
position of dening them the conveniences that I enjoy, but I would not want to
enjoy those conveniences because their way of life is despoiled.  Yet if the
Maidu wanted to reclaim my house, I would not be overjoyed.


> Maybe there are real positive attractions for most/many people
> that it would be impossible, and maybe even wrong, to resist. Is it
> possible to separate the "lures" - the positive aspects of capitalist
> modernization - from exploitation, polarization, and the destruction of
> nature?
>

I don't know exactly.  I confess confusion on this point.  For that reason, I
appreciate this thread so that I can get a better handle on this matter.

> Doug



--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 916-898-5321
E-Mail michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx