Dear Prof. P. Colorado
Your session in the CPREA is on June 5th afternoon. I do
not know the room arrangement. But it is a part of The Lernered
Society Conference. We shall know the details when we get to
McMaster University. There is a good likelihood that you might have whole 3 hours for your presentation and discussion. CPREA considers your presentation very important. As far as I am aware, you are the first one who present the Native Philosophy-Spirituality. I am very much honored to be the introducer for your session. I know how busy you are and very grateful to you for doing a great favor to CPREA. I have picked up Native Children And The Child Welfare by Patrick Johnston. Perhaps, this is one of texts you use. But allow me to comment on it. The small book is focused on one urgent issue, and it is important to talk about the issue.Therefore, I do not complain the book does not mention other
issues. However, I think of the overall situation and worry that
the problem might not be solved within the perspective the book
offers.
Of course, I have a few assumptions to say the above. One
of them is that Native Children will not be “isolated” from the
dominant “culture”, even if they are raised in the Native
communities. The “Native Care” by the Native communities is the
first step. But even if all the children are brought up by their
own family, there will still be problems. And for that matter,
the young generation in general, Native or Non-native, is facing
a very difficult situation. I know my students in the University,
who are from relatively “well to do family”, are having
difficulties in finding “meaningful” things to do. The economy
today is bad. And the Future outlook is worse. It pains me to
think about their frustrations.
To be sure, students today have an “affluent” life. They
have never known what it is like to carry “honey bucket” and get
splashed all over. But the affluence puts more psychological
pressure on them. I had it easy, for I was enormously happy by
just having something to eat. I did not need to spend 50 bucks to
take a girl out. I had live with 150 dollars a month and my wife
came to Philadelphia slum, knowing I barely eat. She never once
complained about it, until we start getting a higher income. It
seems that the higher the material standard of living is the harder to be happy.
Not that I favor living in a camp tent, particularly in dripping
wet one. But I do wonder what in a hell we are pushing for
“Growth of Economy”. Why do we have so intense competitions? For
what good? And in the meantime, the “bottom” one third of the
humanity has to suffer.
higher the material standard of living is the harder to be happy.
Not that I favor living in a camp tent, particularly in dripping
wet one. But I do wonder what in a hell we are pushing for
“Growth of Economy”. Why do we have so intense competitions? For
what good? And in the meantime, the “bottom” one third of the
humanity has to suffer.
[The “Production Economy” is different from the “Money
Economy”. The former is a “Materialistic” economy, however,
the “Fetishism of Material Objects” included.
The later is an “Informational/Symbolic” economy. It
operates on illusions/expectations of speculators. This has
been always in the “economy”. But it became overt and
dominant in the late 20th century.
Alvin Toffler’s The Third Wave etc. talked of the “coming
Information Age”. If I extend this historical trend, I
imagine we will come to what you are doing, namely
exploring entrance to the “Age of Value”, beyond the “Age
of Information”. You are a genius!]
Some idiotic economists talks of “Hi Tech”, but they also
know that Hi Tech provides very little jobs to people. It
happened to have a high profit margin, that’s all. So, what all
those people out of work do? They have to live on Welfare?
It is not just the Natives that have troubles. If one is so
sensitive and good-natured that one cannot exploit other people,
then Alcohol may be the one of “pain killers” that one has to
depend on. If kids turn to violence, I cannot blame them. They
are humiliated, frustrated and angry (as they ought to be). The
system is telling them that it does not need them, does not want
them. You can raise your kids with all loving cares, but the
cruel society is waiting for them and claim them at the end. We
know that. Yet we do not do anything about the system. Why?
It might make a better sense to make the kids to be
insensitive, cruel, selfish, greedy, thick-skinned, bullies, so
that they can be “successful” in the society such.
For it does not make a sense to raise “beautiful humans” only to
have them lived in Reservations on Welfare.
People know that the “economy” as such will collapse sooner
or later. You can read it in Wall Street Journal and Financial
Post. Market experts are saying that. (They say they have to make
more money now because of that, before the market collapse.)
There is a slight chance that some Beautiful People survive till
such a catastrophe clears things up. In the meantime, however,
what those people would be doing? Buddhists would say that one
has to learn to live with humility. But, Alcoholics are already
living in humility. What’s more Buddha want them to do? Wait till
the Hell freezes?
I am a “peace researcher” and wish Peace on the Earth, or
at least avoid Nuclear Holocaust. But I am disgusted with the way
humanity live today. Nuclear War System is just a symbol of the
way we live today. Yesterday, I went to Brocket to observe the Native Education Conference, sponsored by The Four World Development Project. It was fine. I was very much impressed by a lady from Alkali Lake. But I noticed that many of “life-living-skills” that those educators discussed are not taught in schools. Schools are for “academic” stuffs and related to industries, for the “economic growth”. The education wants to make “competitive individuals” to be successful in the rat race. It is amazing we do not have many more problems. Humans are surprisingly loyal and cooperative to the wrong system. Or is it because people think they would lose their jobs by radical change in school system? Someone there was talking of misdeeds of some “Band Councilors”. Apparently, there are people who get more benefits from the present system. If the benefits are paid by other people’s suffering, they may not like it much, but they would say “such is the life”. So the moral is “Don’t drink, but be successful in the system”. Besides, the system does not like bad scenes. If one is cynical, one might say “making drunk scene is a form of protest”, just as the vandalism is. Peace does not come unless Justice is there. The “morality” of our political economy is not an independent issue from the issue of Peace. Are the educators willing to teach that? One thing is, however, that, in the history of suffering, many wise men and women taught of the virtue of patience. Peace Keepers of the Six Nations talked of the need of even “Seven layers of Thick Skins”. The Native kids have to be cared for by love now. Hope is in them. I only worry if they get a good education for the future (not education for “success” in the system). They would have to be good “peace researchers”, if they are to survive.
Yours,
Sam