Hi folks,

Today we’ll be discussing:

The Red Deal - The Red Nation - Discussion 3.

Today’s discussion is:

  • 2/15 - The Red Deal - The Red Nation - Discussion 3, Part 3, “Heal our planet - reinvest in our common future”

There’s a copy available here: https://therednation.org/environmental-justice/ . Under “articles - the Red Deal”.

My physical copy finally came in, though!

Discussion Prompts

These are some ideas to address while considering this work. None of them are essential, and any of your own thoughts are very much welcome! I’ll be adding my own thoughts later today.

  • What seems to be the main point of this work? What question is the author trying to answer?

  • What have they missed? Are they wrong about anything?

  • Did anything surprise you?

  • Is this work applicable outside of the U$?

  • Is this really a “nonessential” or would it be good for any communist to read it?

Next Discussion

The next discussion will be:

  • 2/22 - The Red Deal - Red Nation - discussion 4 - Appendices and conclusion

Next Title

If you would like to suggest the next title please put in a separate comment with the words “submission suggestion”. I think the highest voted title should win.

Books should be:

  • not suggested for beginners.
  • not overly technical or philosophical (I’m just not smart enough to lead those discussions).
  • relatively short (so as not to lose too much momentum).
  • regionally or subject specific (like Che’s Guerilla Warfare is topically specific, or Decolonization is Not a Metaphor is regionally specific?).
  • readily available.

Thanks for your time! :)

  • diegeticscream[all]🔻OP
    link
    21 year ago

    The theme for this section seems to be areas of importance in making sure that we have a planet to survive on. Capitalism is inimical to our survival, after all. :)

    Introduction

    “There is no hope for restoring the planet’s fragile and dying ecosystems without Indigenous Liberation” - the intro comes out directly with the point. “Healing the planet is ultimately about creating infrastructures of caretaking that will replace infrastructures of capitalism”

    They make a point of calling land the means of production of Indigenous people. I like phrasing it that way. There’s also an interesting bit about moving away from “trauma-informed thinking” and towards a “collective well-being”. I quite like the quote “you have to stop crying on the shoulder of the man who stole your land”.

    I highlighted a shitload in the intro, just because I liked so much of how it was phrased and what they said. Definitely worth a read!

    Area 1: Clean and sustainable energy

    They talk about the damage fossil fuel extraction and fracking does. Calling the Navajo Nation the “largest resource colonies in the United States” was interesting to me, and a new way of thinking.

    There’s a great bit against all the “green projects” that are pushed recently - saying they take land from native peoples and don’t actually bring jobs or anything to them. They also highlight the problems with lithium extraction, which I think is great! This seems to contrast with the complimentary tone they talked about the Green New Deal in the first sections, though.

    They say a transition to green energy under capitalism won’t help, but say that change “can be accomplished with boycotts and divestment campaigns” (no it can’t).

    Area 2: Traditional and sustainable agriculture

    They highlight the key role indigenous people play in farming and caretaking the land, and how colonial violence centered on removing seed crops and banning traditional foods.

    “Imperial borders directly affect our trade and seed sharing with our relatives internationally”

    “Having control over our ancestral territories is vital to our ability to care for them and is a generations-long pathway to true sustainability”.

    They have a bit against GMO crops which I think is a little unfair. Capitalism is the problem with the GMO crops we have, and the selective breeding that has made us so much food is a form of genetic modification!

    Area 3: Land, water, air, and animal restoration

    This section highlights the magnificent loss of biodiversity, and the full extinction event we’re living through currently. It also highlights how important natives peoples are in hanging on to the little biodiversity we have left.

    The recommendations section falls super flat to me here:

    “Popular tactics for Indigenous land return include land trust campaigns and honor taxes, whereby trusts are created with the purpose of purchasing land back or where Native nations occupied by cities assert that occupiers pay the tribe an “honor tax””

    “Anyone can promote food sovereignty in their local context by gardening, on a small or a large scale”

    I really don’t understand if this book is meant to be a reformist call for gradual changes, or the manifesto of what should happen after a full revolution. Is it a violence fetish for me to expect them to discuss effective methods of effecting change? Are the authors even safe calling directly for attacking The Beast that is the U$?

    They do end with “Ending all forms of toxic capitalism will take us a long way in restoring the land to health” so that’s cool.

    Area 4: Protection and Restoration of Sacred Sites

    This section basically calls for the U$ to respect native sacred land, and stop murdering people who try to protect it. Short and sweet. I thought it was interesting that they say “public land is stolen land”. True, but I’ve never seen that stated before in the U$.

    Area 5: Enforcement of Treaty Rights and other agreements

    They mention that colonizers see treaties as business transactions to open up Indigenous territory.

    This section is more about freeing Indigenous peoples to make treaties with each other, which is cool. They highlight that native treaties are different and sometimes had flexible boundaries.

    They highlight the People’s Accord of Bolivia as something to strive for. I’m not familiar with it, so I think it’s worth a look!

    All-in-all this was a really solid section with some new ideas to me. I’m glad I read it!