Scientists and Indigenous People

[ysabetwordsmith]

Scientists should work with indigenous people, not on them.

That's a nice premise, but it does fuckall good in a world where indigenous people have few or no rights.  They should have rights, but in practice they just don't.  South America is slaughtering their native people wholesale to steal their land.  North America and Australia did so long since, and never quite stopped trying to stamp out the last few survivors who they wish would stop pestering them about the genocides.

Comments

Ahem

[dialecticdreamer]

Point of departure for an "alternate history" story-- People on the res NOW have an advantage over the general population: poorskills, more woods/naturecraft skills, community reliance and self reliance interwoven in EVERYTHING on the res.

Either they are going to be hit HARD by the virus, or they are going to be LESS affected than, say, NYC or Chicago. My bet is on the latter, and it is leveraged into a future where Native families have reclaimed lands, becoming a political force to be reckoned with, to the point of Native languages being offered OFF the res in business seminars.

Re: Ahem

[(Anonymous)]

There is enough change and disruption in the past two weeks that many things are in flux. Perhaps now is the time to advocate for some of the changes to be permanent. We can tell them:
- I want the disaster relief payouts to morph into Universal Basic Income
- I want the healthcare improvements to stay
- Expand the telecommuting options for work and school
- Have every eligible voter offered a vote-by-mail ballot, which eliminates transport and time difficulties
- I want a revamp if Healthcare so people can get convenient and affordable healthcare
- Greater supoort for people facing homelessness

I may have missed something. Anyone got more ideas?

Re: Ahem

[dialecticdreamer]

None of this will happen if we don't oust the "cut, cut, cut" crew-- usually, but not always, Republicans.

School telecommuting will probably NOT fly, even with a large number of online schooling programs (private and for profit). There were decades of evidence about the socialization BENEFITS of homeschooling by the mid-90s, and yet every single educator I dealt with was positive that I was denying my children "appropriate socialization."

However, I hope to see progress on EVERY point you mentioned, even if full results are unlikely.

Oh, this could tie into your earlier post about saving half the Earth for nature-- people who own land bordering existing state parks and preserves can get an annual stipend for keeping it wild, instead of putting in pools and whatever. Golf courses can get a stipend based on the percentage of natural land, IF they stop using Roundup like it's springwater, and so on.

More support for homeless is absolutley crucial. The system has been overloaded for decades, and every year the wait lists get longer. With the number of people likely to be infected by Covid-19, that's a HUGE number of homeless with nowhere to go for care BUT hospital emergency rooms.

Re: Ahem

[(Anonymous)]

Times of great change mark oppertunities.

Re: Ahem

[dialecticdreamer]

I am trying to be hopeful.

[cmcmck]

While people in Europe still loathe my Romani relatives..............

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

There are, alas, many other cases of genocide afoot.

I was just pointing out that expecting indigenous people to protect the Earth is a farce. When they try to do that, people with actual power murder them wholesale.