A POSTCAPITALIST PARADIGM: THE COMMON GOOD OF ...

classical redistribution policies. None of the oil-producing countries –
Venezuela Ecuador or Brazil – can in view of the massive impoverishment
of major sectors of the population due to centuries of feudal rule
and imperialism, dispense with redistribution policies. None of the countries
with valuable natural or mining resources, such as lithium or rare
earth metals, can dispense with their exploitation.
This potentially conflicts with the preservation of the natural conditions
of life of local communities, and investment in ecological technologies,
the construction of a small farmer economy and stopping the destruction
of the rain forests, and the participation of indigenous cultures in
the political decision-making processes, as well as the attempt to re-determine
the basic values of societies by respecting nature and living entities
with their own rights, and the goals of good cohabitation of human
beings beyond the structures of consumerism.
The contradiction between classical industrial development and the introduction
of social standards on the one hand, and the realization of very
ambitious ecological and socio-cultural goals on the other is neither theoretical,
nor soluble in the real world – at least not under the capitalist conditions
which are dominant globally today. This sobering fact only
be comes bearable if the main emphasis is placed on implementing concrete
projects, both for the practical and visible improvement of the social
situation of the strata of the population affected by social exclusion, and,
at the same time, for practical and visible projects of ecological and cultural
renewal. Even if what is taking place in the Latin American countries ruled
by the left, it is uncontested is a controversial process, it is obvious that
we are seeing the beginning of transformatory social processes, in which
both sides of the social contradiction confront each other.
Latin America teaches us that it is necessary to be aware of the contradiction
between ecology and economy, and to ever again decide in a
case-by-case basis and in the democratic process of negotiation in which
direction we need to act – and to use as a standard for our own actions
and ecological embedding in industrial processes.
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