A POSTCAPITALIST PARADIGM: THE COMMON GOOD OF ...

eignty, participatory planning, etc. (Eduardo Gudynas, 2011, 4). No doubt
this illustrates the utopian character of buen vivir, but in the positive
sense of the word, which means that it is an objective to aim at, an ideal
to be fulfilled.
a) Re-establishing harmony with nature
As we saw, the relationship with nature is a priority in the Buen Vivir vision.
For this reason it is important to look a little closer into what this
implies. The point of departure is the recognition of the integrity of nature,
which has its own value, independently of the perception of man
and how he values it (Eduardo Gudynas, 2011 (2) 242). The earth represents
more than a collection of material: it has life. For this reason the
Uwa, indigenous people of Colombia, cry out, when facing the activities
of oil extraction and mining, that, in their territory, to leave the forest destroyed,
to pollute the rivers, to devastate the soils means killing the
Earth (Esperanza Martínez, 2010, 111). However, there is not only life in
nature. It is also the source of life (including consciousness). The earth
is “the space where life is reproduced and fulfilled” affirms Ecuador’s
Buen Vivir National Plan (2009, 44). This is the reason why there is a
symbiosis and not a separation between human beings and nature. It is
a sacred relationship.
David Choquehuanca writes, in his 25 postulates for understanding buen
vivir, that the human being comes in second place to the environment,
because the latter is part of nature. This affirmation, which at first sight
seems disconcerting, is based on a profound philosophy. Nature is the
fount of life (a mother) and the human being is its thinking element. Nature
has priority because without it human beings cannot live – although
they can destroy it. So, being concerned with humanity means, in the
first place, defending the earth and establishing harmony between nature
and human beings, which involves respect for our natural surroundings.
It is understood today, more than ever before, that nature is the
source of life, at a time when the logic of capitalist economic power is
seriously upsetting the ecosystems of the planet and ultimately preventing
both thinking and non-thinking life from reproducing themselves.
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