Those who would tell you that nothing good could come of
Rio+20 are the same people who are hoping you won’t notice while they lock up
the remaining natural resources for themselves and their friends. They don’t believe people can work together
to create quality of life for all, but would rather let the market and military
dictate what token animals and resources to save. They don’t stop to learn from the stories of
their grandmothers, nor do they break bread with their neighbors in times of
famine. They are the ones who dump
cyanide in your river because they believe the gold they will find is more
valuable than your life. And they don’t
mind genetically modified food because they can afford name brand pharmaceuticals
that will mask the effects of their malnutrition. Too bad all the money in the world can’t buy
them a new heart.
It could, however, buy them a plane ticket to Rio de
Janeiro, and if they are lucky and end up on the south side of the coast in Flamenco
Park, they could meet tens of thousands of other souls who have gathered here
to problem solve together. They might
eavesdrop awhile on a working group that is striving for consensus around
strategies to achieve food sovereignty, transition to non-fossil fuel powered
transportation, restore ecosystems or set a new standard for society—el Vivir
Bien—Quality of Life. Is it too much to
ask?
If they brought their kids, they could take them to the
Centro Infantil, where they could make art from plants and leaves, celebrating
the creativity of life. Or stop by the
Cooperative Movement booth, where books are hanging from the branches
advertising cooperative values and a vision for a collaborative new economy. Or get a snack at the Solidarity Market,
where locals and visitors have set up organic treats for sale, celebrating the
ripple effect of buying products directly from the source, cultivated without
poisoning the earth.
Maybe they will get tired of the multi-lingual,
multi-generational, multi-objective dialogue and decide to take a break, kick
off their shoes, and let the sand massage between their toes as they wander out
to the shoreline. It is Rio de Janeiro,
after all! The gentle pulse of the waves
of energy as they push up from the depths of the ocean onto the shore might
reveal to them why we are all here in the first place, if they are paying
attention.
But if they are unlucky, they might end up instead on a two
hour shuttle bus that takes them beyond steep walls guarded by machine-gun
wielding teenagers and helicopters swirling overhead, where they can read the
bureaucratic language detailing how corporations and the military are aligned
to co-opt the UN along with the rest of humankind’s institutions; a global
imperial checkmate. Unfortunately for
the rest of us, it is there that our political leaders have gathered to pay
homage, sacrificing our resources and future at the false solution altar of “sustainable
development.”
The ultimate judgment of if anything good comes of Rio+20
will come from the next generation.
Yesterday the youth delegates dressed up as corporate CEOs to ironically
thank the UN for giving them the “future we want,” one dictated by the fossil
fuel and giant agro-industries, even while Oxfam, the World Wildlife Foundation
, Greenpeace and other NGOs tore up
their participation accreditations in rejection of the formal accord.
Meanwhile throughout Rio, in and outside the People’s Summit,
tens of thousands of us continue to share stories and ideas for a different
kind of future we want. I met
architects and permaculture experts who envision green roofs and rain water
capture in Sao Paulo, just as we do in the Bronx. Africans explained “Ubuntu,” the concept that
I am because you are; that sharing doesn’t come from surplus, but rather intertwined
destiny. We shared ideas for a legal structure based on defending our right to
water, and daily practices that heal each other through harmony with our food
and bodies. We challenged ourselves to
learn from marginalized communities how to “live well” outside of the dominant
paradigm, so we can open new space for creative solutions to climate
challenges.
But even as we create this space, we must defend it. After the Indigenous people from across Brazil
shared their ancient wisdom and culture with the visitors from across the planet
that made this pilgrimage, they gathered on the beach to reject the 60 giant
dams the government plans to destroy the rivers of the Amazon, the lungs of the
world.
Make no mistake: this is a battle, in our
minds, our lifestyles and our territories.
If we remain isolated, struggling to survive against the plague of
bulldozers and poisons that quench the capitalist obsession with growth, we
will fail.
But when we come together, in
our own communities just as in Rio, we are stronger than them. Time will tell that good
has come from Rio+20.
