Time will tell that good has come from Rio+20

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.