Marxism has had a negative view for the last 50 or so years because of the ruling paradigm's opposition towards it. While conservative views focus mainly on the Individual and the right to participate in the capitalist free market, Marxism's core social values are Liberty, Collectivism and Equality. Mullaly expresses that "Marxists believe that these rights or liberties can only be exercised fairly of they are complimented by social freedom- freedom from want, freedom from unemployment, and so on- and by opportunities to work, to earn, to develop oneself, to enjoy life." (Mullaly, 2007, p.144). This idea would hold strongly in many pre-contact Indigenous societies, where egalitarian systems were frequently used. The best person was chosen for the task at hand, but otherwise people were left to live their lives as they chose. "In those societies, available resources were open to all, and their leaders used influence rather than force." (Dickason and Newbigging, 2010, p.15)
Pre-contact Indigenous people also believed that no one person owned the earth and it's resources, and that all people had the right to live by the virtue of being a living creature. This is not far from Marxist ideology as well, where Mullaly states "Marx believed that individuals had a claim on society's resources, not on the basis of unequal individual endowment, but on the basis that everyone is equal by virtue of being a human being." (Mullaly, 2007, p.142)
Pre-contact peoples also recognized the value of equality between classes and sexes, though there were traditional roles assigned to both men and women under the basis of biological function. While there was cross-over in traditional roles for helping to other. As Mullaly illustrates "Equality does not mean sameness to Marxists; rather, it means the absence of special privilege and the availability of opportunities to all." (Mullaly, 2007, p.144) The community at large within Pre-contact groups was one based on need, rather than on mass consumption. Leather was prepared by women, but the men were the ones to hunt to provide such things.
Marxism also believes that Capitalism is the cause of all human suffering, and in regards to Indigenous people, the shift from an egalitarian society to a capitalist one could be blamed on the current state of Indigenous people. In regards to issues like clean, running water for Reserves, education and health care. Under Marxist ideology, having these basic needs cared for would allow people to have meaningful and productive lives. "For example, some Marxists would establish minimal standards of living necessary to retain full citizenship in society and would ensure that everyone in society was living up to these standards before dealing with needs above the social or civic minimum." (Laski, 1925, cited in George and Wilding, 1985, Mullaly, 2007, p.145).
According to the Congress of Aboriginal People (CAP), "Moreover, decent housing provides space for all members of a family to be satisfactorily accommodated. This is especially beneficial in the case of extended Aboriginal families, which frequently include grandparents and many children, some of whom may or may not be the natural children of the householder. Adequate, suitable and affordable housing in this situation enable the elders to have direct contact with youth on a daily basis, passing along the language and customs of Aboriginal peoples, thereby fostering family cohesiveness and maintenance of their traditional cultures." (Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, 1998). Perhaps the reason why Indigenous People have such a hard time gaining adequate services like housing is because, as Marxists would re-iterate, that Capitalism functions on class struggle. "The Marxists believe that any significant social change can come about only through class conflict." (Mullaly, 2007, p.146)
~Shauna
Mullaly, R. (2007). The New Structural Social Work (3rd Ed.). Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
Congress of Aboriginal People. (1998). Urban Native Housing Program. Retrieved November 7, 2011, from http://www.abo-peoples.org/programs/housing.html
Dickason, O.P., Newbigging, W. (2010) A Concise History of Canada's First Nations (2nd ed.)Don Mills: Oxford University Press.
I enjoyed your post Shauna, very well written. The inadequate housing for indigenous people gets me very upset because it is a persistant problem for indigenous people. I watched this video once in my second year of university,and it went through the details what it takes to build a house in northern indigenous communities, $7,000 from start to finish. One of the sadest points of this video was that families had no running water, this isthe 21st century and indigenous people are living in third world conditions.
ReplyDelete-Danielle
Thanks Danielle!
ReplyDeleteI was definaely appalled when I found out the situation of water and Housing on many Reserves. I was shocked to think that the Country I live in, and the Government I have a hand in electing could let so many communities live in what essentially relates to Third World conditions. Marxism brought up some good points, as did Social Democracy, in having a more humanistic approach to things. I did have a breif "What if" scenario play out through my mind one day at work, and while things might be better for all Canadians in general in terms of having the essentials cared for (Think Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs), I also wonder if things would still remain the same for Indigenous people? The Alturist in me says "No", but the Realist says "Yes".
My other concern of a Canada under Marxist idology would be: If all people are equal, would that mean that Indigenous People would also loose the very thing that makes them "Special"? Would this also apply to other "Special interest groups"?
It was some food for thought on a very boring work day. :)
~Shauna
Also, I did have a bit of a difficult time with this one, only because while I am passingly familiar with Marxism (As it applies to Soviet history), and after looking more into it for the purpose of this blog post, I started to become increasingly aware that the one thing that seems to go missing is the "uniqueness" of each group. Marxism literally seems to me to be a gender-blind, race-blind, sexuality-blind, and just about everything-blind ideology that essentially removes what it means to be an individual. That was a hard thing for me to grasp, and I lean towards Liberal and Social Democratic ideologies.
ReplyDeleteI think many of us, despite our political leansing, all want to be "Special" in our own ways. To remove those things like culture, social grouping or religion removes the very things that define us as individual people.
~Shauna
I enjoyed your post Shauna. I couldn’t agree with you more on how governments can let situations like this happen in Canada – one of the world’s ‘richest’ countries regarding inadequate housing in First Nations communities. The conditions are disturbing and saddening. I also find it disturbing that some families have up to 10 or more people living in one single household, with no running water. Some homes are literally falling apart. I’m not really a ‘fan’ of the Marxist approach either. Their societal social goals seem to be centered on abolishing private property, re-establishing communism – definitely not in line with Indigenous world views or even some of the other ideologies already discussed.
ReplyDeleteDara
Interesting read indeed. I really dislike it when people point out to third world countries and say what a need there is in the world (and there is!). But oh, how they ignore the need right here in their home province! The living conditions in some of the reserves in MB are not adequate and little support is given by their fellow Canadians!
ReplyDeleteKel
Good post Shauna,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Kel, it's so easy to point fingers at other countries and say what they're doing wrong... but what about our own people? I never tied the ideas of Marxism and the Indigenous paradigm together before, and I gained a lot of insight reading this.
Kelsey