Figuring out solutions especially for the Environment

Part I
I have been staying in Sosua, Dominican Republic for the last three months. I arrived December 10 and will be leaving DR in late May. In the three months that I have been here, I have to admit that the projects that I wished to work on, have been on a go slow. I have only read a couple of books, written one blog and done a few other tasks on my computer. It’s all a bit like dragging the chain! There are a variety of reasons to explain my low level of achievement besides my own laziness! Some of my projects involve strategising about how to improve environmental practice and other issues of education in this country. The culture that dominates in DR, is trankilo, but to many westerners, this word could be exchanged for lazy. Many Westerners who come here, enjoy the fact that things are very relaxed most of the time, and that there is little pressure to get things done. However, Westerners also understand that while their own culture may be stressful and at times highly pressured, which can create health issues, our cultures are also effective at organising, activating and achieving.

This trankilo culture of the Dominicans, may be restful, but the reality is also that lots of things don’t get done. Minimal effort, only doing the basics, leaving small problems until they have become much bigger; these are all manifestations of this culture. And the issues are far greater than just the individual. And the issues like many are not totally positive or negative. Yes, people are more easy-going about many issues but lots of problems are not dealt with.

For me as a Westerner, I am aware of my own part in procrastinating, but there is no doubt that this  laid back culture stops me from more achievement. In order for projects to work anywhere, there needs to be an interest and determination from others towards what you are doing. When you attempt to organise or initiate action, and get a response of no response or a promise that a meeting will occur which never occurs, or a promise to do it mañana, and the mañana becomes the next mañana, this intensifies our own procrastination. The thinking tends to switch towards why bother if there will be no positive outcome. But of course, there could be a positive outcome, and if the initial action does not occur, that guarantees no possibility of a venture moving forward.

Of course, many issues that get delayed in developing countries like the Dominican Republic, are all part of the bigger issues to do with racism, colonialism, imperialism and the cutthroat world of capitalism where a few have extraordinary excessive wealth, and the majority of the world struggle to survive. All these issues interrelate in the formation of different countries and the world pecking order. I believe most Westerners fail to comprehend just how divided the world is from these issues.

I often use New Zealand and Australia where I grew up and live and work, and compare it to Jamaica so that we can have some understanding of the variations in wealth and opportunity around the world. All three countries were colonised by Britain, and yet there is a key difference in how these countries and its peoples have been treated. New Zealand and Australia have had the impact of colonialism and racism on the indigenous people, creating genocide and war, land confiscation and disruption of original native societies. But because both Australia and New Zealand were settled by white people, the world pecking order of racism determined that all people of these nations should have a reasonable standard of living. It is no accident that both those countries have good free education and health care and other government assistance paid for through the taxation system. Jamaica on the other hand, with a population of black people brought as slaves from Africa, making up the majority of the country’s population, has been placed historically in a different position, where the people were not guaranteed similar standards. Many people in Jamaica have not had the same opportunities in education, income, health care etc compared to Australia and New Zealand. This is a good example of how racism from the time of slavery, is perpetuated through time. And one of the ongoing effects of any disempowerment, is once the economic imbalance or power imbalance is created, the situation has the potential to recreate itself.

The reason I talk about this here is because I believe that experiences such as slavery, discrimination, low pay and poverty, and democratic rights suppressed through dictatorship, which is common where people have not been afforded respect, become part of the culture of the people and can recreate until there is better government, education and new awareness.

I believe that the disorganisation that I see here in the Dominican Republic is the manifestation of these issues. Throughout most of the developing world, poverty has gone hand in hand with racism and lack of opportunity. Over time, it can lead to acceptance and complacency, like some kind of malaise, and hot climates can intensify these states.

Why would these issues matter? Because, if we want to resolve the problem, we need to look at all the contributing factors.

For most of my life, I have been a democratic socialist. At university, I became very aware of analysing situations based on an understanding of capitalism, colonialism, imperialism and other issues. But in the last 20 years, I have also been doing a lot of work on my own psychology and cognitive development. For a long time, I have had friendships and associations who were quite rigidly in one group or another. Many of my friends who have progressive outlooks about wanting to resolve various injustices of wealth and power around the world, look to the causes such as capitalism and colonialism and talk about different solutions, be they through elections or revolution. And that world of discussion is one that is central to my life as well. Whether key issues surrounding the extreme wealth imbalance in the world, from the past to the present, can be resolved through democratic processes or revolution, is a topic for another day. However, for this writing, let’s just understand that these world systems created a system of imbalance that requires a worldwide solution.

But increasingly, I have come to realise that for any change to be effective, individuals and societies must operate differently too. If a world government were to announce a system to redistribute wealth more evenly, problems would recreate themselves, because of the mindsets of people.

Once people have been abused and disempowered, it then becomes possible to do nothing more negatively to them, but because of the trauma that they and their group have endured, or the position they hold in terms of wealth or political power, they then can become the perpetuator of their own ongoing failure. And this is why education about the past and plans to move towards a better future are vital for resolving imbalances. Let’s take two examples to understand the situation better. Let’s look firstly at homophobia and then secondly, an examination of Haiti.

Homophobia as a word is quite recent, and is actually a positive development in the world. A few decades ago people who were gay, were seen as having a problem, whereas now people who are not accepting of gay people, are seen as the ones with the problem. This does not equate across the world of course. Western culture has recently developed much leadership in the freedom for people’s sexuality. Countries where Islam is the strongest religion, continue to suppress sexual freedoms and rigidly continue separation between men and women. While the insults against gay people have declined in most western countries, this takes no account of the actual experiences and mindset for gay people. Some people in their 20s who have not lived through more intolerant times may discount gay issues and homophobia as irrelevant. But a person who is gay and lived in times of hate and violence, may carry various trauma, fear, distrust and caution. The point that I’m making here is that there are two forces at play; the laws and culture of a country and how much they respect sexual freedom versus how gay people feel based on their own experiences and history.

Haiti may seem like a very different topic to acceptance of gay people, and of course it is but there is a similar issue too. Poverty continues in Haiti and this is largely controlled by world economic systems in history. But there is also the component of how people think and feel within the situation. Having been struggling to survive economically and suffering from violent dictatorships for hundreds of years, it would be no surprise to see people in Haiti feeling very hopeless and despondent. The corruption that has existed in Haiti has direct connection to dictatorship. When people are scared of those in power, they tend to do as they are told, and not have a voice. So many problems continue to recreate in Haiti. It is unclear with the corruption and huge salaries paid to CEOs in Red Cross and the Clinton foundation, exactly how much money from the 2010 earthquake appeal was stolen. But when people are disempowered, have negative experiences as a country for hundreds of years, it is not surprising that a culture of hopelessness and anger will dominate, and this like the example of homophobia becoming internalised, is part of the essential work for liberation.

One of my great lecturers at university who taught socialist political elements always emphasised his key Marxist critique: don’t just moralise; analyse! I found this idea to be extremely useful especially when engaging in political action with some other activists who were promoting guilt. For example, in the 1980s in New Zealand I was very involved in supporting Maori land rights and respect of culture. New Zealand like most countries had experienced much challenge and genocide of native people so not surprisingly, some white New Zealanders went to the position of how bad they and their group must be. I was fortunate to be guided by other people of all ethnicities, who promoted the idea that we seek policy and change of laws and such things to empower native New Zealand culture and rights, not simply that we feel bad about ourselves as white people.

I must admit that living a lot of the time in the developing world, is no easy walk in the park! And part of the challenge of this is the mindset of many people in the developing world. Many Dominicans and Haitians and other people of Third World countries have not received good education and tend to stereotype and generalise about different countries and their situations. Because I have enough money to buy an apartment here or to fly here from another part of the world some people equate me as rich. And compared to many people here, I kind of am. However, compared to many people in Australia or New Zealand, I kind of am not! Most people who live in poor countries think that lots of people who are Westerners are all living in Beverly Hills! 

This means that being in the developing world, if living on a limited income, requires staying alone to some degree, or people will be asking you for money all the time. An understandable situation when people with little or no money think someone else has more. Its a difficult situation to be in, especially when coming from western countries where individualism is strong but also government management better. I explain to some of my Dominican friends, that in my culture, if you were short on money, it would not be normal to go to family or friends for help. You would expect that person to apply to government for assistance.

Of course, the Dominicans and Haitians who succeed in getting a Visa to go and work in the United States, have a much clearer understanding of the haves and have nots in the wealthier countries.

When you live in the developing world, you will encounter people seeking your assistance on a regular basis. Westerners who stay in the western world will often generalise about people living in the developing world, suggesting that such people are of a higher moral standing. The Westerners who spend time in poor countries, will often have a different story. Poverty creates desperation. People will lie to get money, people will steal. Then people get used to it and may do it themselves. Of course, this does not make one group of people better than another. There are no good countries & bad countries really, just people responding the best they know how to. We all operate in our own ways with education on different situations & challenges.

Part II

The Dominican Republic is an ecological disaster in many ways due to complacency, corruption, lack of education & lack of leadership by government. The current phase that the country is in is that some people go on clean ups of beaches. Some are volunteer, most are paid. Beautiful beaches littered with cans, bottles both glass & plastic, Styrofoam. Tourist destinations with really extreme rubbish. On Sundays, the day that most Dominicans have as their only free day, the beach of Sosua is a disgrace by late in the afternoon. A lot of this rubbish gets washed into the ocean before people clean it up the next day. 
My attempts to communicate with the President and Minister for the Environment and the Mayor of Sosua, get to stage 1 with plans for meetings, but advance no further. In the town of Sosua and the beach, few if any rubbish bins are supplied, so people dump rubbish on the street which ends up in streams and oceans. In terms of impact besides killing off many animals in streams and beaches, it contributes to disease for humans too. After a big flood in late 2016 on the north coast, 50-100 people died from a disease spread by mice. The rubbish cannot be left lying on the ground, and yet it is. The time people spend cleaning up could be focused on essential necessary recovery clean ups, but instead cleaning up streets and basic requirements is all that can occur. 
In 2014 I was shocked to see the Malecon beach of historical importance in the capital Santo Domingo, covered in plastic bottles. 4 years later, there had been a clean-up. All bottles were now sitting in huge bags at the end of the beach and new bottles were starting to wash up. 
This is so like cleaning up after the accident rather than preventing it in the first place. You look at this kind of thing coming from a country like NZ where environmental education is a given, and you just think how ridiculous. Get bins with lids, place them everywhere. Put up signs to educate people to place rubbish in bins. Begin fining violators & do lots of education. And separate recycling & put deposits on bottles etc. It is all so simple really.

But the developing world struggles with most people poor, and many leaders corrupt & of poor education, failing to serve their people, especially the most vulnerable, instead often using the role for their own gain & their mates.

Returning to one of my key ideas in this blog article that solutions lie in a combination of education about self empowerment & positive ideas, not simply economic resolution, the two go hand in hand. But as I witness the ecological neglect in the developing world, I am convinced that solutions require world leadership. Shifts of awareness are occurring in some poorer countries, and there are stories of great clean ups occurring in countries like India & Costa Rica. But both countries do have some advantages which have allowed this progress. When I see the challenges here in DR, I am convinced that this issue requires a world lead solution, because many countries left to their own devices will just stay stuck. I am amazed that the United Nations has not used its influence to convene a meeting of all nations to bring about the elimination of permanent plastic & Styrofoam and help organise a world shift to biodegradable options. So many western countries have made huge gains with rubbish disposal & recycling, but when the developing world continues to be left to deal with it alone, the impact on the planet is huge. The West needs to realise that if the education and action does not effectively get infused into developing world countries, we all bring about our demise.

Technology now in the developing world, thanks to smartphones, is starting to give people in different countries all kinds of advanced ideas of how to live & organise & lead for themselves & their communities. Every progressive meme spreads around the world and offers new ideas & hope & awareness.

In my next writing, I want to critique the situation between Haiti & DR. There is no good country or bad country and it is vital to understand various components, so we can effectively move things forward.