Understanding the indigenous worldview involves questioning how we are traditional taught to face life. For example, knowing how to differentiate between “living better,” the basis of Western development, and “good living,” or what is called “sumac kawsay” in kichwa.
“Living better” is a Western paradigm that implies progress and the accumulation of wealth. This concept varies with a group’s social-economic status. For the poor, it will mean access to better quality of life, a legitimate goal. However, for the elite, living better means obtaining more goods and power, while the middle class strives to attain the elite’s standard of living.
Ecuador
On the other hand, good living [Sumak Kawsay, or Sumaq Qamaña in Aymara] in the indigenous world “implies a way of living that is ethical, restrained, [that] takes from nature only what is necessary for life, without endangering [nature’s] rights since nature is considered a living Mother,” said Gerónimo Yantalema, an indigenous member of Ecuador’s National Assembly.
Indeed, while the harmony between the laws of nature and collective rights can satisfy individual rights, the fulfillment of individual rights, with their particularities in size and depth, do not always guarantee the existence of collective rights, nor the laws of nature.
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