Brainstorm Week 9 - Noah Krohngold

Out of all people, those indigenous to an area would likely be the most qualified to speak on the politics we discuss regarding nature. Dian Million explains this concept in that different nation’s “leaders are prized for maintaining balance in their relations with all entities,” where the indigenous people are also prioritized based on their perspective with respect to nature (Million, 101). Whereas most groups would see nature as a resource to be harvested, most indigenous societies are “intrinsically anticapitalist in practice” because of their views towards ownership and society (Million, 101). While profits are important in a capitalist society, those profits are nowhere to be seen if we don’t respect nature. Thus, politicians must converse with indigenous societies instead of only listening to corporations to protect the planet. Priscilla Ybarra describes how marginalized groups don’t find protecting the environment appealing since it doesn’t fully contribute to the group’s well-being at a particular instant in time. She states that these groups “never wholly bought into the modern worldview that centers on nature/culture dichotomies” (Ybarra, 16). Neoliberalism and the patriarchy have had major impacts on how communities view environmental conservation, but with including indigenous people in the conversation we can hopefully cultivate meaningful discussion that prioritizes the environment while also providing more liberties to equalize all the groups in a society.