Brainstorm Week 9 - Carter Rowell

Dian Millon's understanding connects directly to the idea of buen vivir in the way that she talks about all life being treated with respect in order for that life to have a foundation on which to grow. She describes how Indigenous peoples have thought in a "holistic way that the earth, animals, and nonhuman entities are accounted for in the governing formations of peoples" (Millon 100). This way of thinking is very different from historical colonial thinking, which places more of an importance on selfishness and individual focus. The thinking that Millon describes outlines a society where life is able to thrive more in harmony, where everybody cares about and for each other. You aren't just responsible for yourself; as Millon describes, all life has "responsibilities to other life-forms and entities," which is a "significant [challenge] to Western thought" (Millon 107). This is very similar to the Ecuadorian concept of buen vivir, which focuses on creating a government that allows all life to thrive happily. 

Priscilla Solis Ybarra's also connects to buen vivir in a similar way: by defining a responsibility for the life around oneself. As she describes, humans now have to "work against the destructive practices that brought us to our current environmental crisis" (Ybarra 35). It is our responsibility to take care of the life around us; it is ignorant to believe that we only need to focus on our own lives. In order for the world to continue surviving, we need to live in a way that allows for all life to live and thrive. This is similar to the idea of buen vivir in the way that there is respect for life in general and a need to protect all life. Both ideas de-emphasize selfishness.