Brainstorm Week 9

Just like what we read in the Ecuadorian context, or how Western-imposed colonial used their own standards to judge other peoples, which caused Ecuadorian people and others to be seen as subordinate and not doing things right. This along with neoliberalism and capitalist expansion and outsourcing of industries not kind to the earth like mining and palming to these very countries where indigenous ideology is greatly opposed to those industries. This relates very much to the North American situation:"Indigenous knowledge, or place-thought, rises from ancient knowledge that rarely agrees with Western assumptions about the world, whether about sex, gender, or what matter is" (Million 96). In both cases, western-imposed thought is very different from indigenous thought and experience, yet it is forcibly imposed. In terms of living well and the relationship to mother earth, Indigenous Americans have some of the most notoriously close and spiritual connection to nature. They truly live in harmony with nature and respect all aspects of it in order to live well: "Trees, animals, insects, and rocks are societies with their own will and intent that do not necessarily coincide with human needs and well-being. And humans, for their part, negotiate a respectful place among these entities" (Million 98). The concept of buen vivir very much applies to these peoples because it encapsulates the relationship they have with nature and each other. 
Ybarra's article very much connects to buen vivir because it basically is describing the reason why buen vivir and the concept of living will is important to Chicanx. Ybarra describes the history of Mexican Americans, particularly after the Mexican-American war where Mexicans who'd already been there, having a relationship with and learning the land, were kicked off. Racial hierarchy and oppression forced Mexican-Americans to have almost no land and power unless they submitted to Anglo-American values. This common experience of oppression instilled "in Mex­ican  Americans  an  ethic  of  sustenance  in  terms  of  natural  resources,  and  an  ethic of simplicity in overall lifestyle" (Ybarra 5). It also caused Mexican Americans to develop goodlife or buen vivir values of dignity and respect for each other: "after such experiences of humiliation and loss, Mexican Americans also cultivate dignity and respect with one another" (Ybarra 5). Since the beginning of Mexican American history, Chicanx have had a special relationship with nature, living through shared experiences that instilled the concept of living well or the goodlife.