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In Cherán, however, there was no such violence. Nor were there any avocados. Thirteen years ago, the town’s residents prevented corrupt officials and a local ca
by anigbrowl 2y ago
In Cherán, however, there was no such violence. Nor were there any avocados. Thirteen years ago, the town’s residents prevented corrupt officials and a local cartel from illegally cutting down native forests to make way for the crop. A group of locals took loggers hostage while others incinerated their trucks. Soon, townspeople had kicked out the police and local government, cancelled elections, and locked down the whole area. A revolutionary experiment was under way. Months later, Cherán reopened with an entirely new state apparatus in place. Political parties were banned, and a governing council had been elected; a reforestation campaign was undertaken to replenish the barren hills; a military force was chartered to protect the trees and the town’s water supply; some of the country’s most advanced water filtration and recycling programmes were created. And the avocado was outlawed.
Direct action gets the goods.
- skrebbel 2y agoWow that’s some serious A-Team level story
- alephnerd 2y agoYea, and then those kinds of organizations become corrupted themselves because money and power are extremely alluring. Look at the Autodefensas in Colombia and Michoacán, or the origins of the Taliban in Kandahar's opium belt (Maiwand) in the early 1990s. Militas are not hallmarks of direct democracy - they are hallmarks of societal and political collapse.
- moralestapia 2y agoI'd an already corrupt environment for any other "maybe corrupt in 10 years" any day.
- moralestapia 2y agoI'd change* ...
- orwin 2y agoThis is the kind of affirmative action I can fall behind.
- FrustratedMonky 2y ago"new state apparatus in place. Political parties were banned, and a governing council had been elected..a military force was chartered" Yeah, how does this work? This sounds more like civil war. Admittedly, one side of the war staying to themselves. But, also, break down of any overall government. If Idaho suddenly did this people would freak out, would call it communism, and attack.
- fransje26 2y ago> If Idaho suddenly did this people would freak out, would call it communism, and attack. Well, of course. People would start taking control of their own lives, and we don't want that. What would come next? The right to control their own body? How ludicrous. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/23/1246611400/whats-at-stake-as-the-supreme-court-hears-idaho-case-about-abortion-in-emergenci https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/23/1246611...
- FrustratedMonky 2y agoYou can make that argument in both directions. Better be careful what you are arguing for. The same arguments for 'States' to have the right to legalize pot is the same arguments the South uses for slavery. Texas could secede and enslave Mexicans and remove women's rights. That would be 'taking control' as they desire it. California could secede and give everyone free pot and mandatory beach days. That would be their 'taking control' as they desire it. If everyone is allowed to do their own thing, all states go their own way, all counties, all people. It's just anarchy.
- huimang 2y agoRespecting human rights and self-autonomy is not the same thing as removing rights from people to benefit the companies/government and I wish people would stop arguing in bad faith that they're remotely similar.
- ASalazarMX 2y ago> Thirteen years ago, the town’s residents prevented corrupt officials and a local cartel from illegally cutting down native forests to make way for the crop. This is a key take. Organized crime doesn't rule regions outside the control of the state, they're managed by a coalition of local corrupt politicians and businessmen that use them to do their dirty work. The town residents were wise to fight not only the illegal criminals, but their legal supporters. People are getting tired of deeply corrupted govermments blaming everything bad on the runaway cartels, while they're the real intellectual authors.