TT’s Reviews > Travel as a Political Act > Status Update

Lev livet kunstnerisk ! Kun dode fisk flyder med strømmen (Live life artistically! Only dead fish follow the current)

Danes pay some of the highest taxes in the world, and 7 out of 10 in a recent survey said they would willing to pay more in order to keep the system functioning to protect the most vulnerable in their society. They feel individually responsible and committed to social welfare. They are connected to something bigger than any individual. They are not victims of the system, they are part of it.

page 164 Organizing to win land rights for campesinos (landless farmers) is a dangerous activity. Among elites. land reform is not an option. The very idea is taboo. Everytime locals organize for land reform. they're labeled and defeated as "communists" -- or more recently "terrorists." Many are killed.

Page 165
When an aggressive corporate with lots of capital -- and lawyers, and friends in government-- wants to buy a peasant's small landholding, it's intimidating. "We want to buy your land. We can negotiate with you... or we can negotiate with your widow."

Structural poverty--how, in so many ways, things are designed in a way that keeps the poor world poor.

Capitalism is a private club.... a few prominent families become oligarchs and major landowners.
Extremely poor people simply cannot access banking or finance --so they're excluded from the economy. Capitalism requires capital. Without capital, there's no development. And without access to capital, a poor person remain poor.

Standard education systems are designed for elites, by elites.

While school is often "free", attendance requires uniforms, books and pencils -- which the families of the poorest can't afford. Classes are often taught in the language of the dominant or privileged ethnic group. And instruction is often available in schools that are beyond walking distance - out of reach for people who cannot afford public transportations.