Letter | On ‘Broke Billionaires’
On ‘Broke Billionaires’
Editor,
The unchanging scathing data on Native homeland economy, unemployment, education, roads, housing and health conditions reveal the usual widespread “underdevelopment” of our homelands despite years of massive technical, material and fiscal intervention. This reality, the failure to invest in local human development, a financial extractive economics, reflects the classic case of a “distorted human capital investment pattern” whereby governments in underdeveloped nations undertake an investment in foreign human capital development. This issue has been voiced before (Letters: Others are enjoying our Navajo trust funds – Navajo Times).
To the point, investment in people for domestic human capital development within distressed socio-economic regions is considered to have little or no monetary value, a potentially low-yield investment by wealthy corporations. For multinational corporations with their provincial wealth, it matters little where their money comes from as long as the euphoric blurred vision of financial grandeur is centered on profit maximization. Investment in local socioeconomic conditions to give even a glimmer of hope to local Native populations is of little or no monetary interest. Corporate financial gatekeepers have no interest in delving into the intricate layers of Indigenous Native financial extraction, the resulting trauma, and resonant healing. Our current tribal investigatory focus is long overdue, unflinching, raw, and imbued with a resonance that beckons readers to confront the realities faced by Indigenous communities, to undertake a deeper reckoning with the lives and lived experiences of Native peoples. This narrative challenges the reader to question preconceived notions and to acknowledge the depth and breadth of Native American economic experiences, ultimately urging a reevaluation of how Native economic history has been structured, a norm of economic imprisonment on trust lands.
The consequence of this form of outward human capital monetary investment pattern results in “development disease” not only in the public health sector but across the spectrum in all facets of Native life conditions, thus the “list.” Investment for wide-scale within-cultural renaissance and renewal for a healthy cultural, social and economic order is again ignored. The priority on investment for changing immediate localized social, economic, health, and educational needs is generally given low priority in governmental budgets or is generally left to financially distressed communities or to non-profit and voluntary organizations. The complete lack of governmental transparency and accountability for the Native homeland invites continuing unspeakable wounds as the norm for Native peoples from birth to agedness. It should hardly surprise anyone, then, that demographic conditions for a substantial population of the Native American people take on the perennial challenging life conditions within our homeland.
As we look around our communities, the resulting socioeconomic dividends are that this huge, distorted, misdirected investment pattern, with a massively high humane failure-rate yield return, has morphed Native Indigenous peoples’ lives into a widespread dependent state. When scarce funding resources are not geared toward leveraging local healthy vibrant self-reliance, this often results in guaranteed annual revenues that support huge businesses far removed from the realities of imperiled, distressed communities, health care disparities, stagnant economic development, and struggling schools. The people’s money “earning interest” in high-end banks forms the foundation for building great cities, towns and municipalities off Native homelands, as hunger of hope continue to dot the landscape in Native homelands, an uphill socioeconomic battle from the trenches with no end in sight.
Given a depth of perspectives on the distorted investment pattern, the life conditions of Native peoples become mired in a pipeline metaphor where cross-cultural blurriness grinds the American dream for Native peoples into continual intergenerational crises, further exacerbating blighted lives in Native communities. We see this daily in monopolized major homeland economic outlets, such as grocery store chains, markets, banks, health care, and education, in Native communities where the elderly, the parents, young children and our youth hunger for hope and the good life.
It is imperative that critical provocative questions be raised as to why many toil year-after-year, with that protective shield of tenure toward retirement, on the backs of blighted and damaged lives of Native peoples. How much longer must we hold on to the misguided, distorted investment pattern that undervalues local human development. It is long past time to replace the distorted investment pattern in our homeland with a trajectory toward enlightened investment in our people, our communities, and our homeland’s economic development. The long-standing unacceptable socio-economic conditions of our people are the outcome of a highly effective government structure that keeps our people in challenging life conditions. The need for a different governmental system is a calling if we are to see different socio-economic conditions for our people. With a rigorous, high-quality K-18 education system and a new governmental structure grounded in our heritage, traditional teachings, values, and wisdom, we are most capable of achieving far healthier socio-economic outcomes. These seemingly separate discrete organizational entities – education, government, and economics – are in fact highly interconnected, interdependent and interrelated. A day and time of impassioned reckoning to address and undo the undervaluing of our people’s lives is worthy of greater attention. The broke billionaires go deep into misguided, distorted investment patterns, wealth concentration, and profit maximization, all of which undervalue human lives. The influence of individuals and/or groups on misguided investment patterns and the pursuit of profit that undervalues one’s sense of humanity should be subjected to unaltered, uncut, non-redacted transparency and accountability, to character, honesty, ethics, integrity and industriousness. One of many sacred, traditional prayer-songs speaks to this: Hodiyiin lesdei, yeiyei, beenaashaangha.
Harold G. Begay
Tuba City, Ariz.
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