This man, First Nations Chief Clarence Louie GETS IT! I have put this man’s comments in my “Intelligent Quote of the Day” when I moved from blogger.com to wordpress.com in 2007. What this man says now is good what he has said then. Some may ask, “Why are you calling him The First Nation’s Bill Cosby?” Well, Chief Louie is saying also saying to Native Canadians, “Come On People!”–just like Dr.Cosby has from the still relevant and important book he has written two years ago! Chief Louie is preaching self-sufficiency and is truly leading by example on his reservation. Yesterday’s Metro newspaper (Toronto edition), he states in a column,
“The success of a First Nation community within the Canadian economic framework cannot be attained until there are equal chances for First Nations to be educated and provided with an opportunity to put their training to work. Nothing rips a nation state apart more and causes dependency than an unemployed population. The idleness of unemployment is a major sickness in most First Nation communities.
The enemy to First Nations truly participating in the Canadian economy is the perpetuation of the attitude that the First Nation problem can be solved through social expenditures.
The current 100-year-old failed government formula of 96 per cent social spending versus four per cent for business investment has left most First Nations with an unemployment rate that far exceeds the Great Depression.
An employment economy creates a healthier population than handouts. As one past national chief said, “A healthy person is a working person.” Many native youth are being slowly destroyed by the absence of real employment opportunities. Offering youth a welfare cheque leads to a sense of hopelessness and a lazy attitude. When an individual gains economic independence, just as when a First Nation gains economic independence, then good health in a holistic lifestyle becomes possible.” Makes sense to me! I could remember this past season on TVOntario’s current affairs program The Agenda With Steve Paikin when talking about the plight of Native Canadians, one Native woman (whom I felt was a loud, obnoxious quasi-Marxist—no, make that Marxist and communistic and proud of it, PLAIN and SIMPLE) complaining that “capitalism” (from the outside) is being forced on Natives. I say GOOD! I will bluntly assert that it is the ONLY salvation for Native Canadians for their survival! At the same time with my blunt assertion, I will make this statement that it is my wish, hope and prayer that just as First Nations become economically self-sufficient and prosperous through a capitalist system that the ugly derivitives from it like corporatism and consumerism (read Rod Dreher’s Crunchy Con book and blog to understand) will never, ever poison the Native community as a whole as those ugly derivitives have posioned and distorted the worldview of the non-native community tragically.
I also bumped into this segment from the CBC’s The National which talked about Chief Louie and his gospel of self-sufficiency. I hope you will enjoy it much as I did.
CBC.ca | The National | Archive | Aboriginal Issues | Chief Clarence Louie
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