week four - thoughts on Bolívar

Reaction to the lecture:

One point that I found very interesting was the notion that political representation is only brought forth because the spokesman of the movement are the ones who feel it’s lack. In Bolivars letters from Jamaica it is clear that he feels a lack of representation in the political decision making process. This is clear when he states his feelings describing it as “ a position lower than slavery”. I find this point quite ironic, as Bolivar is very concerned about himself obtaining political rights he feels he deserves without being able to fathom how those rights may infringe on the rights of the already existing indigenous population.

Another point in the lecture that I found quite interesting was the idea that for the elite, being marginalized from political power threatened their economic freedom. At first I was confused by this statement wondering how someone who already had rights could be marginalized until i realised that for the elite, if everyone were to be given equal voting rights, than their own individual votes would not hold as much significance or power, marginalizing their votes. 

I think that one of the reasons that both of these ideas or notions stood out to me is because I am able to easily draw parallels between them and modern american politics. With regards to the first notion, we can see parallels to modern Canada and the rights of the indigenous population. If the Indigenous population did not continually remind the canadian government of their lack of representation than there would be no solution to the problem. Because the indigenous communities have made it known, the canadian government was able to implement the 94 calls to action and the truth and reconciliation act.

I think that by looking at the past and drawing parallels between the political state of the eighteen-hundreds and current politics, we are able to use our knowledge of the past to critically assess policies and the way that they are created. By using our knowledge of past we are able to learn from our mistakes and prevent further harm. By reading Bolivars letters from jamaica we are able to read his letters with a critical point of view and learn from his key points. This allows us to agree that everyone deserves the right to be involved in politics solely based on humanity  while simultaneously criticizing his lack of regard for those he deems lesser than himself.