Buen Vivir
Buen Vivir means “living well” in Spanish but it is far more than just a recipe for wellness. It is term to describe a social and environmental movement — no, a paradigm shift that has its recent origins in the 90’s in Bolivia and Ecuador and but with roots that extend back deep in Andean history. Buen Vivir is gaining ground as far afield as Europe with parallel movements emerging in India and South Africa. It is a philosophy and a possible framework to return to a simpler, more harmonious life in a stronger and more resilient society.
In all ways, Buen Vivir is the medicine we need today. As a social movement, it represents the exact opposite of the values that are dominant in our culture. It values strong communities over individualism, economy over consumerism, harmony and reciprocity over competition, sustainable resource management over environmental exploitation.
The beauty of Buen Vivir is that it doesn’t require any large investment on our part, does not require us to become “a better citizen or human being.”
It only requires us to be happier…
A Shift in Values
The cultural roots of Buen Vivir extend back hundreds, if not thousands of years. They originate in the ancestral traditions of South America including the Aymara peoples of Bolivia, the Quichua of Ecuador and Peru, and the Mapuche of Chile and Argentina. Buen Vivir is also a political philosophy that is revolutionary in its potential; a call to arms to reorder our society and banish systemic poverty and environmental destruction.
Buen Vivir calls for a drastic re-appraisal of our value systems. It asks us to open our eyes to the persistent imbalances in our world. It taps into deeper feelings of alienation that gnaw at the heart of our society: lack of community and meaningful connection to life and nature.
Buen Vivir asks us to release the burdens that we carry. Whether it is the insatiable drive to be seen, consume more, accomplish more… It asks us to value time over money, to seek simplicity and a mindful approach to life. It argues for a way of life that respects our humanity: our limitations and potential. It reaches to the heart of what it means to be happy. The summit of a successful life in our culture is as unsustainable as it is inhuman. It can only result in exhaustion and despair.
Buen Vivir also asks us to take a long view of the choices we are making. We are not disposable. We are part of a continuum. Our lives have value for future generations. What we do now makes a difference.
Daring to Dream Differently
In 2008, Ecuador became the first country to write “Buen Vivir” into its constitution. “Sumac kawsay” is a Quichua word that means “fullness of life and rooted in community and harmony with other people and nature.” They are values originating from many indigenous cosmovisions in South America. Alberto Acosta, the president of Ecuador’s Constituent Assembly reflected that “only by imagining other worlds will this one be changed.”
Real change begins by imagining the world differently. First we must value ourselves and then we must value our relationship to Nature. We are not resources to be exhausted. Nor are the trees, animals, rivers, and elements and all the citizens of Earth. We all have value and autonomy and cannot be owned and sold off to the highest bidder. Our relationships must be cultivated carefully if we are to have a future on this planet.
In 2012, Ecuador gathered with one hundred and ninety-two UN member states in Brazil for (Rio+20), the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, a mega summit to ratify the first agreement for sustainable development in the world. Foremost was a united commitment to “eradicate poverty, promote social equity, and to advance equal opportunity.”* It was the first time that ecological practices were collectively accepted as the way forward to combat deeply entrenched social problems in the world.
When you dare to dream differently, great things happen…
What are the Values that Can change the World?
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“Buen Vivir: One practice that you can do right now to be happier and live a more sustainable life”
- The Future We Want — Outcome document. United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?menu=1298