Achuar

One of my favorite stories in this book so far is the author's frequent reference to the Achuar people of the Amazon, especially the story of Chumpi who is chosen by the Achuar to come to the modern world to learn and study to benefit his people.

I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to come to North America as a native of the Amazon rainforest, and needless to say I have no idea what that would be like.

Chumpi comes to learn about the ways of the "civilized world," and according to the author of The Soul of Money, he:

"...began to see how it is in America: that virtually everything in our lives and every choice we make - the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the houses we live in, the schools we attend, the work we do, the futures we dream, whether we marry or not, or have children or not, even matters of love - everything is influenced by this thing called money" (Twist 5).

What would be the money equivalent in the Amazon? If we were one of the Achuar people instead of the American people? Is there one, that is my question. My guess that it would be any means of survival. Things that increase probability of survival have value to the Achuar people, similar to how money has value to us.

The distinction that the author is trying to make between the two is the difference in quantity to which Americans and Achuar want their value of exchange, and what they plan to do with it, implying that we in the states use it for personal gain, increased prestige, and to one-up our neighbors.

For me, however, it's hard to imagine there ever being a time where a human being does not want more that their peers. I'm sure the Achuar have their own power struggles, and the result may either result in an equitable exchange, or one where a certain Achuar has more than another because he or she wants that advantage.

Perhaps, in their society, that is just frowned upon more, because they all know that they need each other to survive. We, on the other hand, do not.