Socialism’s Shadow: A Native American Journey

[00:02] in these united states of america

[00:04] we american indians we can be anything

[00:06] we want to be

[00:12] except american indians

[00:16] [Music]

[00:20] want to see an example of failed

[00:22] socialism

[00:23] go to an indian reservation

[00:33] in my mind from what i understand and

[00:35] what my family has told me through you

[00:37] know stories

[00:38] we were able to roam free so we were

[00:41] very active

[00:42] and we moved through the land and we

[00:44] took care of the the plants and the

[00:45] animals

[00:46] but we also lived you know in harmony

[00:48] and i believe it was a beautiful time

[00:50] we were a free people absolutely free

[01:06] [Music]

[01:14] socialism i believe began with the long

[01:16] walk

[01:17] the long walk was when manifest destiny

[01:19] across the united states

[01:21] they had the railroads coming through

[01:22] people needed to build homes get to

[01:24] california

[01:25] and the indian nations were in the way

[01:28] that's when they decided to send in the

[01:29] military

[01:30] and they moved them across the

[01:32] reservation and they were taken to a

[01:34] place called bosque redundant

[01:36] people were killed along the way

[01:40] a lot of the soldiers were very um

[01:41] aggressive so

[01:43] people did you know the women did get

[01:45] raped

[01:48] i will call it worse before something

[01:50] [Music]

[01:51] what is a place of suffering

[01:57] dying starvation nothing

[02:01] nothing good just like the nazi

[02:03] concentration camps

[02:08] they had an idea of turning these

[02:10] nomadic tribes

[02:12] hunter and gatherers into farmers they

[02:15] wanted us to farm but nothing was

[02:16] growing

[02:17] so they were freaked out too and i'm

[02:19] like they're not they don't think anyone

[02:21] really knew what to do

[02:23] and that's when um we called for

[02:26] you know treaties and after we agreed on

[02:30] it the treaty is very simply written

[02:33] and they allowed us to come home

[02:53] so they were given american names you're

[02:55] given a cib

[02:56] an actual number and then you are given

[02:58] family cards and so they're beginning

[03:00] your family tree

[03:01] so that number entitled you to a ration

[03:04] and that's where you began to get your

[03:06] you know what was due to you so that's

[03:08] for the parameters of control and we

[03:10] couldn't leave the reservation

[03:12] back then no one had diabetes and nobody

[03:14] was overweight because we lived off the

[03:16] land

[03:17] we moved a lot but we were heavily

[03:19] assimilated where we became more

[03:20] dependent on

[03:21] the system and that's where socialized

[03:24] programs came into play because there

[03:27] was never enough food there was no

[03:28] refrigeration

[03:30] so then let's start the commodity food

[03:33] program

[03:33] where everything came in cans which were

[03:36] high sodium was introduced high sugar

[03:38] was introduced

[03:39] and so that's where the health of the

[03:41] people began to take a dive

[03:43] that system is is rife with waste abuse

[03:46] and

[03:47] malpractice it's been said and written

[03:49] that you know if you control the

[03:50] healthcare you can

[03:51] you can control the population and all

[03:53] that power and control over our lives

[03:56] since healthcare sometimes is a life or

[03:58] death decision is in the hands of the

[03:59] very bureaucrats and politicians

[04:01] in dc whom we don't trust you know many

[04:04] of the native

[04:04] uh tribes are seeking to have

[04:07] independent

[04:08] health care uh because of just all of

[04:10] the abuse

[04:11] you know the the values that they're

[04:13] really pushing currently

[04:15] are liberalism and that pro that's a

[04:18] stepping stone to socialism and

[04:20] eventually to communism

[04:21] um and that how i attract it back

[04:24] because i started to see

[04:25] how education was part of it they

[04:28] control our education system

[04:29] they tell us what we can and cannot

[04:31] learn and as i understood that that's

[04:33] when i pulled my children out of school

[04:35] because when they started bringing home

[04:37] applications and i thought it was a job

[04:38] application but when i looked closer at

[04:40] it my son showed me it was a food stamp

[04:42] application

[04:43] i didn't realize how corrupt things were

[04:46] i didn't realize what kind of

[04:47] environment we were living in

[04:48] and i didn't realize what a socialistic

[04:50] community how socialistic it was

[04:53] it's really severe with some um some of

[04:56] my peers my old peers because they're in

[04:58] poverty

[04:59] and they don't know it socialism

[05:08] it's not

[05:11] the people that we voted in to lead us

[05:14] i mean i there's some good yes and

[05:17] there's some that

[05:18] i mean you hear about

[05:23] what they say what they're gonna do but

[05:25] you know what when they get

[05:27] in it's the same thing

[05:30] so now because of the government is in

[05:32] such big control

[05:34] you have to ask the question how is the

[05:36] most heavily funded

[05:39] american america tribe

[05:42] have the poorest population

[05:46] the money that comes from the federal

[05:48] government is provided

[05:50] by programs they don't give you checks

[05:52] we don't get you know a per diem or

[05:54] whatever

[05:55] just for being part of the tribe no we

[05:57] get nothing as navajos

[05:59] only way you can get anything from the

[06:01] government is if you

[06:03] are the lowest of the low so basically

[06:06] when you're in that

[06:07] environment you basically have to sell

[06:10] off your freedom piece by piece

[06:12] in order to qualify for every little

[06:15] program

[06:16] so the programs end up hurting us and

[06:18] they numb us to

[06:19] what we actually need by providing us

[06:22] what they think we need

[06:23] i think those are the challenges that

[06:24] we're looking at in these socialist

[06:26] style

[06:26] governments where you know everything

[06:28] sounds great is because

[06:30] you give too much power and control to a

[06:32] small group of people and

[06:34] they don't want to give that up the

[06:36] tribal government's controlling various

[06:38] aspects of of commerce of

[06:41] you know utility management of

[06:45] you know the lack of private property

[06:46] ownership on the reservation so

[06:49] you know again all of these systems

[06:51] de-incentivize

[06:52] you know ownership they de-incentivize

[06:54] people from you know

[06:56] opportunity um other than you know the

[06:59] jobs that exist within government

[07:01] so when the enterprises were created

[07:04] they were essentially made to give

[07:06] skills to the navajo people

[07:08] and these enterprises were created to

[07:11] basically help introduce us

[07:14] into the modern age and now they've

[07:17] morphed in

[07:18] to something completely different in

[07:20] this modern age the

[07:22] enterprises are now have become a

[07:23] for-profit entity for our own government

[07:26] and that's what socialism has really

[07:29] wrapped us around

[07:30] and now it's starting to use show

[07:32] communistic characteristics

[07:56] socialism

[08:24] i had to teach my husband too who was

[08:28] a product of socialism hardcore

[08:31] socialism

[08:32] and so he was only educated into the

[08:34] really

[08:36] heavy hardcore reservation life

[08:40] all right um growing up it's been it's

[08:43] been really tough you know i lost my mom

[08:45] when i was five years old

[08:47] due to my father drinking and

[08:50] i guess the domestic violence and stuff

[08:52] you know i guess it

[08:54] took his anger out on my mom my late mom

[08:57] but um he

[09:02] was i guess was so angry driving

[09:04] recklessly that my mom just didn't want

[09:06] nothing to do with him he

[09:08] jumped out of the vehicle with my

[09:10] one-year-old brother you know

[09:12] my one-year-old brother survived

[09:16] but he broke his right leg and my mom

[09:18] died right there

[09:19] so it's been tough you know it's been

[09:22] this has been something

[09:23] that um i don't think i've

[09:27] never forgot i can't forget it yeah i

[09:30] can't because i was there and

[09:31] it's been a nightmare ever since i was

[09:34] five

[09:36] and he's he witnessed all this and so

[09:38] that was heavy

[09:40] heavy socialism that my heart just

[09:43] broke for him and when someone is in

[09:46] that prison

[09:48] and they get angry i had to fight

[09:51] through that anger

[09:52] and my theme i always told him is

[09:56] i will fight you to save you

[10:00] just recently a couple of years ago i

[10:02] lost my brother you know i lost my

[10:04] brother

[10:05] to the exact same thing but he he passed

[10:08] away

[10:09] and i always said that socialism took my

[10:11] brother because

[10:12] he turned to drugs he turned to

[10:14] alcoholism and

[10:15] he couldn't find work and it's just

[10:19] he he wanted to check out and socialism

[10:23] took him it really

[10:27] hurt my feeling that i couldn't help him

[10:31] i couldn't

[10:32] save him there are so many people

[10:35] dragging their feet

[10:37] and pointing fingers and people like me

[10:43] you know i can't sell a thing

[10:47] you know something's gonna happen

[10:50] and quit pulling the fingers and

[10:53] somebody together

[10:54] get our heads together and do it that's

[10:57] what i think you know instead of pulling

[11:02] no let's all combine that's all get

[11:04] together and let's

[11:05] keep this thing in the butt and move on

[11:27] i choose not to go in a socialistic

[11:29] state

[11:30] i do not want socialism i don't want

[11:33] socialism

[11:34] for her or for my grandkids

[11:37] no i don't want them i want them to be

[11:41] happy and live their life to their

[11:44] fullest you know

[11:45] bring happiness for their kids it hasn't

[11:48] been working for almost what

[11:51] years and it sucks so this sucks

[11:55] there's no other word there's no other

[11:57] way you can describe it

[11:59] songs me as a mother

[12:03] what do i do you have to first take

[12:05] control of yourself

[12:06] then you have to work with your spouse

[12:09] and then you take control of your

[12:11] children

[12:11] then you take control of your pocketbook

[12:14] and then you decide to get off the

[12:16] program and how do you do that through

[12:17] self-sufficiency

[12:19] so my life and my tale and my truth has

[12:22] been to fight socialism

[12:24] and i'm hoping that i can wake up as

[12:27] many navajos as i can

[12:29] tell him that you can do this you know i

[12:32] think the best way that we can

[12:33] honor our ancestors and everything that

[12:36] they overcame for us to

[12:38] benefit today from all of these

[12:40] opportunities

[12:41] um is to is to become successful

[12:44] and to take advantage of the

[12:45] opportunities that they never had

[12:47] freedom is everything

[12:51] it's in everything and so when socialism

[12:53] creeps in it's

[12:54] scary because they don't give you a

[12:58] choice

[12:59] and you're just given what you're given

[13:01] and you can't say anything

[13:03] yeah even if i have to fight you to save

[13:05] you and i think that's what i'm also

[13:06] projecting to my people

[13:08] even though they are so harsh on social

[13:10] media and they completely hammer at me

[13:12] i tell them i'll be here even if i have

[13:15] to fight you to save your

[13:46] foreign

[13:48] [Music]

[14:00] oh