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Show 21 But, the world experience of the Indians, productive of social systems which could not be improved by the Europeans, took its own direction and that direction was away from mechanization and individualization. And we must realize that "the Indians of the American continent, for all they may marvel at the wonders of European culture, at its richness and beauty, may never comprehend, or become enamored of, the fearful night which periodically descends upon that culture." Giron Cerna, Carlos. "El Indigenismo Y El Indio," America Indigena, Vol. 1 No. 1 (October, 1941), Mexico, D.F., pp. 17-20. English Summary: The author paints a realistic picture of the Indian, heavily laden and barefooted, left in the dust at the side of the road as civilization thunders by. The conquerors shaded the land with churches "but neither sowed enough wheat nor brought enough women." The result was a mixture of blood; with European immigration broken by the Independence, and the progress of the native race halted by exploitation, the mestizo became owner of America. "Our political history is the struggle of the mestizo against the aristocratic white and the poor Indian." Thus, the Indian was neither conquered nor liberated - but abused in peace and war, and saved only by the vastness of America and by his adaptation to the environment. The author satirically points out the fallacies and prejudices inherent in theories of biological dissolution of the Indian race. Racial integration takes place normally between persons having the same cultural and economic standards. It is poverty which gives rise to the misery in which we view the Indian. "There are no superior or inferior races; there are only more or less advanced stages of cultural, social and economic development." The author terms the popular belief that the Indian refuses to be educated or to have his economy improved as falsehoods, and suggests that such unresponsiveness may be due to weaknesses in the methods we employ. The Indian is not exploited systematically but by the necessity of the wretched lot around him. "In Guatemala, there existed until a few years ago the legal slavery of the salaried farmer through a system of advance loans which the Indians could hardly pay back due to the low scale of wages." After careful study, the government beginning in 1934 sought to remove this burden without damaging the national economy. It canceled the debts which farm workers had contracted with their employers. At the same time, maximum interest rates were set at 4% and 2% annually on mortgages and crop loans respectively, thus relieving greatly the "finca" owner who had been paying up to 24% interest annually., Loans became less speculative, resulting in greater monetary stability. To keep the Indians from abandoning work on the farms after being freed from their debts, |