Co-Operative Communities at Work by Henrik F. Infield

Author:Henrik F. Infield [Infield, Henrik F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781136242489
Google: t4YECwAAQBAJ
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Goodreads: 5826566
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2007-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

IMPLICATIONS OF THE EJIDO

In conclusion, it should be noted that many of the virtues as well as the shortcomings of the Ejido are similar to those of the F.S.A. co-operative farms. They resemble each other, in fact, in many ways. Like the F.S.A. farm, the Mexican experiment originated in a sense of responsibility on the part of the Government towards the destitute farmer, and in the hope of modernizing the country’s agriculture. They show also a strong similarity of administrative set-up; they are theoretically self-governing, but the Government as creditor finds it necessary to exercise strict control and to supplement with an intensive educational programme. Likewise, both types of co-operative deserve credit for fulfilling the rehabilitation task satisfactorily. We have reason to conclude that the Ejido is taking care of the “ten criteria of rehabilitation”.

Whether the price of this achievement is commensurate with its value will depend, as it did in that of the American equivalent, on the point of view. If the criterion of financial profit is allowed to prevail, the case for the Ejido will certainly appear doubtful. If, however, social and moral values are conceded, disinterested judges will render a more favourable verdict. The difficulty in pronouncing judgment will remain in the fact that social and moral values can never be final and will never definitely settle the argument.

In one respect—that of its future security—the Ejido appears to differ substantially from the F.S.A. co-operatives. Although open to the same dangers of political interference which proved fatal to the American experiment, the Mexican situation contains two hopeful factors. First, community living is not alien to the tradition of the country; it represents rather a return to an original mode of communal organization. Even though he might be deprived of his common land, the Mexican peon always lived in villages and not on isolated farms. And then the historic origin of the Ejido differs from that of the F.S.A. farm. The Mexican co-operative came as a result of “real revolution”, which, as Simpson finds, was essentially agrarian.1 While the F.S.A. farms formed a small part of the rehabilitation programme of the New Deal, whose political exponent was still in power when they were abolished, the Ejido has been growing since the first day of its inauguration, independent of frequent changes of government. It received a tremendous impetus under Lazaro Cardeñas, but according to recent newspaper reports, it is still being extended to new regions under his successor, Avila Camacho. The future of the Ejido seems therefore secure, as long as no counter-revolution destroys the democratic regime and, with it, all vestiges of agrarian reform.

Before concluding the subject of the Ejido, we should like to underline one significant aspect of its historical development, which involves a principle basic to the planning of the co-operative community. We have found it effective in the case of New Llano and we find it demonstrated again in the history of the Ejido. It is the principle pointed out by Gide—that community of property is more productive of conflict than private property.

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