El Comercio - Quito - Ecuador | 2 de junio del 2008

http://tinyurl.com/5pvtqg

'Good living' is one of the linchpins of the new Constitution
Like pluri-nationalism, good living is one of the themes that traverse the new Constitution. The issue arose from the ranks of Acuerdo Pais.

"Good living' is the term most commonly heard in the lengthy debates which are recorded in Constituent National Assembly. Since constituents began their task in Montecristi, no representative of officialdom hasn't used this term in his speeches, which translated into Quechua is pronounced "sumak kawsay."

Although at first glance it seems a semantic question, to its promoters it is a key issue to overcome two key pillars of the capitalist system: the concepts of development and growth. This term will be included in Title VI of the new Constitution, in the chapter on System Development.

[the rest is pure google - getting tired here]

The dates
Nov. 29
He settled the Constituent Assembly in Montecristi and declared full powers.
April 1
It approved the first articles of the new Constitution. They have to do with the territorial sovereignty.
May 29
They concluded the first six months of work by the Assembly. 57 articles were approved and three transitional arrangements.

In politics, technicians of the National Planning Secretariat (Senplades) introduced the concept at the National Development Plan. Later this definition was promoted within the Assembly, through the Bureau of 7 Regime Development, chaired by Pedro Morales (Pachakutik).

The idea was to generate a discourse on development that goes beyond the classical vision of the economy that defines it as growth, according to the figures of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of each country, explained a source of such officers.

And it was Assemblyman Norman Wray (Country Agreement), who presented the concept of both the Senplades as that used in the constitutional process in Bolivia.

According to that representative, 'good living' attempts to look beyond the development of economic, implies a harmonious relationship between people and nature through an ecological approach to development and solidarity.

The economic analyst Pablo Dávalos explains that are indigenous of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru which, since its practices, propose this new concept to understand the relation between man and nature, history, society and democracy.

Hence, for example, one of the resolutions of the meeting of the indigenous peoples of americas which took place several weeks ago in Lima (Peru), was declaring the good life as a policy objective of the organizations.

In Ecuador, however, it remains unclear the scope of the concept. Pablo Lucio-Paredes, Future Now, rather prefer to use the term 'common good' as a definition that embraces all Ecuadorians.

For political analyst Javier Orti the issue is merely a matter of language. "When entering a new political power, tries to implement concepts' differentiators' so that in the long term are a mark of identity." And maintains that the good life is more on what that organic dogmatic in the new Magna Carta.

In any case, the new Constitution to define development scheme as the "organised grouping, sustainable and dynamic economic systems, political, socio-cultural and environmental rights, which guarantee the realization of good living."

According to that article, 'good living' requires that individuals, communities, peoples and nationalities actually enjoy their rights and freedoms and responsibilities exercised within the framework of respect for their diversity and coexistence with nature.

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