Daniel Stange de Acatl
Posted April 16, 2026
La respuesta.
Sometimes the answer to your conflict is the one thing you tried to avoid. There are so many examples of people doing their best and trying their hardest to get the result that they feel and they believe will be the best option. And still the one thing they wanted to avoid is what ends up happening. So, this has led so many to conform to astrology and destiny mandates and propositions of a self-fulfilling prophecy that cause you to throw your hands into the air and surrender. And perhaps the surrender was the best choice but always in hindsight.
Human endeavor is consistently plagued with the paradox of human willpower and the universal reciprocity that keeps us spinning around in the universe. We have an innumerable level of societal and personal challenges in global warming and environmental issues, all the way down to why can’t I stop looking at my phone and relationship drama. Authoritarianism is even on the rise as conflicts seem to overwhelm the senses. Capitalism breeds the competition that leads to conflict and finds resolution in seeing the benefit of a small group who bends the rules and stacks the deck. This is not democracy.
Universal reciprocity is always bound to balance the scales.
Free market is the same oxymoron as civil war. The market is where you spend money, there is nothing free. Maybe free labor when you’re Trump and you don’t pay the contractors and laborers that did all the work. But universal law is about reciprocity. Give and take. The first conflict arises in the initial action and the choice to take or to give. The exchange might strive to be an equally mutual interaction, but the behavior, attitude, and intention of the parties involved is the key to how this exchange will be reviewed.
This could be reflective in the simple daily and instinctual relationship between two lovers, or the international trade between nations. When you have something that another person wants or someone else has something that you want. Desire is that catalyst that provokes such interactions. So, people that are disciplined and can take the time to consider their desire and ambitions will have less conflict. The tradition of our Native American culture was to initiate gifts out of respect and without expectation to show good faith. When you show up to a Native person’s house, you better bring some coffee or bread or tobacco.
This is looked at as a bribery by most European and capitalist systems, because the ‘Art of the Deal’ is to screw over the other person and get the best out of the negotiation. These long-time behaviors have made transactional agreements more difficult even with people that have the same interests, like teachers and administrators in public schools. The children end up hurting and the children are the true customers of any school.
Our consistent forever wars are another example of this competitive behavior. Spurred by capitalism and the industrial need of natural resources. What a shameful way to name the earth and minerals and water that sustains our lives–natural resources. It removes us from the relationship that our ancestors had with the Mother earth. We no longer believe that plants and animals can speak to us, and we are probably horrified of what they would say. We are not living in fear that AI robots and machines will take over the world. They already took over our attention.
I have come to believe that this life does not afford us the freedom of choice and that illusion is another false idea from religious zealots. God gave you free will, so that you could be a sinner and require Jesus to save you. Well Jesus is back. He is working the fields and picking the food that comes to your table. He is being thrown in the ICE detention centers or isolated from his Mother Maria. You do have the choice to ignore it for some time. You could also choose to stand up and to fight for what is righteous. Most often ends ironically because the system that created the problem is never going to fix it.
Perhaps, the best solution is to find the right question. But I advise you to be ready for the action that will come without your choosing. Universal reciprocity is always bound to balance the scales. Tlazokamati – Mexika Tiahui!
Danny Stange de Acatl is a Denver Native and Cultural activist that serves his community on various levels.
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