206 



FUNCTIONS OF WEALTH 



is the ability to provide well for one's children. 

 Whether because of affection or a feeling of famUy 

 duty, or because people speak ill of a man who 

 wastes his substance and has nothing for his 

 children, one of the strongest desires is to have 

 land to divide. The fact that provision for chil- 

 dren is one of the strong incentives for the accumu- 

 lation of wealth, and especially land, is reflected 

 also in the curious statement volunteered by an 

 old Indian to Sr. Rosales. "We were bom with 

 nothing," he said, "and so we should die. Why 

 should I save money (i. e., not spend it on liquor) 

 if aU my children are grown? Since we are now 

 only two, I do not worry about anything." 



CONCLUSIONS 



Despite such motivations, the fact appears clear 

 that on the whole wealth in Panajachel has not 

 become attached to family lines. We have ans- 

 wered the questions put. But the answers, as 

 they must, only lead to other questions, one of 

 which may be interesting to try to answer. Is the 

 fact that wealth-tied social classes have not de- 

 veloped in Panajachel accidental or passing, or is 

 it in the nature of the community? I think the 

 answer is that social classes have not developed, 

 and are not likely to develop, in Panajachel, for 

 three reasons : 



The first is the low absolute wealth of the com- 

 munity. Although relatively rich, the wealthiest 

 families are not far above the subsistence level. 

 They have little margin of safety, and a series of 

 bad times (sickness, drunkenness, etc.), may send 

 them down. That is why there is so much mo- 

 bility. Further, nobody is rich enough to establish 

 his descendants; when lands are divided among 

 the children, the margin of security is reduced for 

 each and he is just as apt to become poorer as 

 richer. In comparison with many a European 

 community it is easy to see that family differentia- 

 tion of wealth has little chance to crystallize. 



The second and third reasons are instructive 

 because they are suggested in part by comparison 

 with other communities in Guatemala. Chichi- 

 castenango (a neighbor to the north) is unlike 

 Panajachel in many ways. One of them is that 

 the time of women in Chichicastenango has until 

 recently not had cash value. (Increased weaving 

 for the tourist trade may change this.) Therefore 

 in Chichicastenango as opposed to Panajachel 

 there is encouragement of marriage within the 



same wealth class, and hence the tendency for 

 wealth-tied social classes to develop. It is seen in 

 contrast that the economic value of women in 

 Panajachel militates against the development of 

 such classes. 



A major difference between the two communities 

 is the size of the population, which has significant 

 consequences for the problem at hand. In Chichi- 

 castenango there are some 25,000 Indians instead 

 of 800. There is in general the same kind of social 

 system, with its hierarchy of offices to be filled 

 each year. But the number of offices is propor- 

 tionally much smaller. In Panajachel 52 offices 

 are divided among 132 families; in Chichicasten- 

 ango about 350 are divided among some 5,000 

 families. The difference is one ofl&ce for every 2 

 or 3 families versus one for every 14 or 15. But 

 in Chichicastenango no less than in Panajachel a 

 man is expected to rest only 2 or 3 years between 

 offices; indeed were the periods of rest lengthened 

 proportionally he would die long before getting up 

 the ladder. The solution is, of course, that in 

 Chichicastenango not all families participate fully 

 in the system. Whereas in Panajachel every man 

 can expect to become the alcalde eventually, in 

 Chichicastenango only a relative few can pass up 

 the ladder. The number is even more restricted 

 than indicated, for in any town regardless of size 

 there is still only one first alcalde. The fact is that 

 in Chichicastenango, for every man of a given age 

 level who serves as alcalde there are a hundred who 

 do not. In consequence, there is in Chichicasten- 

 ango need to select the relatively very few men 

 who go up the political-religious hierarchy of 

 offices. How is this selection determined? It 

 will be recalled that in Panajachel the rate of 

 progress differs ; some men go up the ladder quickly 

 and become elders in their early forties; others go 

 much more slowly and do not achieve the office of 

 alcalde until they are in their fifties, or later. The 

 difference has been described as a matter almost 

 entirely of wealth. Fundamentally the same 

 process is always at work in Chichicastenango, but 

 it is greatly exaggerated. The poor people neither 

 can afford the expensive high oflBces, nor is it 

 necessary that they serve. The higher officials 

 are recruited from relatively few wealthy families. 

 On the other hand, as a corollary, the lower officials 

 — the messengers and street sweepers, and so on — 

 are in practice recruited from among the poor 

 people. The differences between theory and prac- 



