The Cargo System
Community service through accepting responsibilities without seeking them.
The cargo system assigns community responsibilities - sponsoring festivals, serving as officials, maintaining traditions. These cargos are accepted as obligations, not sought as honors. Through serving, one gains respect and contributes to community continuity.
Do not seek the cargo; when it comes, do not refuse it.
The cargo system distributes both obligations and honor throughout the community.
Living Tradition
Written about in
- What the Maya tradition says about envy and comparison
"Do not seek the cargo; when it comes, do not refuse it." Positions of standing — sponsoring a festival, holding office — arrive as obligations rather than prizes, so there is no ladder anyone can be behind on.