Posted on 07/07/2009 5:52:29 AM PDT by central_va
I’m under the impression that every time Caribbean and Latin American countries meet with the President of the United States of America it’s to ask for something or complain about things. Almost always it’s to blame the United States for our past, present and future problems. I don’t think that’s completely fair.
We mustn’t forget that Latin America had universities before the United States created Harvard or William & Mary, which were the first universities in that country. We can’t forget that on this continent, as well as the world over, at least until 1750 all Americans were more or less equal: all were poor.
When the Industrial Revolution began in England other countries jumped on the bandwagon: Germany, France, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. And the Industrial Revolution passed over Latin America like a comet and we didn’t even realize it. We certainly lost our opportunity.
There is a very great difference. If one reads the history of Latin America and compares it to the history of the United States, one understands that Latin America did not have a Spanish or Portuguese John Winthrop who, with Bible in hand, was willing to build “a city on a hill”, a city that would shine, as was the objective of the pilgrims who arrived in the United States.
50 years ago Mexico was richer than Portugal. In 1950 a country like Brazil had a higher income per capita than South Korea. 60 years ago Honduras had more wealth per capital than Singapore and today Singapore, over a period of about 35-40 years, has increased its annual income per capita to $40,000 per inhabitant. Well, Latin Americans did something wrong.
What did we do wrong? I can’t count the things we’ve done wrong. To begin with, we have an average of 7 years of education. That’s the average education level in Latin America and that is not the case with most Asian countries. Certainly that is not the case with the United States and Canada, which have the best education in the world, similar to that of Europeans. Of every 10 students who enter high school in Latin America, in some countries only 1 completes high school. There are countries that have an infant mortality rate of 50 per 1000, when the average in more advanced Asian countries is 8, 9, or 10.
In our countries taxes cover about 12% of the gross national product and it isn’t anyone’s responsibility other than ours that we don’t charge more to the wealthiest people in our countries. No one is at fault for that except us.
In 1950 every North American citizen was four times wealthier than a Latin American citizen. Today a North American citizen is 10, 15 or 20 times wealthier than a Latin American. That is not the United States’ fault. That is our fault.
During my speech this morning I mentioned something that I find grotesque and that only goes to show that the 20th Century value system, which seems to be the one we are putting into practice in the 21st Century too, is a mistaken value system. Because it can’t be possible that the wealthy countries of the world dedicate 100 billion dollars to fight poverty throughout 80% of the world’s population on a planet that has 2.5 billion human being who earn $2 a day, and they spend 13 times that (1 quadrillion, 300 million) on weapons and soldiers.
As I said this morning, it cannot be that Latin America spends 50 billion dollars on weapons and soldiers. I ask myself: who is our enemy? Our enemy, President Correa, is the inequality which you so correctly mention. It is lack of education. It is illiteracy. It is that we don’t spend on our population’s health. We don’t create the necessary infrastructure: roads, highways, ports and airports. It is that we are not dedicating the necessary resources to stop the environmental degradation. It is the inequality we have that is really shameful. It is a product, among other things of course, of the fact that we are not educating our sons and daughters.
One goes to a Latin American university and it seems we are still in the sixties, seventies or eighties. It seems we’ve forgotten that on 9 November 1989 something very important happened: the Berlin Wall fell and the world changed. We have to accept that this is a different world and as to that, frankly, I think academics and all people of reason, all economists, all historians, almost all will agree that the 21st century belongs to the Asians, not to Latin Americans. And I, unfortunately, agree with them.
Because while we continue arguing about ideologies, while we continue arguing about “isms” (which is better, capitalism, socialism, communism, liberalism, neoliberalism, sociochristianism…) the Asians found a very realistic “ism” for the 21st Century and the end of the 20th Century and it’s called pragmatism.
To give you an example, let’s recall when Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore and South Korea. After realizing that his own neighbors were becoming wealthy rapidly, he returned to Peking and said to his old Maoist comrades that they had accompanied him along his long march “Well, truthfully dear comrades, I don’t really care if the cat is black or white. The only thing that interests me is that it hunts mice”. And if Mao had been alive he would have died again when Xiaoping said, “The truth is that getting rich is glorious”. And while the Chinese are doing this, and since 1979 they’ve grown by 11%, 12%, or 13% and have taken 300 million of their inhabitants out of poverty, we continue arguing about ideologies that we should have buried long ago.
The good news is that Deng Xiaoping achieved this when he as 74 years old. Looking around me, dear Presidents, I don’t see anyone who is anywhere near 74 years old. So all I ask you is that we don’t wait until we’re that age to make the changes we need to make.
Thank you.
But this Arias speech could be a hopeful sign. Let's give them another 50 years. Maybe, only maybe after the whole world has left them behind, totally immersed in their totally corrupt way of life, always blaming somebody else's for their own problems, maybe, only maybe then they will finally wake up.
Although still a lefty, Arias seems to be breaking new ground from the "blame America first crowd". Worth the read IMO.
Hmmm?
From what I hear about Costa Rica, the country coud have a fairly booming capitialist economy if they simply invested their resources in eco-tourism. I’ve heard the country is incredibly beautiful.
My wife and I were slated to go on a rainforrest cruise there a few years back, but there was a malaria outbreak, my wife was pregnant and we cancelled.
In a desperate search for a silver lining here in the US, I say: Perhaps if the richest, most powerful, most advanced country in the world decides to make a strong move toward Socialism — and if that effort falls apart and results in ruin and chaos, maybe — just MAYBE — people around the world will finally say, “Huh. Looks like socialism really doesn’t work after all.”
nah, there was coup 15 minutes later.
The author thinks their problem is that taxes are too low.
The problem they have is that the bulk of the military spending in Latin America is by countries like Venezuela and Nicaragua that want to extend Marxist rule over the continent. It is hard to divert funds from “defense” to social issues if your next government is going to be directed from Caracas (or Medillin, for that matter). The freedom-loving countries cannot do it without our help, and that help gives more ammo to the Chavez/Ortega types. I’m not sure there is a clear answer, but if the countries are willing to take responsibility for their past...
hh
Now we need some Arab/Muslim to say similar things.
I have a close relative who spent a few years in Costa Rica. He loved it, and is even considering moving his family back there.
I’ve spent time in Brasil. Right now, their economy is booming. You can easily get lost in the countryside, where nobody will bother you for your lifestyle choices, like homeschooling, preaching the gospel, home churches. While it’s a socialist country, the government does not have the resources of the US government to discover and punish all those who do not adhere to the socialistic regulations.
For the most part, the average government official has a live-and-let-live mentality. The people are mostly warm and friendly.
Of course, if you draw attention, the government will go after you, so you need to be careful.
I’ve often ranted about this region blowing it.
They have resources, manpower, location (including the canal) and beautiful geography. Each country in central and south America should be doing quite nicely. Some should be overflowing with wealth.
This speaker makes great observations, but I expect his speech will fall on deaf, communist ears. Most hate capitalism. They don’t trust a modern legal system to keep them in power, evidenced by the Honduran event.
Tricky choice of year? The Brazilian army wasn't pushed back to Rio de Janero by the North Korean army in 1950.
A proper modern legal system WON'T keep them in power. Term limits for presidents, voter approval for each and every elected seat's term, and checks-and-balances capable of removing criminals.
Dictatorship is fundamentally incompatable with democracy (republic or not) - and that's the point of democracy.
“The author thinks their problem is that taxes are too low.”
I don’t think that’s the main point of his speech. His comment about not taxing the rich more must be understood in the context of the socioeconomic structure of most Latin American countries. Their Spanish colonial heritage, with most of the land given to “noblemen” as Royal Land Grants, ensured they would continue to have feudalism. THAT’S what President Arias is alluding to.
One of the criticisms the Mexicans have about the Texas revolution is the “injustice” of the Texas Republic abolishing all those land grants, and opening up the land of Texas to everyone.
That was my point :)
Well, he does have an excuse. He says their schools aren’t all that sharp. He needs to learn a bit more about Laffer curves.
Does the Koran preach any particular macroeconomic theory?
Pragmatism is the answer? The end justifies the means?
As in, we have too many people. We need fewer people. Lets kill half of them.
You have a car. I need a car. I steal your car.
I am pregnant. I want to live my life unencumbered. Kill the baby.
I want to control you and squash you. I tell you lies and get you to vote me into office. I then control you and squash you.
Yeah, gotta love that pragmatism. It’s loaded with vitamins and minerals for a healthy society.
It is certainly refreshing to see a leader of a developing country take responsibility for their fate instead of blaming others. That being said, look around their neighborhood at Venezuela, Nicaragua, etc., and it’s clear that their military budget is going to have to skyrocket in coming years in order to survive.
Wow! Very enheartening.
Costa Rica has arguably the most stable government and democracy in Latin America, and Arias is one smart cookie.
yeah, i know. i just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a wise ass.
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