Death Of U.S. Democracy

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[quote=”kordan”][quote=”F.A Skippy”]Who cares ?
I live in Costa Rica 8)[/quote]

I don`t mean to be a ^buzz kill^–but people who think like this are forgetting one key point.
If (and probably when) nearly all gringos stop coming here it would trigger a massive wave of unenployment.[/quote]

“Gringos” make up at most one percent of the population in Costa Rica. While gringo tourist and resident contributions to the CR economy must be significant, I don’t know that its absence would be THAT devastating. So far, the Tico economy seems to be pretty self sustaining. Am I wrong in assuming that CR exports more than it imports?

When I walk around in the community where my property is located, I see farm workers in their rubber boots with machetes slung across their backs. Much of the time, they are carrying some kind of produce home with them. This country, like some others I have seen, strikes me as self reliant and pretty tough. Should some kind of world wide economic armageddon befall us, Costa Rica looks like a survivor to me. I would be more worried about spoiled gringos in the US under such conditions than tough, little Costa Rica.

[kordan]

[quote=”sprite”][quote=”kordan”][quote=”F.A Skippy”]Who cares ?
I live in Costa Rica 8)[/quote]

I don`t mean to be a ^buzz kill^–but people who think like this are forgetting one key point.
If (and probably when) nearly all gringos stop coming here it would trigger a massive wave of unenployment.[/quote]

“Gringos” make up at most one percent of the population in Costa Rica. While gringo tourist and resident contributions to the CR economy must be significant, I don’t know that its absence would be THAT devastating. So far, the Tico economy seems to be pretty self sustaining. Am I wrong in assuming that CR exports more than it imports?

When I walk around in the community where my property is located, I see farm workers in their rubber boots with machetes slung across their backs. Much of the time, they are carrying some kind of produce home with them. This country, like some others I have seen, strikes me as self reliant and pretty tough. Should some kind of world wide economic armageddon befall us, Costa Rica looks like a survivor to me. I would be more worried about spoiled gringos in the US under such conditions than tough, little Costa Rica.[/quote]

This comment is a little bit funny
If you want to know what this country would look like without a booming tourism sector, a foreigner driver real estate market and a booming export economy—we have a very good model–its called NICARAGUA

[maritimer]

quote
This comment is a little bit funny
If you want to know what this country would look like without a booming tourism sector, a foreigner driver real estate market and a booming export economy—we have a very good model–its called NICARAGUA[/quote]

so perfectly put

another thing to add maybe
americans are not the only ones travelling to and living
in c.r. there is this big populated place called europe
i’m pretty sure there is more than 1percent of foreigners
who live and own property in C.R.

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[quote=”kordan”][quote=”sprite”][quote=”kordan”][quote=”F.A S

This comment is a little bit funny
If you want to know what this country would look like without a booming tourism sector, a foreigner driver real estate market and a booming export economy—we have a very good model–its called NICARAGUA[/quote]

I think that you, like most Americans, have a somewhat overly optimistic estimation of what gringo economic influence is worth. And you may have missed my point. An economic armageddon would turn a developed country like the US into a violent basket case. Absent cheap energy, food supplies and potable water would become quite scarce. You can’t just go out doors and dig up some potatoes in Ohio in December. Look out your window in Costa Rica just about any time of the year and you probably see some kind of crop growing near by. However bad things might get in CR in such a catastrophic situation, I’ll bet they get very much worse in the U.S.

[kordan]

[quote=”sprite”][quote=”kordan”][quote=”sprite”][quote=”kordan”][quote=”F.A S

This comment is a little bit funny
If you want to know what this country would look like without a booming tourism sector, a foreigner driver real estate market and a booming export economy—we have a very good model–its called NICARAGUA[/quote]

I think that you, like most Americans, have a somewhat overly optimistic estimation of what gringo economic influence is worth. And you may have missed my point. An economic armageddon would turn a developed country like the US into a violent basket case. Absent cheap energy, food supplies and potable water would become quite scarce. You can’t just go out doors and dig up some potatoes in Ohio in December. Look out your window in Costa Rica just about any time of the year and you probably see some kind of crop growing near by. However bad things might get in CR in such a catastrophic situation, I’ll bet they get very much worse in the U.S.[/quote]

That is not an argument–that is obvious
When 2/3 of the produce in the entire country is grown in california and most of the corn, soy and wheat is grown in the midwest and most people would not know how to slaughter a pig, or mend a shirt or tend a vegetable garden–to use a parlance of our times ^DUH^
There is no argument that more food rots on the ground in this country (CR) than is picked I`m not suggesting that people will starve–there is also abundant clean water.
But ask any hotel where most of the guests are from–North America, who buys most of the condos–North America–I sell real estate, and for every 1 european in our office there 50 americans that come in. Are you kidding?–how many Costa Ricas do you know that can afford a $300,000 house in Athenas or a $250,000 condo in Jaco. If you honestly believe that there would not be SIGNIFICANT adjustments to a large chunk of this economy in lifestyle if North Americans simply couldn`t afford to come here any more–
It is sheer naivete
But you donpt have to take my word for it–go to any other cetral american country other than Panama and see what I mean. What is the average wage in Guatemala or El Salvador?

[sprite]

I don’t know how to make this more plainly understandable.
My main point is that I don’t think North American money props up Costa Rica. But neither of us have any hard figures to back our respective points. I am only giving my impression. If all the discretionary North American money were pulled out of the country over a short period of time, it would cause some economic changes but I don’t think those changes would cause political upheaval sufficient to change the Tico approach to life. This basic fact of Costa Rican culture is what makes the place so special for me and I am a little put off by what sounds like typical arrogant yanqui hubris. So what if Costa Rica were to fall back to being the country it was 30 years ago? I suspect there are some who would not complain too much if that were to happen.

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