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They do not pay taxes because they know the money gets ripped off / smart. They do not have the guts to overthrow the regime of thieves and whores that prostitute the goverment funds for personal gaines. This reminds me of the pre Obama era where the US was run by the status quo old mans club. Not that its that much differnt but at least we have a preident that is aware of the term “Middle class”
The US now needs tax reform.
The Ticos need to find their cajones and go out to the street and protest the garbage in the fricking river and this is a result of goverment thieves who whore themselves out to the rich guys that have Costa Rica by the short hairs.
Grow a pair my Tico brethern. The Arabs sure have – who would of thunk?
Ahhh the female Diego has landed!
If you look at how much each consumes, the rich one with the airplane travels uses 8 times the energy as the one with out the washing machine. So who is using up more resources. One airplane traveler uses the resources of 8 washerless people.
The more affulent the more resources used. There has to be a way to devolve and use less. I don’t mean being dirt poor and I don’t mean filthy rich. There has to be a way to have a washer and use less.
I think that has to do with values. Adopting western values is 8 times consumption. So who is depleting resources the campasino who may not be rich but has a washer or the rich guy buying things and throwing things away at will?
Mar, Check this out by Hans Rosling on TED. I think it bridges the gap between your subject and mine (cultural choice and consumption).
Let me know what you think. Its really well done.
I agree with Davids assesment of J Holtz. I do belive the last article he wrote was his best to date.
I think the best point tico realtor made was the remark about the new jacuzzis. The goverment theft is what is most disheartening. Local goverment is the way to go. The politicans familys are here and if they steal and run they can’t take the whole family with them.
We seem to be on two differnt topics. I’ll leave it at that. Thank you for your time and passion. Gotta change the the Tarzan get up, the suns going down. Brrrr and you know what this “summer” has been like….
I don’t understand why Ticos can gateher for Japan but cannot protest the trash debacle. The leaders mimic the quality of the rest of the services here. Children playing grown up games.
Yeah and its kinda breezy…
But how does this realte to distribution of wealth and what people choose to spend thier wealth on, children and feeding them or appliances, vacations and cars?
You are spining to the extrems here. I did not ask if one would choose to be dirt poor. I did ask who consumed less to make a point about consumption. The lifestyle of consumption has quite a bit to do with culture and depleting resources. Will all the people in China and India grow to be US style consumers? The indoctrination that passes off as education in the US is geared to keep people consuming. Is mass consumption sustainable?
If not then what happens. Everybody will be back to growing thier own food on what little land that can produce it. The campesino will come back, but as literate and educated. I have known mid westerners that were farmers, with good size families and not highly educated but educated and were not super consumers.
I don’t belive you have to be rich or a consumer to lead satisfying life. Ghandi comes to mind. There needs to be a new model. The whole world turning to mass consumption lifestyles, the more the better, throw things away rtather than repair, 3 cars for a family of three, etc etc is not sustainable. How many peole does India and China have. And they will all be US style consumers?
I respect your choice, and there is really no need to defend it, I am not talkig about having 10 kids. I am talking about the choices that are changing values here and those value changes have occured rapidly. Is it not ok to choose to have 5 kids? Do they have to be highly educated to be satisfied individuals?
I look back at my education and life and after being here i realize that it was as much or more indoctrination as it was education. Teaching me that the US system and values, the status quo, the materialism and the constant striving for more was THE way. I came here years ago and saw another WAY. Now the way I saw is vanishing. Its is becoming the US and not just in laws and regulation but in culture.
Doesn’t it feel like cultural corruption is occuring?
I guess it occurs everywhere but the speed of the change is alarming.
Are all agricultural based societies doomed?
Can the earth really sustain a planet full of highly educated super consumers. Or does it really need more people to consume less?
If less consumption is the goal than the Us model (western) does not really work does it.
I wonder who consumes more. One higly educated semi wealthy US citizen or 10 Nicaraguen Campesionos?
Interesting opinions.
I shall continue to opine:
Costa Rica will choose either of two roads. One will be that it will continue to be a highly dysfunctional place with grownups resembling beautiful children. I admire my beautiful children but I don’t ask them to do grownup tasks. Or the beauty of the genuine and careful Tico will be compromised by higher education, ambition and the desire for more material existence. This will lead to smaller families.
I was the baby of eight kids and I miss having a large family. The majority of women I meet do not want to be stay at home mothers. They do not want many kids. My never-to-be-humble opinion, and hardly fact, is women choose everything because of men’s desire for women.
Maravilla, with all due respect, I see your post for the most part substantiating my point that Americans want material abundance rather than family abundance. There is no right or wrong really it’s a matter of values. Does one want to produce one highly educated and materially spoiled child, or would one rather go without luxury and produce three children. Ultimately, it’s the woman’s choice as she is giving birth (choosing to have sex).
So now, the Tica that used to choose family abundance has chosen financial abundance. It’s a choice; there need not be any shame either way. The point is that Tica values are lining up with American values and viola the Tican has landed.
I am torn. On one hand I love all the beautiful Tico children running wild up and down the street but when I need a service I wish they would be grow up to be like Americans, striving for excellence and defining themselves by their work.
Is there really to be a balance between the two?
I doubt it. If I had to bet, Ticos well go the way of the Gringo. Agricultural ties that create genuine simple people and bring a deep integrity to Ticos well be further cut and material values will replace what I call Mother’s day values. Birth rates will decline and genders will blur.
To side track (see the power of the yin has me sidetracking now), what I love about older Tica professionals is that they can be equally powerful but remain feminine, they really know how to remain alluring yet formidable, I don’t see that with younger Tica professionals and certainly not in the US. It’s incredibly, incredibly sexy. Most US women have abandoned the art of femininity. What a shame as the yin is the most powerful energy on earth. And the yin will determine Costa Rica’s cultural values.
One last point (finally you say). When you have kids how much money you spend on them never equals the time a parent spends with the child. Therefore, to me I would rather grow up in a family with mom at home when I came home from school. Cooking and making the home full of love and caring, giving her time freely rather than more stuff in my room and vacations.
When I was a young child, I had it the first way, after the divorce mom went to work and it sucked. So I guess that explains my bias towards motherhood and child bearing as the most noble and least recognized responsibility. Parenting several children is a choice of fulfilling responsibility which brings satisfaction, over the moment to moment happiness from material abundance. One is selfless the other is selfish. There is a great book by Ayn rand called the Virtue of Selfishness. Selfishness gets a bad rap as the negative connotations are many times undeserved. Like anything else if you abuse it negative consequence result.
Does higher education and material abundance produce happier and higher qualities in an individual? I think many of us are confused on that issue because if you truly believe it does, then I don’t understand what you are doing living here. I live here because I like the traditional values and simple genuine beautiful humble people. They seem better adjusted than myself and most of my gringo friends here and back home. Ah but the quality of their work is to be nice I will say “inferior.”
Now let’s see how higher education, less agricultural ties and material abundance plays out with the Tican kids… time will tell.
whaqt values do you support as in which are more important, family abundance or financial abundance.
