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Bimbo bread is being sold here in the US. I saw my first Bimbo truck in our village, which has a high immigrant population, last week. They must love it!
Maravilla, Here is one of the few points where we absolutely have the same opinion. Fortunately I live in a semi-rural area. I have started to see the same loss of small business on a smaller scale, but it becoming noticeable. Home Depot moved in with all the tax abatements they could get and promised to hire full time workers. The did this for a year or so and then downsized. The staff was fired and rehired as part-time without health benefits. The community took a hit, but the tax abatements still exist.
Someone else said the reason for the loss of small business was the responsibility of the consumer. A lot of that makes sense. I know I tried to limit shopping there until only one hardware store was left. It was far enough away to make it inconvenient.
I don’t want to see Costa Rica turn into one big box store or mall either. I have no control whether it does or doesn’t. Consumerism is a gift, and curse at the same time. I guess we’ll just have to live with it. Somehow I think you will fight it tooth and nail.
Rebeca, I agree with what you have said. I did not want to imply a simple solution of “just getting on with it.” For me to say that would be easy to say. I do not live there. As things in the US are different from CR, they will have to work out their own solutions.
I have seen what politicians and the media have done to divide most of us here. This is why presidential races are won by a hair. We can even see how we are sometimes divided on this forum. In the end, all of us here have a common glue that binds us. We all keep Costa Rica close in our thoughts and prayers.
I just couldn’t stand the homogenization of America but the average person loves it
Maravilla, are we suggesting any of us are above average? What’s wrong with average anyway? I don’t mean to pick on you, but we can’t be elitists. All of us, rich, poor, educated or just plain average, have the same inalienable rights. I may want to leave here for some of the same reasons you do. There are a lot of things wrong with the US. Still there are somethings that are good. If CR goes the same way as the USA, will you pack up and move again? If that’s the case, you may have to leave a bag packed in the closet.
Life is never perfect. We have to respect the rights of others, whether or not it fits into OUR plans. I have a hard time with this on occasion, but I’m beginning to mellow in my older years.
There are some elements Rebeca, that will not be satisfied with a recount or any other investigation. They will try to overturn CAFTA given any opportunity. I understand the right to investigate fraud, and it certainly has to be looked into. It would seem if all turns out to be on the up and up, everyone should begin to work together to make this a working agreement. Whether this will happen is anyone’s guess.
Companies that were going to flee Costa Rica if the agreement did not pass, have every right to do so. It may not be morally correct, but still it is their choice. It may or may not have been a strong-arm tactic. Remember also, pressure was brought to bear by extreme leftist groups and countries to get out the “NO” vote.
Every side has its own agenda and wanted their side to win. For now, the “Si” vote has carried the day. Costa Rica will have to move forward and do what it said it would. I don’t think they will have any problem doing just that.
Good evening to all my friends on WLCR. I have been looking at the posts, newspapers and Internet news sources today. I can’t believe all the negativity I’m seeing. Every news outlet keeps droning on and on about the Ticos that voted NO, and how there are so many of them…What about the majority of the 60% voter turnout that voted YES? They seem to have been relegated to second class status. This is supposed to be democracy at work. And yesterday, it did.
If all I hear and read is how the US and others put forth this massive campaign to sway voters, then that means democracy is for sale, doesn’t it? Where were the 40% that stood home? Why did they not just vote no and be done with it? I’ll tell you why, in my opinion, this was so. Costa Rica wanted change. They wanted it for themselves, their children, and their grandchildren. They wanted a brighter future, a more prosperous country, a better lifestyle. The status quo was not good enough, they wanted to control their own destiny, and make a bold change.
They elected a president who was for the agreement, why should they then not be with him on it? It only makes sense that the Ticos are intelligent in making decisions of this magnitude. They know what they are doing.
Many of us are sad that life in Costa Rica will become like life in the US. A place many of us wish to get away from. What about the Costa Ricans? Maybe they want to have the possibility of more income, more appliances, bigger homes, possibly one on the beach. Who the hell are we to deny them the right to have aspirations in their own country, or tell them they cannot decide for themselves what they want? Nobody who is not a native born Tico has that privilege.
It is now time for Costa Rica to work out its opportunities and its challenges. They will have to close the rift created by this divisive issue and move forward. In their gracious style, I’m sure they will.
A little side note; Today was Columbus Day here in the US. We celebrate the discovery of America (even though the indigenous know they were here all along) by a man who has sometimes been clouded in mystery. Columbus brought the news to a world that did not know this land mass existed. His name is not credited to the American continents. That goes to another explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. Many nations have claimed to have him as their native born son, and being of Italian and also possibly Catalan heritage, I feel a sense of pride (not shared by all) of at least the spirit of the day. What I am reminded of today, is the feeling that this entire land mass that was claimed for Spain, unites every one born here, whether north, central or south American, divided by country or state, into one people. We are all Americans!
I hope that spirit will prevail in our feelings, and dealings with one another, as we move into our now, for better or worse, more united future.Pura Vida to all.
Rebeca, While I don’t want to promote smoking either, I would certainly appreciate some of your uncle’s cigars. I would then like to be able to purchase them to hand out to my friends so they can enjoy them as well, while helping to stimulate Cuba’s economy.
Every Cuban I have ever met, or had the pleasure of corresponding with on the net, including you, has has helped me to realize what wonderful people they are. Many I have met in Costa Rica. Their charm, grace, and love of family has greatly impressed me. The Cuban/Americans I have met here in the US have been some of the hardest working people I have ever seen. They will do very well as a nation as they move from under the yoke of repression, both domestic and foreign.I awoke to the news of the agreement passing. The Ticos have made their decision! May God bless Costa Rica as it makes its own way toward a new future. They will come through with flying colors, as they did fifty years ago in starting their own democracy.
I think we will see a lifting of the embargo sooner rather than later, especially with all that oil sitting just off Cuba’s coast, and the Chinese willing to develop it.
The embargo has done nothing in forty years to change leadership in Cuba. Another forty would just make the Cuban people suffer more than they already have. They are a resourceful group, and they will succeed in business once given the opportunity. And the benefit here will be we can at least enjoy their cigars again…Legally! Lol.
I believe an integrated north, central, and south American free trade arena will benefit all of the partners. Sure, the big guys (US) will stand to benefit the most, but the opportunity to increase exports by other smaller countries will give them the will to produce, and to prosper.
The one thing no one has mentioned, is the reason the US really wants CAFTA in the first place. It is to balance the effects of trade with China. The US trade deficit with China is substantial. China has us by the short hairs, and this is our way of hedging our bet.
By creating a larger trading bloc in this hemisphere we insulate ourselves from the massive economic problems that will inevitably appear in the coming years. How long do you think it will take for the US to recognize Cuba? We already have farmers from the Midwest selling them grains on a cash only basis. Legislators are going down there to try to open up trade despite official US policy.
It won’t be long before similar agreements will be hammered out with South America. Chavez is the fly in the ointment for the moment, but money rules the day. The US has an interest in developing trade on this side of the world. It is an economic issue, that somehow always becomes political.
We all have our views on CAFTA/TLC. The ways in which we have expressed them indicates the sentiments are as varied, and confusing, as the document itself. There is no completely right or wrong answer. The hope is for everyone involved to come out of this with something to gain. This may or may not be possible.
At least after today we will only have the outcome to discuss. OH BOY!
Pura Vida y buena suerte a Costa Rica.
Here is a link confirming the slowdown in the service sector of the US economy. It only took a few days from my post above telling of how long can a service economy carry us. Service represents 80% of our economy. This shows the importance of manufacturing businesses leaving the US, and its impact our future. http://moneynews.newsmax.com/money/archives/articles/2007/10/3/100926.cfm?s=al&promo_code=3AC7-1
Simon, GM workers and their union fought hard to get a decent wage and healthcare. To make anyone have to pay for their own healthcare is just not cricket. Management will always get their healthcare paid for, why not the people that keep these fatcats in their offices.
The US can compete with China… If the playing field were level. We have to engineer products people want to buy, and that are designed to be better and longer lasting. The Chinese can’t produce a car that will sell in the US right now, and all the technology was given them by US manufactures anyway. We have to keep manufacturing at home, design fuel efficient cars and trucks that will last. GM had a great run when SUVs were all, the rage. No one complained when they were raking in the cash. Then the price of fuel goes up, and GM and other manufacturers are caught with nothing in the pipe for sales in the new market. That is a management screwup, not the assembler’s. They had their head in the sand while every Japanese car maker was retooling and redesigning constantly.
We put a man on the moon in 1969. We should have the best and brightest engineers working on improving what we once were best at in the automotive field. All the bottom line beancounters do is tell them not to retool, just keep the same old V8 engine that was in production in the 1950s and engineer peripheral components to make it more fuel efficient. Metallurgy has come a long way since 1950. We have to use this knowledge and technology and improve the product. Then we will be competitive.
It costs more to live in the US than China and many other countries around the world. Workers should be paid here according to these standards. Other countries have socialized medicine, so the workers have their health benefits. How will a US company decide how much extra to pay the employee to buy their own healthcare? Who will oversee it, the government? That will cost all of us.
Here’s a sad note. Today I was talking with a scrap metal dealer. He wrecks everything from cranes to steel building beams. He told me business is booming. Most of the scrap steel goes over to China. We don’t manufacture much anymore so it goes overseas. When the hell are we going to wake up! This BS about our being a service and technology economy is only going to hold up so long. Other countries rip off our technology, and we outsource our teleservice industry. Try buying any product with a US brand-name on it that is not made in China. We are selling our souls and our future. And not only because of our unfair trade agreements with China. It is because of the shortsighted, greedy corporate managers, and politicians looking to feather their own nest, and keep corporate profits up. But how long can they hold on to this charade.
US car makers have already been sold out by the Chinese even with new plants we set up there. China went into its own manufacturing 5 years after US companies invested millions in plants and training. One of the new Chinese cars is called the “Chery.” Sounds a little like “Chevy” doesn’t it.
It looks like soon enough everyone in the US will have to have a Ph.D. in order to earn a living. The ones who can’t cut it in college will fall by the wayside and become dependent on the Ph.D. to support them through government social programs, or else, dare I say, the masses may revolt.
Just my opinion. Enough ranting for tonight.
David, That is a big concern, and I had the same thought. It has happened here already. This country is divided by red and blue states, liberal and conservative, right and left. What ever happened to one nation thinking. They have engineered this divide to split up decent people who have differing views but still want a good life for all. We were a much more united country just two generations ago. I don’t care if someone is one way or the other in their political views. A good idea is still a good idea, no matter who proposes it. We have shut ourselves off from every view the “other” side has to offer. It certainly is a shame.
Costa Rica is just about evenly split on this issue and when all is said and done, they might be blaming each other and not the politicians for any bad results. I hope we are both wrong about one segment of their society pitted against another.
David, Precisely! The lesser of the two evils is what this is all about. No one knows which will be worse. We all have feelings on this and some are quite strong. As I once said, the duly elected government of Costa Rica abdicated their responsibility by calling for a referendum to have its citizens decide the matter. If it all goes well, they will take the credit anyway. If it blows up in their faces, they will blame the voters for making a bad choice. Either way the politicos are off the hook on this one.
I changed my opinion to a more positive one on the “yes” vote after many postings on this subject a short while ago. I still have reservations, but I would rather the Ticos have the opportunity to try, if they choose, to enter an agreement with the US.
As far as Bush and company being the beneficiary of any agreement…It doesn’t matter whose president! They all get contributions from businesses engaged in international trade. The democrats and republicans are equally sharing in any spoils to be made. You can tar the whole group with the same brush. The little guy is always the last to get the cheese.
Lotus, I know you listen to Bob Brinker. Did you hear him this past Saturday? I had just turned him on in the car, and he was saying the corporate executives that gave GM employees the benefit packages regarding healthcare should have been fired. He implied they rolled over for the union. I promptly turned him off. This week GM employees are going to vote on a new contract, closing more plants and consolidating others. GM will put money in a healthcare trust fund held by the union. What happens when the money either runs out, or the union loses it? I think we all know the answer. I understand Brinker’s position as an investment advisor, but not as a human being. I can’t understand the heartless business of profits, at the cost of workers who have served a company for years and may not get the healthcare they were promised while they were under previous contracts. Then to add insult to injury, the company execs get perks and parachutes to keep them well into their retirement years. Sorry for going off topic, but I was a little miffed.
I think Simon was pretty much on target. Most of us have reservations about this. And David is right about the deal being crafted for some and not all. Lotus, you also bring up excellent points about the US economy. It always manages to recover. Everyone else has also brought up good thoughts on CAFTA/TLC. We’ll just have to wait another six days or so and see how it turns out.
Lotus, One question. Have you noticed, since the devaluing of the US dollar, more European buyers looking at New York real estate, as we saw during the Japanese’s euphoria days of buying Rockefeller center?
Simon, Regarding my last point in my post, I certainly did not want to sound like a politician. My opinion was to let Costa Rica decide without outside influences. You have every right to voice your concerns about something that will affect you. I was making reference to politicians and people from the outside who have openly tried to influence CR by going there to speak to one side or the other on the issue.
I am not all that thrilled with this treaty from the USA’s standpoint either. The fact that many of our jobs have gone overseas with all our other trade agreements is a concern for most of us here. I don’t think there are any big winners in all this.
Regarding the US dollar and the economy; spending here is still up, the overall sense of wealth is still intact, if you can believe it? The impact of the lousy housing market still has not taken effect. For now it is just business as usual. The falling of the dollar was supposed to increase exports. So far this has not happened. A friend of mine was in Europe last month and heard they were contemplating lowering the Euro. I don’t know if this is accurate, but it would make sense if their export and tourism sectors decline.
It is good to hear a European perspective on the issue, because that is one thing we never hear in the US. Sometimes I think we operate in a vacumn, not seeing or hearing what the rest of the world has to say, or how it views us.
As far as the US getting its house in order, that is a question that has the most difficult of answers. We are in a world economy and still act as if we are the one running it. We are involved in too many places and in too much debt. We have lost many manufacturing jobs and capabilities. Our dollar, and image, has been going down the drain for quite a while. We will most likely experience some hard times in the coming years. We need to have a more responsive government looking out for the needs and welfare of our own people. We need to defend ourselves, but not interfere with the rest of the world. These are challenges that will be need to be addressed, and the citizens of this country will have to make choices at the ballot box next November. We don’t seem to have many good choices. I would like to see new ideas brought into the mix, so discussion of important issues can cause us to think a little more. We may have a tough road ahead. We have been there before, and I hope we can overcome the problems we face.
Costa Rica will now have its own share of challenges as it moves forward. The numerous treaties, trade agreements, and international policy changes Costa Rica has made in the past few years is a bold move to enter the big economy of the world.
I wish them the best, and hope for them a bright and prosperous future.Simon, While I agree in principle with what you have said in that the Ticos will have a rough time voting on a 5,000 page document, which the most learned of them could not decipher, you have to look at it in a world context. I originally was of the opinion that ratification of the agreement was bad for Costa Rica. After some intelligent postings on this site, and a real reflection on what Costa Rica has to look forward to in the future, I have come to the opinion they have to secure their own future in the international trade arena.
If they vote “no,” they can possibly renegotiate a more understandable and beneficial version. If they vote “si,” they will be trading partners with what is still the largest consumer driven economy in the world. The position they are in is a tough one, I’ll agree. The order of trade is not what it was 20 years ago. Costa Rica in some form or another has to be involved for the future of its economy. Every country is negotiating trade deals, and for them to be left out may mean even harder times for the Ticos.
No one wants to see Costa Rica raped of its resources, talents or culture. The country we all seem to love has to be allowed to be considered grown up enough to make an intelligent decision, without interference from outsiders, expats, or anyone who is not a native Costa Rican. They are an intelligent, hardworking and independent people. Whatever they decide to do, it will be right for them. If a mistake gets made they will have to fix it on their own. Laws can be changed, treaties can be broken.
The fat cats will always run the show around this globe. Positions of power give certain people the ability to change the course of the world, and of lives. In the meantime, we have an obligation to make sure our own house is in order first.
Let us give Costa Rica the courtesy, and respect it deserves, to chose their own path, and their own destiny.
