Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Sprite agrees with everything you have written and adds an exclamation mark!
It is a fun mental exercise trying to imagine what would the Costa Rican government do with a bunch of expats living in country who have had their social security checks halted or reduced below the required amount for pensionista status? Could the expats request political asylum from an economically oppressive government?
The problem is not socialism/communism or capitalism/facism because neither of those systems exist as per design. The problem is not politicians, governments, corporations or banks. The problem is much more basic. It is the monetary system we live under which is bringing it all down around us. It is money and the fractional banking system which has enabled all these scoundrels in banks, governments and corporations to exploit real people and their labor, their energy, in order to extract their wealth and enslave them.
But who wants to be among the first to start tearing up all of their paper money and throwing their gold and silver into the sea?[quote=”DavidCMurray”]The absence of an increase in Social Security and veterans’ pensions for the past two years is attributable not to anything President Obama did but to the fact that, as computed under the laws, there has been no increase in the cost of living.
“COLA” = “Cost of Living Allowance”
No increase in the cost of living = no increase in COLA.
[/quote]Is there no collusion between the Obama administration and that department which claims there has been no increase in the cost of living?
Is there a single, sane person out there who can truthfully claim there has been no increase in the cost of living?The best way to eliminate the supply, the ONLY way, is to eliminate scarcity and poverty which drive people to sell themselves or others…and that is impossible to do under the current monetary system.
[quote=”maravilla”]áll the people i know who left within two or three years did so because they had no clue about the negatives and therefore could not deal with them. [/quote]
Regarding those expats who leave after a few years; It’s all about expectations. Regarding the infamous Tico sense of time and retail service, I come here with such lowered expectations that I am pleasantly surprised most of the time when service is actually adequate.
And even when one bumps into the occasional disappointment, there are always positives to offset the negatives. I have had so many positive experiences with Costa Ricans. I once locked my keys in a 4X4 with the engine still running and with a wheel stuck in a muddy rut way up in the mountains in pouring rain and evening darkness setting in. I hiked to the first house I could find and asked for the use of a phone. The guy had a phone but wanted to try to help me with the SUV. He came out in the rain with a coat hanger and an umbrella and hiked back to my car with me and opened my locked door and helped me get the car out of the rut. I had to beg him to take a $20 bill for his effort. He refused three times until I told him that I hoped I wasn’t offending him with the offer but it would make me feel badly if he didn’t take it.
My impression is that some expats just don’t belong in this country. It seems they cannot appreciate what it has to offer and they have no sense of adventure or desire to seriously explore a new language and culture. I have overheard many conversations between expats and tourists on flights back and forth about what they do in CR and how they live. I hear them talk about the condos they rent out, their boats, their fishing trips, the inexpensive help in their homes, their cars, their younger Tica girlfriends and where the best place is for a decent steak…….not a word about those things which I believe really matter to anyone who wants to make a go of living here.
It sounds like you are more interested in feeling good about Costa Rica rather than understanding the place more thoroughly. But you can do both.
Have you been a victim of a violent crime there? If so, after the fact, have you wondered what you might have done differently to have avoided becoming a victim?
I am 61 years old and i have never I have never been victimized by violent crime in the Central Valley nor have I ever experienced it in Miami Florida, which I will bet has a much higher rate than anywhere in Costa Rica. That may change tomorrow, but I am pretty confident that my avoidance of violence has more to do with my behavior than with criminals’ behavior. How do you explain the fact that many people go through life without ever seeing violent crime? I don’t believe in luck. There are reasons for everything, whether we know them or not.
We are all relying on our personal experiences here on this matter and they obviously differ. I am questioning why that is.
I read about violent crimes in Jaco, San Jose and American conclaves in Guanacaste and other regions. Does anyone else see a theme here?
I would not even care to visit the above places simply out of a desire to avoid such a concentration of the piles of expat wealth and the “flies” that it attracts. I don’t come to Costa Rica to sunbathe on a yacht or to zip around on big city streets in an expensive vehicle.
When I am here, I dress and act like most of the locals and I speak as closely to their accent and vocabulary as I can. I do this out of a natural desire to fit in and belong and to NOT stand out. I don’t like flashy displays of wealth by anyone, least of all by me. It is considered bad taste by many people in most places and especially so when the disparity between the wealth being displayed is so much above and beyond the surrounding norm.
Either come here to fit in, or don’t complain when you stand out like a bulls eye and eventually get the karma that behavior attracts.
Let me get this right; You are dining at a marina frequented by other expats, driving a Rover and sunbathing on your yacht yet you feel that the cost of living in Costa Rica has climbed too far due to “negative immigrating persons”? Just who do you think those “negative immigrants” are? Is it possible those negative immigrants are the ones buying yachts, Range Rovers, and luxury homes thereby creating a huge income disparity in what would otherwise be a stable economy and more egalitarian society…as it once was?
Since we are generalizing a lot, let me indulge myself. I have a small farm in the Central Valley. There are no beaches, no marinas, no yachts and no gated communities and not too many wealthy foreigners flashing around in expensive cars in my area. Instead, there are just a lot of hard working farmers, shop keepers and other laborers who are still getting by. They are wonderful people.
I don’t worry about bumping into North American racial prejudices because I am about as anglo-saxon, protestant looking as they come and even if I were not, I don’t see many Americans in my area. And the Ticos that I have met and know do not seem to have a prejudicial bone in their bodies.
As I said, I haven’t met any prejudicial North Americans and Brits in CR but I’ll bet they tend to bunch together in gated communities, segregated from the Ticos. I imagine they like to sally forth to mix with the natives on occasion in order to make the surrounding communities “better places”, but I’ll bet they much rather prefer the company of their “own kind”….else they would not be all bunched together behind walls and gates with their yachts and Range Rovers. Or maybe they are just protecting all that wealth from those less wealthy Tico socialists who can’t wait to legislate their way through those gated community walls to take the yachts and Rovers and luxury homes.
Anyone with a hundred colones in his pocket or a million dollars in his bank account got that money with the help of or the exploitation of many others. There are no self made people anywhere except in the ego maniacal minds of a few anti social misfits. The only way these fools can explain the imbalance of world wealth distribution is to claim that the billions of impoverished people living on 2 dollars a day deserve their fate for being lazy and prone to taking a
” fetal” position.Take off all of your clothes and walk out into a wilderness and begin a new life and let’s see how quickly you fall into a fetal position and develop a desire to be entitled to return to society for comfort..
Studies show that people are not as good at multi tasking as they think they are. I can spot a driver using a cell phone from a great distance…they drive in a unique and obvious way..they stay too long at stops, they drive more slowly than surrounding traffic, they keep a football field’s distance from the car in front of them…in other words, they drive like very ancient people…slow and sloppy.
I have used the cell phone while driving and I deplore it. I tell myself I am a better driver than 99% of the others on the road who are all morons…but the I know the reality is that I am just as susceptible to the dangers of distraction as anyone else. It is a bad idea to drive while using the cell phone and I will probably continue this unhealthy and antisocial practice. I wonder if a fine will do any good with most of us.
[quote=”maravilla”]lucky you if your maid scratches your teflon pan. then you can toss the thing in the trash where all teflon belongs. as for pura vida, it’s pure life, and in pure life, a lot of Shi$ happens. i think it’s an appropriate saying, especially for this place.[/quote]
Makes me wonder how these Ticos maintain such a positive life view and such a wonderful disposition. Has it occurred to anyone who is unhappy with the way things work here that perhaps they are the ones with a dysfuntional way of doing things ?
While sovereign governments have an obligation to protect their borders, this stinks of deliberate distraction. The elitists use this tactic successfully often. This particular one is used on right wingers to keep them busy chasing after scapegoats while the banksters finish up looting the nations wealth. There are a lot of desperate people on both sides of every border these days. Divide and conquer is a powerful tool.
In order to support the Israeli tyranny and oppression, you have to be a bible thumping moron anxiously waiting for the second coming, one of the elitist minion, an israeli fanatic or a simpleton who simply buys into the official line. I am still waiting, after 5 years for Scott to write something with which I can disagree.
Let’s see if we hear from any corporate apologists about how it is necessary to break a few eggs in order to make an omelette. Or how supposed scientific knowledge has a small cost to the environment.
We are nothing more than greedy, acquisitive, aggressive and destructive primates who soil our own nest with dysfunctional behavior.
