[sprite]

I don’t give a good crap what history books might say about the US 100 years from now. Patriotism, religion and economic greed are manifestations of diseased mentalities. The old ways of thinking which have run the world into the ditch so many times in the past have the added weight of today’s huge population, huge weapons and diminishing resources. This is why I feel uneasy.

[sprite]

[quote=”aguirrewar”]well you need another correction

Cuba is not Puerto Rico and portorra is slang in Cuba and in the island of Puerto Rico it is “pUertoriquena”, notice the U

that is the correct way in PR but you take to much liberties with other cultures and with other countries and with history

maybe you should write about the last 1,000 years of the history of mankind from your “Portorra” mind and perspective

I will let my children and YOUR’s write the future

seems like you like to look at the back REAR mirror and not the glass in front of you

enjoy your quiet, tranquil, easy life. I will stand and fight for your rights and mine in the USA

it won’t be easy but I will not give up until my children and your’s and everyone else has the same quality of life my parents’ and I had

that is the legacy we leave to the next generation to be able to live better than ourselves

you have showed your true COLORS[/quote]

I am sorry you find the innocuous term “potorra” to be offensive. I assure you, my Cuban, Puerto Rican friends and my half Puerto Rican son do not.

You go ahead and “fight” all you want to, whatever that means. In all probability, you will do little more than just cast a useless vote now and then for whichever pre-selected candidate is put on the ballot for whichever useless political office is up for grabs. Some people never learn that politicians can do nothing for them. All the energy spent on politics is wasted. You would much better for your children by taking direct steps towards securing as safe a place to live as possible for the coming storm. Who knows, we may not live to see it and when it does come, it may be so devastating that there is no safe place.

But you should think about the numbers..the trillions of newly created dollars that will flood the economy. I don’t believe you are understanding what is happening because you haven’t yet seen much in the way of consequences. But they are coming.

[sprite]

“Portorra” is a cuban slang for puerto rican woman. No correction needed. Spanish is a living and evolving language and, as we all know, has many colloquialisms all up and down this hemisphere. It is similar to calling a Costa Ricenso a Tico.

History does repeat patterns. Economies and their accompanying cultures, governments and empires rise and fall. After the Roman empire fell ( a long drawn out affair) western societies drifted into a dark age. Today, we are in a world economy in which individual country economies are each dependent upon the whole to stand.

At least, this is what I read. If you know of a reliable source of information which shows the nuts and bolts of how we repair and keep the current monetary system in place while continuing our insane consumption activity as we exponentially increase our population at the same time the planet’s resources are dwindling, I’d love to know about it.

In any case, I wouldn’t lift a finger to try and save the current system even if that were an achievable goal. It is vile and makes economic slaves out of most of the population.

[sprite]

Yo SI soy gringo, nacido de padres anglo saxones en EEUU y casado tambien con una portorra…Que tiene que ver eso con el tema?
If you think the US is a democracy, then you truly are misguided. Any country can call itself a democracy. That doesn’t make it one, though. You can have a democracy or you can have capitalism…but you can’t have both.
And this is where the problem lies. Without a true democracy, the only tool left for workers to change a system is violent revolution. And then they would have to have an alternative system to put in place and one does not exist. Even if, in the unlikely event, the people were able to throw off the baking interests’ tyranny , people would most likely fall back into old habits. This seems to be a pattern.
I am no expert in these matters. I am just another person looking at the signs. There are historical patterns for guidelines and some of those apply to our current situation. But there are other signs and conditions which are beyond our historical experience. This is the case with climate warming as it is with current world economics. We are sinking into deep doo doo with no way to pull ourselves out. I only have one question left; How long until the real pain starts?

[sprite]

then what happens???
I have no idea how bad it will be and if all is lost , you are right…no safe haven anywhere. There will just be some places where the misery is a bit less as there will be places where survival will be more difficult.
But it is arrogant and naive to believe the US is the only savior of civilization. Read back to yourself what you have written and try to hear the words with the worl view of a non north American.

want to escape!! don’t pick Costa Rica, look at the Moon or Mars

I love to hear and read the prophets of gloom and doom when the chips are down

and for all of you that think that if you escape the problem by moving to a different geographycal area you will be INSULATED, good luck!!!

“We the People” did not start in the USA, it comes from Greece, thousands of years ago, it’s called DEMOCRACY now

you can keep playing your little games since I have to find way’s to solve a problem in my homeland

is this the real “the sky is falling” syndrome???

not for ME[/quote]

[sprite]

Nicon,

Why is it I can always tell who the bible thumping, flag waving fanatics are in this thread?

You need to bring yourself up to speed. You are spouting the old corporate/bank interests propaganda. This is the same BS that has been packaged and sold to a nation of unthinking wishful citizens who want to believe in providence, an arrogant superiority and an infinite supply of whatever it is they desire. Has it never occurred to you that the earth is finite, that masses of people can’t continue to waste limited resources indefinitely, that printing trillions of dollars of Monopoly money will someday have consequences?

If you haven’t investigated these matters, perhaps you should begin to do so….soon.

[sprite]

[quote=”*Lotus”]Sprite you always seem to have the answer. But when an educated grown up with the wherewithal to become a lawyer is blaming America for her overt consumerism? Give me a break, hardly the oppressed class.
Sprite your finger must be in a cast:wink:[/quote]

Heheh…I regularly exercise AND use my wagging finger and one other finger as well.

I have been hard on myself for my own excessive consumerism but recently I have backed off from that attitude. When you are constantly bombarded with ads and are surrounded by others who have the luxury goods, the tendency is to follow the accepted behavior patterns. Keeping up with the Jones is
a common theme everywhere in the world but especially so in the U.S. I am a product of my environment. But I am also doing my utmost to walk away from this toxic environment. It is not easy after 60 years of exposure and I am sympathetic to anyone else who is making the effort, not critical of them.

It’s the system, the culture, that has defined consumerism, not me. I don’t want to transplant 60 years of bad habits to Costa Rica when I move.
I am guessing that this requires a huge attitude shift which for me would be much more challenging than adapting to Tico culture. I suspect that many of the expats who return to the States after a short while do so due to this one factor.

[sprite]

[quote=”*Lotus”][quote=”sprite”][quote=”*Lotus”]I have found that most expats I meet in Costa Rica are quite friendly. Scott certainly lives an affluent life style, well above the standard of 99% of Ticos, he’s seems to move well in local Tico circles. The perception of the “rich arrogant” American is more myth than fact thanks to TV, most US citizens moving or traveling to Costa Rica are certainly not rich(but most of us are rich, at least from a monetary perspective relative to a typical Tico.) In the community that I “live” in Costa Rica, we have a great expat community fully integrated in the local Tico community. We surf, work and play together. Not perfect, but nothing is.

MaxDevil, you choose to live a life based on materialism, excess and greed. certainly as an attorney you are one of the so called “rich” Americans. What are you complaining about? You want to blame America for your reckless lifestyle? Give me a break, your life, your choice you are educated enough to be responsible for your actions. It is not written into the US Constitution to be a greedy, selfish and shallow. I think excessive TV watching and advertising campaigns have more to do with creating sheeple than “America.”

You will get little argument from me on most of our foreign policy, but thats another thread:)

When individual take responsibility for their own lives we all will be better off.[/quote]

Environment molds behavior. You have to adapt to the system in which you live. If you grew up in the States, you adapted to the destructive system in place. Your behavior would reflect the warped values of that system.

I try my best not to hold individuals liable for behavior attributable to environment. The system is the cause, bad behavior is a symptom. Anyone who is trying to separate himself from that system is to be applauded, not criticized.
For example, I pity individuals who have succumbed to the false ideology which inspires them to put on uniforms and kill for it but I don;t criticize them. Instead, I attack the system and its ideology.

People don’t make choices, they react to environment.[/quote]

I grew up in the states, North East. My values don’t reflect that of the “state” nor do my children’s or my friends. We can choose to be free from the inside out, the US is not North Korea and Sprite you are not the only enlightened soul in the US. The point is to make good choices regardless of ones environment, I did and I’m certainly not special. Not sure where you live, but most of the people I encounter on a day to day basis are good folks.[/quote]

Lotus,

“Good folks” abound. They are everywhere and you make my point for me. People are not inherently bad. The social environment may be bad, though, and when you start wagging your accusatory finger at others for not taking responsibility, you are forgetting this point. I don’t care how many anecdotal examples you come up with about people doing this or doing that despite conditions, the over-all picture is the only thing that can be measured. Oppressed people generally behave differently than free people within their respective societies.

[sprite]

[quote=”clayton”
You need to try a little harder, you seem to spew nothing but hate and discontent.[/quote]

I’ll try to spread love and joy and a sprinkling of flower petals from now on. You are correct. Mans’ world is perfectly organized and when the shaman says “bow to the god of war”, I guess I better comply….or suffer the wrath of the other worshipers like you.

[sprite]

[quote=”*Lotus”]I have found that most expats I meet in Costa Rica are quite friendly. Scott certainly lives an affluent life style, well above the standard of 99% of Ticos, he’s seems to move well in local Tico circles. The perception of the “rich arrogant” American is more myth than fact thanks to TV, most US citizens moving or traveling to Costa Rica are certainly not rich(but most of us are rich, at least from a monetary perspective relative to a typical Tico.) In the community that I “live” in Costa Rica, we have a great expat community fully integrated in the local Tico community. We surf, work and play together. Not perfect, but nothing is.

MaxDevil, you choose to live a life based on materialism, excess and greed. certainly as an attorney you are one of the so called “rich” Americans. What are you complaining about? You want to blame America for your reckless lifestyle? Give me a break, your life, your choice you are educated enough to be responsible for your actions. It is not written into the US Constitution to be a greedy, selfish and shallow. I think excessive TV watching and advertising campaigns have more to do with creating sheeple than “America.”

You will get little argument from me on most of our foreign policy, but thats another thread:)

When individual take responsibility for their own lives we all will be better off.[/quote]

Environment molds behavior. You have to adapt to the system in which you live. If you grew up in the States, you adapted to the destructive system in place. Your behavior would reflect the warped values of that system.

I try my best not to hold individuals liable for behavior attributable to environment. The system is the cause, bad behavior is a symptom. Anyone who is trying to separate himself from that system is to be applauded, not criticized.
For example, I pity individuals who have succumbed to the false ideology which inspires them to put on uniforms and kill for it but I don;t criticize them. Instead, I attack the system and its ideology.

People don’t make choices, they react to environment.

[sprite]

[quote=”maxdevil”]Yes, Mr. Sprite, you are right. I enslaved myself in many ways, but I thought that was the American way to buy a house, use my credit cards to buy stuff, etc. How wrong I was. However, slaves do and have started revolutions. When people have nothing to lose anymore, they get very desperate. I realize things will get very ugly before they get better. To just escape before the shit hits the fan feels like being a rat escaping a sinking ship. I have been a fighter all my life, but at my age, I don’t know that I still have some fighting in me. I am angry at what has been done to this country. When I moved to the Corporate States of America in the late sixties, I had so much hope. I went through a variety of occupations, from clothes designer to radiochemist to being an attorney. I lived, observed, learned and became increasingly disgusted by what America is doing not only to itself but to other countries. All around the world, Americans have become disliked and even hated. They are seen as arrogant, cruel and have become unstoppable killers all in the name of money (oil, natural resources, etc.) I wish it was different, but at this point, I am ashamed of being an American and want to revert back to being a Canadian again. Although I will never live in Canada again because my retirement will take place in Costa Rica, I would prefer to be known as a Canadian rather than an American. It has been a long voyage, not finished yet, but hopefully, a peaceful retirement is on the horizon. But will I have to fight my way there for the next 4.5 years?[/quote]

I always hope I am mistaken for a Canadian when in Costa Rica. I am concerned I will be mistaken as a typical, arrogant, rich american. I don’t think it makes much difference, though, in Costa Rica.

[sprite]

Maxine,

I cannot escape just yet either. If I use the slave analogy, I haven’t been able to break free from my chains (some of them self made). If I don’t yet have the energy and the means to escape, how can I have the energy and means to start a revolution?

Some things can’t be fixed. Best thing to do is get out of the way when it breaks down. I sure don’t want to be around in any large city where guns and shortages are everywhere. And I sure don’t want to become a target for those in power.

[sprite]

JimS

I do not recall what the average middle class Tico household income is but I doubt very much it is too much over $2800 per month. I believe I read an article Scott published here with figures for middle class between $1100 and $2800 per month.

The average US household income is just under $50,000 with an average family size in the US of 3.2. $4000 per month for a family of 5 in the States would put you somewhere well below the exact middle. However, $4000 per month in Costa Rica puts you well above the middle, even with a larger family.

Life style is one of those terms which can only be used in the most general sense. I always wonder what people are referring to when they say they keep a North American life style in Costa Rica. I assume they mean that they buy a lot of stuff and that they do a lot of things that the general Tico population cannot afford. And these are things they would normally do or buy were they back in the States.

Even so, there still has to be a portion of everyones’ income that is spent on basics such as property taxes or rent, utilities and food staples. These things are a lot less expensive in CR than in the States from what I have seen so I have trouble understanding how people can claim that the cost of living is about the same. Is anyone in CR paying $7000 per year in property taxes? How about homeowners’ insurance of $5000 per year? An average sit down restaurant bill for a family of three in Miami runs between $40 to $90. Three movie tickets and a few bags of popcorn can cost $50.

Add up the difference between the costs listed above and what one pays for these things in CR and you have a difference of many, many of thousands of dollars.

[sprite]

I do not yet live in CR but tell me if my impression after 4 years of constant visiting is wrong. I note that although day to day expenses are not that much less than in the States if you insist on eating out a lot, keeping your North American diet and keeping a car, at least the cost of property taxes, certain aspects of health care, such as drugs and dentist and doctor visits, are substantially lower.

Also, you at least have the option in CR of living quite frugally if you must. A healthy diet of rice, beans and fresh produce seems to be very inexpensive from what I have seen of market prices. Add up what you spend in the States for these things and you may average a savings of many hundreds of dollars per month. At least this is my impression comparing what I spend in Miami to what I THINK I’ll be spending in CR.

This seems to say that there is a wider range of life style options in Costa Rica. If you have the wealth, you can live well. If you don’t, you’ll at least do better than you would in the States, RIGHT? You at least have the option in CR of living quite frugally on $1700 a month. I doubt that can be accomplished in most places in North America.

Just the difference in property tax alone would save me several hundred a month for a similar dwelling. Of course, I use the term “similar” loosely. You get what you pay for. The infrastructure in CR is not what most Americans are used to. One has to decide whether or not this is a problem for one’s particular circumstances and expectations.

[sprite]

[quote=”costaricafinca”]I, too, am disgusted with [b]sprites[/b] response.[/quote]

You guys don’t get a pass on this one. I am probably equally disgusted and offended when others honor people who serve an evil purpose. While I sympathize with young, naive men and women who are sucked into putting on uniforms and taught the despicable trade of maiming and killing other people, I sure as hell don’t feel obligated to “honor” them for this.

Perhaps pity is a more applicable emotion since many of these poor individuals end up taking their own lives after participating in the murders they were brainwashed into carrying out.

Spin it any way you wish, the ultimate decision to put on a uniform and kill is made by individuals. Shame on you for blaming a government. Governments are a known abuser of people and the only way they can get away with wars is by the acquiescence of INDIVIDUALS who are fanatical patriots or apathetic citizens. I have no compulsion to honor weak-minded or despicable behavior by others.

And shame on you for one more reason; The real victims of wars are the civilians not carrying guns, most of whom are women and children. Have you celebrated a memorial for them?

[Author]

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