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This is a terribly provocative subject because, by design, we are not meant to be knowledgeable about the workings of the world economy and when the incredible truth as to how it works is presented, it is almost unbelievable.

We have been presented for decades with an illusion, a very big lie, by those who own and direct the world economy. We are told that we are free and that we live and work in a free economy. The truth is that we are NOT free and we do not have a free economy. The latest manifestation of economic control has enslaved us for the last 80 years. That is not just an exaggerated complaint from some bitter, envious workers over the decades. In 1934, Henry Ford, a wealthy man and part of the class of Owners, said:
“It is well enough that the people of this nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”

We don’t need to know all the complicated games that are played on the sidelines on Wall Street. All those games are merely minor techniques used to compliment the big, basic game which is as follows;
The Federal Reserve, a private company, creates money out of thin air. Most of this money is created in the form of electronic entries into bank account ledgers with some keystrokes into a computer. The remaining 3 or 4% is printed debit notes (dollars). This fake, invented money, created out of thin air, is lent to citizens who in turn work to create real, tangible goods and services in order to repay the loans. The true value of their production is never paid to them. Instead, via inflation, a myriad of taxes and loan interests, much of the value is skimmed and taken by the banks and by the government, a collection arm of the banks. The national debt is designed by the banks so that it will never be repaid.

Today, in the U.S., banks own more homes than private citizens. Booms and busts are engineered by the money people, the Owners, in order to shake people loose from their property. And even after this latest bust, the game continues. A few years ago, the Federal Reserve created 700 billion dollars with some key strokes and then, with some more key strokes, sent it off to their minions as a tool to extract more real wealth from people. I hoped maybe that last act of theft might finally bring about that “morning revolution” Mr. Ford mentioned. Of course, it did not. I guess we are all too busy working to pay back loans to be bothered with revolution.

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I think it is reasonable to expect to have adequate care for most emergencies in many rural settings in the Central Valley. My place is rural yet is an 11 minute drive from the Red Cross ambulance garage in Palmares and a 25 minute drive to the nearest CIMA hospital in San Ramon…and there is a local clinic 5 minutes away for less critical care in a small village.

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[quote=”Scott”]Great feedback here…

The interest in buying real estate in Costa Rica has increased slightly but this year has been extraordinarily quiet.

Scott Oliver- Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com[/quote]

It feels as if we are all in some kind of transition period here and most other places. We are holding back, waiting, mostly unsure as to how this economic and environmental change will shake out. I fear we are living in what the Chinese called “interesting times”.

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Moonbanks has made valid points and observations with which I agree. I would prefer to have the option of keeping a firearm in my CR home, but it is certainly not a deal breaker as far as living in this country. I do not have great fears about my safety in CR so far.

Those of you who feel strongly that you require a gun or guns for protection may be living in the wrong area. Or maybe it is just a another case of fearful american culture being transposed to the Tico culture.

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There are two kinds of evidence being discussed here regarding the quality of life in Costa Rica; anecdotal evidence which is the personal experiences of an individual, and empirical evidence which is the data supplied by Scot. I use both, but anecdotal evidence must always be taken in context and should take a back seat to empirical evidence.

We deal with probabilities. The empirical evidence suggests that the odds are your experience with health care in Costa Rica will NOT be of less quality than your experience in the U.S. in most cases. Of course, if your experience is part of the statistical negative data, the odds don’t matter any more for you.

I have read many posts here regarding health care, cost of living and crime. They almost always take the same trajectory. It begins with a story of a personal experience either praising or condemning the quality of life here. It is then followed by responses of more personal experiences, pro and con, and some statistics. Usually the statistics show a more positive picture. In the end, we have to weigh both but must use whatever analytical abilities we have to decide which has more value for our personal situation. Even with the dark clouds,I still love Costa Rica.

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Even once you become proficient in Spanish and even if Spanish is your primary language, there will be “incidents” which can range from comical to tragic and these will happen due to colloquialisms.

As I was once entering a car wherein sat several ladies; a Cuban, a Dominican and a Puerto Rican, a wasp came in with me. One of the ladies shouted “Quitame ese bicho!” referring to the removal of the insect. The other two ladies broke into laughter. “Bicho” usually means “bug” but in the street language of one country, it can also refer to the anatomical part of a male.

One of the things to remember when learning a language is to NOT be self conscious about speaking it. Have fun with it.

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This leads me always to a bigger question that anybody contemplating a move to a foreign country should have: What is the turn-around rate for expats who return to the States and what are some of the major reasons for giving up? I am looking for empirical evidence which could be related to subjective situations and conditions.

For example, recently an american woman, her husband and kids left Costa Rica after living there, supposedly happily and comfortably, for over 4 years. Scot knows her and probably many others have read her blog “A Broad In Costa Rica”. I was disappointed to read she had decided to leave Costa Rica for Kentucky. She gave her reasons but some of those reasons contradicted her previous writings wherein she detailed why she loved living in Costa Rica. She had a change of heart which led to a change of geography and culture. No matter how well you may think you know yourself, you may end up being surprised by your future feelings. I keep looking for a common thread in reasons as to why people return from living abroad to see if any might apply to me.

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Make sure you find the heat and other “qualities” of sea level coastal living acceptable. The web site does not give details as to altitude of properties. It is one thing to vacation at a beach and quite another to live there at sea level in the tropics. The Central Valley mountains offer cooler, more comfortable temperatures, fewer potentially dangerous animals and insects and better infrastructure.

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Never apologize for presenting your beliefs or questions. Reasonable people can discuss anything without getting crazy or doing anything harmful. I am trying to keep the craziness away from me because a reasonable person can be justifiably paranoid about any religion in near physical proximity. The catholic church permeates Costa Rican culture and most places on the planet have been infected deeply with one religion or another. The cure for this malady is surely not more religion and that is the gist of my commentary. There are so many better reasons to come to Costa Rica than to organize a religious group.

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Sprite I suggest that you try Cuba or North Korea or maybe Scott’s mountaintop.[/quote]

I have my own mountain top, thank you. And there is never a guarantee that North Korea or Cuba could avoid invasion.

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I assume Venezuela is always the target of U.S. efforts in the Caribbean. But that doesn’t explain why a force is currently “visiting” Costa Rica. Panama is nearer to Maracaibo, is it not? I am no logistics professional but maybe somebody else here might offer a suggested explanation for a Venezuelan connection. I am distrustful as always of any movement of U.S. military assets. Perhaps there is a Honduran connection here. I certainly hope this has nothing to do with Costa Rica.

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Tolerance and respect are earned, they are not blindly given except by foolish, gullible people.

I do not expect anyone to respect my beliefs unless I can defend them successfully. I do not respect anyone else’s beliefs unless they can do the same. But lack of respect for beliefs is not the same thing as lacking respect for basic human dignity so please do not confuse the matter. Ideas need to be challenged so that we can weed out the stupid ones from the ones that work for us.

The problem with tolerance of beliefs is that people inevitably act upon their beliefs, stupid or otherwise. Not challenging dangerous, superstitious or just plain silly beliefs with discussion is paramount to condoning any harmful action which may result from those beliefs. And there is ample historic evidence for the harm that has come from letting superstitious religious beliefs go unchallenged.

People who hold silly notions which are held out to the public as truth need to be challenged. Their silly or dangerous, unsubstantiated beliefs need to be ridiculed under the light of reason.

If anybody comes on this message board and claims that he is in communication with Elvis when he rides the bus from San Ramon to Alajuela, he would be ridiculed. If you are instructing me to be respectful of such beliefs, I respectfully decline.

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So far as I can tell, I am playing nice. I haven’t told anyone to shut up or to go away nor would I. I am just responding to a posting wherein an individual is looking to start up some sort of religious group in my stomping grounds, San Ramon. I have a stake in this and I feel compelled to weigh in. I would do the same if someone had the idea to start an anti-Israeli organization near me. I have a healthy mistrust extremists.

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Either you have a warped way of looking at things or you are just looking for an argument….or maybe you are trying to persecute ME for MY views….:-}
Are you suggesting that if I am against war, for example, that I am persecuting all soldiers and politicians when I criticize?
There exists a group of people who believe the earth is flat. If I criticize them for that belief, am I persecuting them?

I clearly stated that I believe anyone can believe whatever nonsense they choose. They can congregate and worship a stick or a rock or whatever they want. But you want to force me to respect those beliefs and to shut up? Nope. Ain’t gonna do it.

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Ha! I am sorry to hear that you learned a bad lesson in a bad way. Nobody every succeeded in shutting me down with a back hand slap. I imagine that would lead to more confrontation rather than less.

In any case, if I read here that somebody is looking to come here to join up with some religious group, I feel compelled to address the issue of his reason for coming here. He is adding one more voice to the insanity in the place where I am looking for peace and sanity. I have a stake in this so I will not shut up.

Now, if you want to post a recipe for apple cobbler or talk about a soccer game, I will probably not make any comments.

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