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Couldn’t it be that Costa Rica is maturing a bit? The biggest problem I have with conservatives is their reluctance to move forward. Not all change is progressive and positive, but I don’t think dragging feet is the best way to deal with inevitable change.
Take the best of the Tico culture to heart, not the worst. Bribery and avoidance of civic responsibilties and disrespect for good laws, if a significant part of Tico culture, should NOT be embraced. I am still not convinced those things are a part of Tico culture.
2BNCR, This may fall into your belief that expats should assimilate by imitating Ticos. Do you really think Ticos generally do this sort of thing? It is not different from purposely under claiming real estate values to avoid paying more taxes, is it? I understand you do not like government. Do you think the Tico attitude is the same towards their government? Be clear about your own motives in moving to Costa Rica and try to avoid projecting your own bias upon that culture. You could be making a big mistake.
To answer your question; I would never pay a bribe. Period. Give the cop a 5,000 colon note AFTER accepting the ticket and fine and ask him to make a contribution to the red cross or something on your behalf.I am an Anglo America and have been immersed in latin culture for 40 years. My ex wife is Cuban. My current wife of 26 years is Puerto Rican. L have lived in Miami for the last 26 years, the most latinized city in the States without a doubt. I have spoken fluent spanish for 35 years and have no Anglo american friends left, only Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Ticos. And I am still NOT a latin. I will always be an Anglo American. I don’t believe any adult can completely erase his original culture. It is imprinted permanently upon us. We can add to it, but never replace it. I appreciate so much about Costa Rican culture and I take in as much as I can assimilate. But it will always only be an addition, never a replacement.
David, you’ll have to define “meaningful” assimilation. To me, meaningful means the ability to, at the very least, participate in the community to the degree that one feels comfortable and accepted. How anyone can do that without speaking the language is beyond me. One may have neighbors and acquaintances who show good manners but until one can share appreciation of some of the cultural components with them, one will not be able to establish a meaningful relationship. Language is the bare minimun requirement for that in my book.
2BNCR, are you fluent in Spanish? That would be the very first and most important component of assimilation. I am amazed that anyone moves to CR who is not fluent in Spanish. In fact, it strikes me as naive to assume that one can assimilate without being fluent in the language.
Most immigrants have the same motive; economic. How many Mexican immigrants really crave to be like gringos? How many American immigrants who move to CR truly want to be Tico?
If you state that the government IS denying re-entry to perpetual tourists, then you have the obligation to prove that point. I have no obligation to prove a negative. I don’t even have a position on this matter. All I am doing is asking if anyone has any anecdotal evidence of the government cracking down on perpetual tourism. I suspect that there is no suchcrack down and I am not even sure it is illegal. So far, nobody has shownme anything to the contrary.
You may be reading too much in to the Tico attitude towards government. The Ticos obviously approve of socialized government involvement in their lives. I don’t see them as Libertarians at odds with socialism. What I do see is a socialst government coping with an invasion of wealthier citizens from the north, the opposite of what is happening in the States.
The CR government saw a way to increase revenues from these new wealthier immigrants by stricter enforcement of proper and fair land value assessments. Ticos may be complaining about increased regs regarding land value assessment and blaming the new regs on gringos. Hence, new, more restrictive requirements on immigration?
I agree with you on the point ofperpetual tourism. I have yet to hear a story about a foreign national being refused re-entry for violating some unwrittenspirit of the law.
Most governments are plutocracies. Money rules. The wealthy control the workers by selling democracy to them and some kind of idealized promise that they too can join the ranks of the rich if they follow the rules.But the wealthy don’t practice democracy nor capitalism. They change the rules to suit their needs.
The fat lady ain’t gonna sing till the last act, which contains the drama of the world economic melt down. In the meantime, unless we see a Mad Max world unfold because of it, I don’t see Costa Rica succumbing to absolute zenophobia. This in between time may see some indecision and confusion and even an official cold shoulder towards us from the government. I expect that and I am only trying to guess where and how far it will go. My buiggest fear is that the Ticos may uncharacteristically turn xenophobic in really bad times.
Edited on Nov 30, 2008 03:16
I am not belaboring this point. Ambiguities of law always bug me. I intend to become a resident and not a perpetual tourist. However, seeing the laws changed so quickly and without warning makes me nervous. Who is to say politics might one day require other, more draconian actions pointed at scapegoats such as foreign nationals. As I pointed out in an earlier posting, my own country has done such things in the past.
I visit Costa Rica 4 times a year..usually for between a week and 10 days. It is tourism because I do not have a house built on my property. I stay at hotels. I rent cars and I see the sights.
How many times can an individual visit Costa Rica and spend two or three months visiting during a one year period? Once? Twice? Three times? If no laws are broken by a visitor, and no harm is brought to citizens, what determines when a visitor is breaking the spirit of the law? Is there a definition of this spirit of the law or is this left up to the whims of whatever government in in office? Is there a legal definition for perpetual tourism or at the very least, written guidelines for officials and public warnings? I haven’t seen any yet. Perhaps some of you have.
Alberto, I agree that the letter of the law should always be sufficient because we never lack for enough words to make the spirit of the law as clear as the letter of the law. On the other hand, Costa Ricans are not known for exactitude in language and much of their culture, and perhaps law, is based on intent rather than obvious clarity. If the official wearing the badge who is in charge of stamping your passport upon re entry does not feel like doing it for whatever personal reason, what can you, a foreign national, do about it at that point? This is why I ask for examples of perpetual tourists being turned back for no other reason than that they are tourists.
The stats need to deal with the average lifetime salary of a retiree, not younger workers in the population. The average US salary is $45k. The average social security check for couples is $1721.
The average social security amount makes up more than three fourths the CR pensionado requirement. Most couples would not and COULD not retire in the US on $1100 a month. Hell, most couples would not retire in the US on twice that much. They will remain in the work force.
Those that looked at CR as a place to retire without having sufficient funds for a US retirement are indeed S-O-L. But those people are the poor in the US. Even those who have $2000 a month income cannot be considered rich by any standards except those of a developing country and even then, only marginally so. A monthly income of between $1100 and $2700 in CR puts you in the upper 20% of the population there but not the upper 10%. The upper 10% are the Tico wealthy.
Edited on Nov 29, 2008 08:22
