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Ai, palavras forte meu amigo!
Man, strong words my friend!
Very interesting thread. I liked your post Nueling. I am American, and Live in the U.S. I also love Brasil. I have a Brasilera esposa. I have been to Brasil 5 times and will return this November to Recife.
I just finished the book (excellent book) about the U.S. " Predator Nation" by Charles Ferguson. This is a great book by an Economist about the 2007 economic crash and causes in the U.S.
He states the middle class is disappearing in the U.S. (I believe this too). We have the rich getting richer in the U.S. and the middle class getting poorer. The top 1% control many things in the U.S. as Wall Street controls the Congress and the Politics in the U.S. today. Unless, we the people, stand for change, or the President gets rid of all the corruption up top (ex - CEO's of AIG, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, and Bank of America, we will continue to go downhill. We lead the world in Gold Metals from the 2012 Olympics, we also lead the world in National Debt!
Brasil is moving in a good direction, the government is helping the lower class. They are going in the opposite direction of the U.S. and improving economically. They have a looser policy for drilling and have a gold mine off the coast near the Santos Basin for oil drillling and I believe will hit it soon....
Lastly Nueling, I will tell you, as my wife tells me; There are nice and mean people in each country all over the world. It is no different (the people) here in the U.S. and in Brasil. There is good and bad everywhere.
Paz. Fica com Deus todos!
The sesta makes sense in countries where the sun boils down around noon, it is a traditional thing dating back to the times when many people were working outside. And although we still have the sesta here today, people actually work more than in Germany and other Northern places. In Germany they have a one-hour lunch break and most go home between 5 and 6pm. Here they have a one to two-hour lunch break and most go home at 7pm. And unlike in Germany many people work on Saturdays as well.
And yet the productivity of the Germans surpasses that of the Portuguese and Spanish... even with "many people" working on Saturdays as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuling
What is different is that people in most Latin places work to live, whereas with the US and some other countries I get the impression that it is the other way round. We don't have that exaggerated professional and economic ambition that so many Americans have, and I think is good that way.
.... and when the model demands someone actually PAY for the lifestyle, the "Latin way" can't make ends meet, so they have to ask the more productive Germans to come to the rescue! And then they riot in the streets!
You really can't have it both ways. It appears you think you can.
And by the way: The "Latin Countries" have raped, pillaged and plundered the world for hundreds of years. The slave trade was initiated by Spain and Portugal long before England got in the game. It was only in the last century or so they finally gave up, and now retreat like old men too tired to fight - or work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuling
Indeed, despite some nice people I can't stand the US as a whole, as a country, I think along with Iran, North Korea and the like it is one of the worst country on the planet currently, in a much more subtle way, though, like cancer.
Honestly, for you to have this opinion means that you are quite literally unhinged and lacking in any sort of nuanced perspective whatsoever! As someone else put it recently, a "typical internet European." The most arrogant creatures around!
To put the United States in the same category as Iran and North Korea? Have you ever even BEEN to the United States? Or do you get your perspective from Le Monde? The United States has its faults and inequities (which actually would be further along to correction if not a huge influx of poor people from the failed LATIN America). ... but there has never been a country that has weilded its enormous power as limited as the United States... which could have annexed the entirety of Latin America 30 years ago if it really wanted to.
Iran, North Korea, etc. contribute NOTHING POSITIVE to the world. The "Western world," led by the United States and certain European countries, make everything you value (such as this internet, computer technology, etc.) possible. Medicines, information technology, science, philanthropy...
Humanity's full potential will not be met by Iran or North Korea.
Neither will it be met by the US, which in my view has gradually become an evil country. That does not mean that I think all Americans are bad people (just like not all Iranians or North Koreans suck), I know several nice Americans. But the country as a whole is a bad country, and increasingly so as time passes. Since you are American, you are simply too brainwashed to realize it. I don't blame you, Americans are brainwashed just like Iranians, it's just another religion/ideology.
The slower, less ambitious pace of the Latin world as such is no problem at all, it only becomes a problem when those people are forced into this crazy productivity rat race that Northern countries have infected the whole world with, and the US is a driving force behind that sick development because of its pathetic level of greed and ambition. Of course Spain and Portugal also have blood on their hands regarding the colonial times, no doubt about it, but for today and the future that is pretty irrelevant as both countries are minor countries today, which focus mainly on themselves, which is a good thing. I wish all countries did that and stopped interfering in other people's affairs.
Either way, we are off-topic I guess, nor is it worth so many words, you have your views, I have mine, and neither one will change their views. So be it...
. Since you are American, you are simply too brainwashed to realize it. I don't blame you, Americans are brainwashed just like Iranians, it's just another religion/ideology.
And what explains YOUR off-kilter perspective? Were you brainwashed, or is yours a homegrown delusion?
You haven't demonstrated a SHRED of nuanced perspective on this subject. Just the same tired screed that has been repeated ever since the internet was introduced to the European continent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuling
The slower, less ambitious pace of the Latin world as such is no problem at all, it only becomes a problem when those people are forced into this crazy productivity rat race that Northern countries have infected the whole world with, and the US is a driving force behind that sick development because of its pathetic level of greed and ambition.
.... or it becomes a problem when certain people want a certain lifestyle... but can't... or won't... pay for it.
We have a word for that: lazy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuling
Of course Spain and Portugal also have blood on their hands regarding the colonial times, no doubt about it, but for today and the future that is pretty irrelevant as both countries are minor countries today, which focus mainly on themselves, which is a good thing. I wish all countries did that and stopped interfering in other people's affairs.
Either way, we are off-topic I guess, nor is it worth so many words, you have your views, I have mine, and neither one will change their views. So be it...
You won't change your mind or see other perspectives because you've bought into a paradigm and subscribe to a certain worldview. You can't even provide valid counterpoints. All you fall back on is, "such and such is evil and greedy." EVERY nation with the means is greedy and looks out for its own interests first. From China, to the UK, Germany, Mexico, the USA, Canada
And it's not entirely off topic at all. Brazil will not lift itself out of "developing" status without one of two things:
1) Developing its economy and finding ways to pay for development itself (the American model)
2) Someone else paying for it (the southern European model).
Brazil is forging a path along #1 right now, which is a good sign. The sheer poverty is causing a socialist bent right now, but as more people end up having something to call their own, you will see a more balanced socialist approach.
But to think Brazil is going to "stay out of everyone's business" is laughable. Brazil is right now setting itself up as the de facto leader of S. America via its rhetoric against the United States. Stay tuned, and welcome to the real world.
And what explains YOUR off-kilter perspective? Were you brainwashed, or is yours a homegrown delusion?
You haven't demonstrated a SHRED of nuanced perspective on this subject. Just the same tired screed that has been repeated ever since the internet was introduced to the European continent.
.... or it becomes a problem when certain people want a certain lifestyle... but can't... or won't... pay for it.
You won't change your mind or see other perspectives because you've bought into a paradigm and subscribe to a certain worldview. You can't even provide valid counterpoints. All you fall back on is, "such and such is evil and greedy." EVERY nation with the means is greedy and looks out for its own interests first. From China, to the UK, Germany, Mexico, the USA, Canada
And it's not entirely off topic at all. Brazil will not lift itself out of "developing" status without one of two things:
1) Developing its economy and finding ways to pay for development itself (the American model)
2) Someone else paying for it (the southern European model).
Brazil is forging a path along #1 right now, which is a good sign. The sheer poverty is causing a socialist bent right now, but as more people end up having something to call their own, you will see a more balanced socialist approach.
But to think Brazil is going to "stay out of everyone's business" is laughable. Brazil is right now setting itself up as the de facto leader of S. America via its rhetoric against the United States. Stay tuned, and welcome to the real world.
Tchau.
Ignore him. You beat him on every point. He comes across as a jealous foreigner that couldn't get a green card. They are the most rabid anti-Americans around. I wish he would tell his fellow Latins to stop immigrating to my country by the millions. We need a break.
USA of the 21st Century? Not exactly! I am sorry but even though Brazil has made some improvements in the last 10 years, in so many ways , it is still a "Third World" country.
The mentality of the people, the values, the way the see social class and materialism, it is exactly like any Third World country in Africa or the Middle East.
I deal with clients in Brazil everyday and the way they do business is exactly like they do in other "Third World" countries-the work ethic in Brazil is comparable to the work ethics in African, Middle Eastern or other Latin countries like Spain and Portugal
I am sorry but in order for Brazil to reach a "USA-like status", there would have to be a fundamental cultural change and I don't see that happening- not many Brazilians want to give up on their soccer games, the churrasco on the weekends and their "feriados imendados"- "extended holidays"- the only reason why the USA is a successful country-even with all the current issues, is the fact that, it is so much NOT like Brazil
Last edited by Repubocrat; 10-22-2012 at 09:16 PM..
USA of the 21st Century? Not exactly! I am sorry but even though Brazil has made some improvements in the last 10 years, in so many ways , it is still a "Third World" country.
The mentality of the people, the values, the way the see social class and materialism, it is exactly like any Third World country in Africa or the Middle East.
I deal with clients in Brazil everyday and the way they do business is exactly like they do in other "Third World" countries-the work ethic in Brazil is comparable to the work ethics in African, Middle Eastern or other Latin countries like Spain and Portugal
I am sorry but in order for Brazil to reach a "USA-like status", there would have to be a fundamental cultural change and I don't see that happening- not many Brazilians want to give up on their soccer games, the churrasco on the weekends and their "feriados imendados"- "extended holidays"- the only reason why the USA is a successful country-even with all the current issues, is the fact that, it is so much NOT like Brazil
People's Republic of China - 1.3 billion people
Republic of India - 1.2 billion people
United States of America - 310 million people
Federative Republic of Brazil - 200 million people
Brazil just doesn't have the population to replace the U.S. while China and India do.
Brazil is at the full extent a Global Great Power (just like U.K. and France) or a Latin America Regional Superpower.
With U.K. and France declining, Brazil can certainly take over their positions, but it certainly can't replace the U.S.
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Uh...I knew what I was doing. Thank you for the very basic, day 1 lesson--but, I wrote it "genderifically" ambiguous on purpose. 
that's nice
