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And it’s bad. I’ve been staying here since May because my daughter and grandson live here and I went and hung out with them today and then when I was ready to go back to my house, which is over an hour away by public transportation, I found out that the metro system was shut down due to protests. I didn’t know how I was going to get back so I got in touch with my roommate who owns a restaurant in the city. I knew the buses would be full and traffic would be at a standstill so I decided to walk to the restaurant to catch a ride home with her. The distance was five miles down one of the main thoroughfares in the city. Dumb decision. Really really dumb decision.
It started out not too bad...more people than usual but that was to be expected. I got about a mile down and noticed some young people were throwing rocks and then people were wrapping scarves around their heads because there was tear gas sprayed. That was soon over though and I figured it was just an incident so I kept walking, faster this time. Then I got another mile down and all hell broke loose. Kids were pulling guard rails out of the ground and throwing them out in the street and others were turning over glass recycling bins and throwing the broken bottles onto the street. Others were gathering up the plastic garbage bins and burning them right in the street and though I didn’t see it at the time, I found out later that they burned and or destroyed several metro stations and burned several city buses. Tear gas was everywhere but I was caught and couldn’t get out of it as it was in every direction. I honestly wondered if I was in hell and the whole ordeal was excruciating.
Why the protests? The metro fares had gone up and have already been expensive. Some say that inequality has become unbearable and healthcare costs are rising. Sound familiar? I never would’ve imagined I’d see something like this ever and I’m heartbroken for the Chilean people who will have to deal with the aftermath of this for a very long time. And such a beautiful city too.
stepka I'm sure everyone here hopes you stay safe, best of luck and keep us updated.
Thanks, I just had to get that off my chest the other night so I could sleep, but I don’t think it’s even hit the news in the states yet. There are 5000 people sleeping at the airport tonight and no food there. Folks are looting and getting shot. I’m staying in till I leave to go home in a couple of weeks.
The number of cars in my city must have doubled in the year I lived there (1993) due to sudden easy credit. I thought then that nothing good could have come of that, everyone was living over their heads. After 25 years, the chickens may be coming to roost..
Wow, I spent some time in beautiful Santiago and was impressed with their Metro as a functional system....too bad some idiots are tearing things up. I was impressed with Chile and would not have expected this.
Chile is a very classist society with one of the highest gini in the world. Neoliberalism and the trickle down effect only get you so far and the discontent boils up until it overspills.
income inequality in Chile and lots of other LA countries date back to colonial Latifundistas and the disproportionate distribution of land. So many sad scenes that make older Chileans that lived through Pinochet writhe with uneasy feelings.
Wow, I spent some time in beautiful Santiago and was impressed with their Metro as a functional system....too bad some idiots are tearing things up. I was impressed with Chile and would not have expected this.
I was not expecting this at all...have been here since May and I’ve always felt safe, even walking around at night. Not now though. There is a lot of looting going on. Also they’ve absorbed a lot of Venezuelans and that has put a downward pressure on wages.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pueblofuerte
Chile is a very classist society with one of the highest gini in the world. Neoliberalism and the trickle down effect only get you so far and the discontent boils up until it overspills.
Trickle down effect. Pah. It’s true that it never works the way they say it’s going to because they only tell people that to get them to accept the fact that they’re lowering the taxes on the wealthy. It’s trickle up that feeds the economy. Give a rich person $100,000 and they sock it away in an offshore account but give that same amount to several poor people and they spend it...they’ll pay off debt or buy a house or buy cigarettes and snack cakes, but that money goes back to the economy.
Chile is a very classist society with one of the highest gini in the world. Neoliberalism and the trickle down effect only get you so far and the discontent boils up until it overspills.
By the end of the industrial revolution in the United States public spending amounted to 3% of GDP(basically nothing) yet 80% of their population lived in the middle class by global standards. Income equality is meaningless and a terrible barometer, it assumes that if we’re all poorer but more equal we’re better off. Haiti rates better in income equality than the United States no one would argue Haiti is a better place to live. There is no “trickle down economics” there is real economics and phony government central planning that doesn’t work. If you want to see what years of governent central planning looks like look at Venezuela or Bolivia or Cuba.
By the end of the industrial revolution in the United States public spending amounted to 3% of GDP(basically nothing) yet 80% of their population lived in the middle class by global standards. Income equality is meaningless and a terrible barometer, it assumes that if we’re all poorer but more equal we’re better off. Haiti rates better in income equality than the United States no one would argue Haiti is a better place to live. There is no “trickle down economics” there is real economics and phony government central planning that doesn’t work. If you want to see what years of governent central planning looks like look at Venezuela or Bolivia or Cuba.
You don't excuse one thing by presenting another extreme. Even at the other extreme your example is erroneous as Haiti also has a high gini, there's a mulato and arabic class that dominate the Haiti economy or the little that there is at least. A better example for your point would be something like Liberia which does have a lower Gini.
However more money doesn't always equal content and various wealthy (enough) countries live healthier and more contented lives in a more equal society i.e. South Korea, Austria, Netherlands, etc.
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