4.26.2005
Desperate Enough For What?
I came across this today which is interesting considering some of the conversations I've been having with Argentines.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4482913.stm
I will be in Lima in a week - we'll see if this is still in the news.
As I get set to move on to Santa Cruz tomorrow, it is quite interesting to reflect on how Argentines have reacted to and continue to absorb their sudden economic downfall. Thanks to the devaluation, the power of the dollar gives foreign tourists unparalleled purchasing power. After a week, I am still amazed when I see a a dinner check for a 3 course meal - salad, appetizer, filet mignon, a good red wine, and dessert - all for $10 dollars a head.
This situation, while great for a vacationing gringo, illustrates how thoroughly the economic situation has devastated the middle class. A professor of law at the University of Buenos Aires (the top public university in the country) commented to me today that Argentina used to have 3 or 4 middle classes. Now, she noted, the generation of her parents cannot afford a house, a car, and to travel on vacation. Social mobility, once a trademark of 20th century Argentina, has actually worked in reverse - the middle class sliding miserably into poverty.
I also met with 5 members of a local fair trade cooperative which seeks to market and sell the products of small independent merchants in Buenos Aires. While they were all enthusiastic with the recent trend of local asambleas (neighborhood community gatherings in which citizens voice their concerns in a public forum) which sprung up following the 2001 crisis, their pride has made it very hard to swallow the new urban poverty that was once hidden from the beautiful streets of Bs As. They told of citizens, forced to eat at a local church soup kitchen, who shielded their faces in shame when television cameras came to interview them. As one of the older men commented, his eyes welling up with tears, "we are becoming resigned to seeing the destitute on a daily basis. It doesn't even faze us anymore."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4482913.stm
I will be in Lima in a week - we'll see if this is still in the news.
As I get set to move on to Santa Cruz tomorrow, it is quite interesting to reflect on how Argentines have reacted to and continue to absorb their sudden economic downfall. Thanks to the devaluation, the power of the dollar gives foreign tourists unparalleled purchasing power. After a week, I am still amazed when I see a a dinner check for a 3 course meal - salad, appetizer, filet mignon, a good red wine, and dessert - all for $10 dollars a head.
This situation, while great for a vacationing gringo, illustrates how thoroughly the economic situation has devastated the middle class. A professor of law at the University of Buenos Aires (the top public university in the country) commented to me today that Argentina used to have 3 or 4 middle classes. Now, she noted, the generation of her parents cannot afford a house, a car, and to travel on vacation. Social mobility, once a trademark of 20th century Argentina, has actually worked in reverse - the middle class sliding miserably into poverty.
I also met with 5 members of a local fair trade cooperative which seeks to market and sell the products of small independent merchants in Buenos Aires. While they were all enthusiastic with the recent trend of local asambleas (neighborhood community gatherings in which citizens voice their concerns in a public forum) which sprung up following the 2001 crisis, their pride has made it very hard to swallow the new urban poverty that was once hidden from the beautiful streets of Bs As. They told of citizens, forced to eat at a local church soup kitchen, who shielded their faces in shame when television cameras came to interview them. As one of the older men commented, his eyes welling up with tears, "we are becoming resigned to seeing the destitute on a daily basis. It doesn't even faze us anymore."
# posted by Juanson : 5:10 PM
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Another good post. Keep em coming, Rey Leon. Seriously, your writing is very clear and gives gringos like me a window on parts of the world that I know only as shapes on a map. And the first-hand reporting gives it a human touch. Keep this up man, I'm sure it will lead to good things.
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# posted by 
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