There should be this exchange of information to educate each other on what each side (and there are more than two) of a discussion thinks! I get so charged from these talks that it is motivating me to inform myself more, just as we have a responsibility to do as United States Citizens.
The economy as a serious driving for to many politics is ridden with corruption and dissent on many different levels and there are stories I've heard with a few:
1. Driving drunk. If your police officer seems to beat around the bush with giving you a ticket, most likely they can be bought off.
(THIS WAS NOT A PIECE OF ADVICE: Skirting a DUI doesn't reduce your chance of killing someone. It probably increases it since you'll keep driving.)
2. With the tragedy on La Once a few weeks ago, corruption is seen in the protocol that failed to use the money to perform regular systems checks on the trains and maintain their safety.
3. The Vice President of Argentina used to be the Minister of the Economy prior to his election as Vice President. There is now a scandal with his hand in the business that prints money - that works for the state. What kind of strings is he pulling with is residual power.
4. There is a problem between the governor of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the President of the Nation with regards to the subte system (subterraneo; subway). The state has given the control of the subte to the governor, but not the money nor the police force to patrol the platforms. Since the federal government is not supplying the local government with what they need, Governor Mauricio Macri wants to give back the control of the systems, even if it could be a financial gain for them because as of now it is a financial liability.
No fingers are being pointed at the better nation or better government; we each have our own problems. What is interesting to note in conversations with South Americans, Argentine's and Chilenos mostly, is that we each think our problems are paramount. Where the difference is is in the manifestations that they have compared to us. Students in Chile want the money they pay for their education to go to the professors instead of the middle man? They fight. They sit in. They occupy. Mother's of the Disappeared from the Dirty War want answers and justice? They manifest and protest every Thursday. The subte problem between the president and the governor results in a day of no subtes.
The way people fight for what they want down here is like they fight for their life: sometimes we just sit at home and watch from the TV. I find this somewhat a call to action.
1. Driving drunk. If your police officer seems to beat around the bush with giving you a ticket, most likely they can be bought off.
(THIS WAS NOT A PIECE OF ADVICE: Skirting a DUI doesn't reduce your chance of killing someone. It probably increases it since you'll keep driving.)
2. With the tragedy on La Once a few weeks ago, corruption is seen in the protocol that failed to use the money to perform regular systems checks on the trains and maintain their safety.
3. The Vice President of Argentina used to be the Minister of the Economy prior to his election as Vice President. There is now a scandal with his hand in the business that prints money - that works for the state. What kind of strings is he pulling with is residual power.
4. There is a problem between the governor of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the President of the Nation with regards to the subte system (subterraneo; subway). The state has given the control of the subte to the governor, but not the money nor the police force to patrol the platforms. Since the federal government is not supplying the local government with what they need, Governor Mauricio Macri wants to give back the control of the systems, even if it could be a financial gain for them because as of now it is a financial liability.
No fingers are being pointed at the better nation or better government; we each have our own problems. What is interesting to note in conversations with South Americans, Argentine's and Chilenos mostly, is that we each think our problems are paramount. Where the difference is is in the manifestations that they have compared to us. Students in Chile want the money they pay for their education to go to the professors instead of the middle man? They fight. They sit in. They occupy. Mother's of the Disappeared from the Dirty War want answers and justice? They manifest and protest every Thursday. The subte problem between the president and the governor results in a day of no subtes.
The way people fight for what they want down here is like they fight for their life: sometimes we just sit at home and watch from the TV. I find this somewhat a call to action.
Angela
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