Thanks Clee for recommending a good book and thanks everyone replying my post. Well my mind was totally blank when I started looking for information of country I want to retire in the beginning but now I have so many thought that I even tossed all night to arrange my mind sometime. It is because I was born into the poverty and tragedy and the reality of Ecuador reminds me of those days of sorrow and sadness. Also I have been an eyewitness of a country that emerged from the third world nation to the one of G20 member in a single generation, which inspired me in a lot of aspects. Perhaps, that may be the reason why I have quite different view from the most of members in this forum. As a matter of facts it involves too many area of subjects and intertwined each other to talk about the poverty and nation, it is virtually impossible to exchange the thought in a few posts, so that I even feel it would be better off to say nothing at all. But it touched my heart whenever I faced the distortion and mis-concepts from the forum that made me to express my thought.
In a word I am very pessimistic about the possibility of ending poverty of Ecuador in one generation’s lifetime unless there is drastic change in social culture, and institutional structure. Please do not misunderstand my word of ‘change’. I do not mean any revolution or reform. I mean the basic mentality of majority of population. So before proceed any further I have to talk about the nature of the poverty.
Whether it is an individual or a nation the primary requirement is its own strong determination and will to end the poverty and this determination must accompany with tremendous sacrifice. But when one is born in the poverty people more likely does not even have concepts of the nature of poverty and acquire basic survival instincts, subservience and low self esteem, and carries various emotional scars, resentment, and distorted view of society. Look at the American black population. Still they have this resentment in their mind despite of electing half black president. Early marriage and high birth rate is prime example of consequence of lack of self recognition and determination as well as distinct pattern of the third world nations. When someone has ten starving children at 20 year old of age and steal a bread to feed his children, do you think he or she would have strong guilty feeling? On the contrary I saw the parent teaching their children to steal. That’s how poverty creates poverty and the vicious cycle continues. And frequently young children are abducted to be used for this purpose. This emotional scar acquired in early age remains for entire life.
Poverty is mostly concentrated in rural farming area, in which plenty of resentful population is ready to be ignited by simple propaganda. This is why all the Maoist or communist revolutionary pioneers always penetrate in rural area to recruit revolutionary guard. But do you realize that more inhumane crime has been committed by red revolution than German Nazi? All the combined massacre by this communist revolution may be greater than the one by Alexander the great or Genghis khan. And history already proved that it did not work but there still exists sentimental desire for communism. So did Fidel Castro build utopia instead of one man dictator ship? What about the north Korea? There is another universal principle except Isaac Newton’s gravitational theory. It is absolute government corrupts absolutely.
The main banner of red revolution is always land reform and equal distribution. Because their major recruits are peasants who are mostly servitudes to minority land owners. When the poor peasant owns the land, it means more than just simple piece of property. It is their pride as well as livelihood to which they are emotionally attached. Losing the land means not only confiscation of their livelihood but also destruction of their pride and self esteem. That is why Japan is protecting their farmers religiously even though it is no longer agrarian economy. How would you feel if rich gringos flooded to buy out cheap lands to make a decent profit by flipping and developing golf course on their farm land? Do you think average Ecuadorian making $300 a month can compete with rich gringo speculator? Can you understand the fear of Ecuadorian farmer when he saw white Peace Corps gringo, which Moritz Thomsen describes in Living Poor?
In a country whose major population is relying on farming, it is very critical to protect them to maintain the social and political stability. So is residential and forest. Basically any speculative real property investment has to be strictly controlled in that developing stage of economy for the stability, especially for foreign capital. We have to realize that the same speed of development of the third world economy as the first world will results in staying as permanent third world. Their acceleration has to be greater than the other to catch up. There has to be controlled development activity with proper protectionism. Not the Chavez style semi red revolution. Actually to avoid that type of reform the stability is very important.
Another thing I’ve noticed is some reason significant portion of expats have tendency of negative view of its own country and trying to portray their personal attitude to local population. Well, otherwise they probably did not move to the third world country and satisfied themselves with voluntary living condition of poverty relative to their own country. But that type of attitude has to be refrained considering its unintended effects.
One American expat has her own web sites in Peru with a lot of subscribers. She posted very negative view of newly opened McDonald joint in a tourist town as an invasion of American capitalism with fierce criticism of America in general and there were tons of reply from local people commending her. I was personally enraged at her view not because I am a red neck patriot but because of her distorted view and misleading of suffering poor Peruvians.
Is capitalism the cause of poverty in the third world? Is it possible to develop economy without accumulation of capital? Is capitalism invented by America? Is America the only capitalistic country? Does America want the rest of the world to stay as the third world? Is democracy invented by America? So I wrote long post of my reply but she deleted my post without any explanation.
Modern capitalism started by Romans and democracy was formed by Greek. Opening of McDonald can not be considered as land speculation and a kind of golf course for rich people. Not only that capital is the most important factor for developing economy next to self determination of its own people to end the poverty. And America has been spending big portion of our tax money together with private capital to help developing countries. How the miracle of Japan, South Korea and China were possible? Now Vietnam is on the way to be in this circle in the future. Then can anyone explain why all the major US trading partners are far away even though plenty of cheap labor and natural resource are right next to south of the border?
The answer is very simple but it is a tremendous challenge. There has to be an activity to awaken people to form the determination. Not the propaganda or revolution. It will not be achieved by young volunteers with sentimental altruism who has no clue about the poverty. It has to be done by Ecuadorian themselves.
And my final thought. It is a little irony that all the red revolutionary pioneers who initiated the movement and instigated the uneducated poor class were from the educated bourgeoisie. Karl Marx, Lenin, Ho Chi Min, Mao Zedong, Che Guevara, Jose Carlos Mariatuge, Pol Pot and Osama Bin Laden, etc. And most of them became brutal power hungry dictator instead of the Lord of the poor. Osama sent many young followers with suicide bomb except himself. And why the poor themselves could not be awaken? Also all these leaders main strategies were using teenage soldiers to enforce their brutal doctrine. Remember the young female Havard student went to join Columbian revolution?
All these misguided movement created only inhumane tragedy. The poverty can not be solved with heroic ambition of sentimental passion. Must analyze the reality with surgical eyes and build determination.
And HGQ, I read your post several times. Have you seen the picture of Ecuadorian father picking up a food from trash can and feeding his child? The child was so excited about the piece of meal. When you experience this with your own skin I think your view will be changed. I did.
And rest of members, I am not writing a novel. I know the poverty and communism.
Thank you
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