Texas Bill said:
Aid from the US has not a single thing to do with the problem, so get off that old kick.
The problem, my friend, is that this country is so embroiled in "freedom" that it doesn't want anything else!
I don't know about Israel, but Singapore and Taiwan have a population that has a WORK ETHIC and doesn't whine about being slighted on aid from the US. They just put their noses to the grindstone, tough it out and get the job DONE! While here are a few large electronic factories in Taiwan, a MAJORITY of the assembly parts are made in HOME INDUSTRIES by family groups who work their butts off 16-18 hours a day and produce a fairly good product with a minimum of investment!
As for Singapore, it has always been a port that has been involved in transshipping from the early days of British ownership. The expertice was there and the government encouraged the expansionism necessary to become larger. And they did it without US Aid!
They didn't whine about not having--they just put their noses to the grindstone and did what had to be done to get the job done. Something the average Dominican can't seem to grasp. They're too busy trying to get something for nothing or a "connection".
You as much as admitted that this country can't get by witout getting "AID" from somewhere, that you have to be supported because you don't have the wherewithal intrinsincly to take the BEST advantage of that AID, so Why SHOULD YOU EXPECT TO CONTINUE GETTING HANDOUTS from the US or anyone else???
It seems to me that after all these years you'd finally figure out the solution to the problem. YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELVES FOR A CHANGE!!!
Texas Bill
TB, I think we all know that. So why would I mention AID, well because AID is a huge part of Israel's day to day functioning and the other poster mentioned Israel as a prosperous place. How many people live in Israel? Off the top of my head I'll say 8 million, maybe less. How much aid do they get from the USA (not counting European countries aid)? About $3 Billion a year. In my opinion they are getting way much more than they should be getting. I understand they got the Palestinian issues, but $3 Billion is over doing it. Compare that to the DR, a country with a similar population number wise and we only get about $300 million! That comes and goes on the sameday it leaves the boat! I know AID will not solve the country's problems, but if people keep mentioning other countries as successful, countries that are a virtual welfare state of the USA primarily, then I got to pin point the dismal "help" that is being given to the DR, especially compared to Israel.
About Dominicans being too free and not being able to do something for ourselves, well that is a fact that you are giving, with no backup. Think about! The DR has always been ruled by outsiders or intimidated. In the last 40 years have the Dominicans begun to take a real grip at their tragectory into the future, that is 40 years out of 500 years of history! You need to give us some time, besides, the USA was a backwater thirdworld country for the first 100 or so years after it's independence, why would the DR be any different?
You're right! Singapore did it with out US AID, it was British Aid. Do you think that Singapore and Hong Kong would have developed into what they are today if the British were not around? Singapore and Hong Kong were as poor as Haiti before the Brits came and showed them their potential, in addition to taking the Singaporians (I think that's what they are called) and Hong Konians by their hands and showing them how its done! Now, when did that happened in the DR? Gee, all I remember is super powers taking over and telling us how become a parasite for them and how we can give our natural resources to them so they can benefit from it.
I know we have to do something for ourselves, and in fact, most of the wealthiest families in the DR are wealthiest because of that ethic. However, we are dealing with a country where most folks don't think that way. Until the government can "breed" a smarter kind of Dominicans via education, etc. we have to "take care" of the current population. If we try to make Dominican smarter while they starve because they can't figure out that they have to do something for themselves, then we are going to keep getting more welgas, and shootings, and disruptions that will hamper our efforts to fix things the first time around!
In conclusion, I must say that today's world is very different from the past and working one's butt off may not yield the same results as before, just given to the socio-economic position the DR is globally. This globalization deal is a sort of caste system maintain rich countries rich and poor countries poor. What does a person in the first world have to do for unemployment to drop? They have to educate themselves and then they fill those high paying jobs abundant in the First world. What do third world people have to do for unemployment to drop? They must lose hope in higher wages. That is the new world order we live in today and because of that, trying to become wealthy through trade alone won't cut it. It would help, but it won't cut it. Besides, the USA is no longer a manufacturing giant or anything of that sort. The USA is keeping its wealth through trade. It has become a oversized Hong Kong! The DR could seem to challenge the USA trade position between Latin America and Europe, something that could make the USA a bit more weary of the DR. Who knows, if we try to better ourselves this way we could end up being nuked under some false premise, being trade the real culprit behind such act.
The world is not a simple place. Its a complicated ironic and hypocratic place that would only be overcomed with complicated, ironic, and hypocratic solutions. Those are my two cents in all of this.
