I know it doesn't matter about the "what if" questions that arises from time to time
but I must say that the killing of President Kennedy in the 1960s cost the DR dearly. Kennedy was very sympathetic to the DR, with ample grants. In fact, in the 1960s, the DR was the biggest recipient of U.S. Aid (today it's Israel), but of course, Kennedy gets fatally shot and before you know, the U.S. abandoned the DR. I think the samething is bound to happen in Iraq once Kerry wins the U.S. elections. The exact same thing. All of this leads me to question my self this important question. What if Kennedy was not killed? Would that had made the Dominican Economy and political culture and future much more efficient? Would the DR be where it is today, worst than it is today, or better? I just wonder.
Now, my dominican political view. I think Leonel is going to win the next elections and I am pro-Leonel 100%. I like his way of thinking, very industrial oriented and forward looking. Oh sure, there are going to be some folks that will be within his party and are going to be much more corrupt than the devil himself, but that is when you know that we got a real democracy. Only in democracies do MULTIPLE people have a chance of being corrupt in government rather than ONE person like in Totalitarian or Dictatorial regimes.
I don't agree 100% with one of the posters when he/she posted dominican-americans are becoming the professional minds that the DR did not allow them to be. Though I get your point, I don't agree with the wordings. It is justifiable to say that many kids in the DR have the opportunity to get a free education all the way through college. Of course, not all of the kids due to economic constraints, but many. Unfortunately, way too many drop out before they even finish high school. So was it the DR that did not allow them to be the professionals of the future or was it something else? Maybe the thought of getting in a yola or buying a visa and going to "rich" New York sounds more promising that studying studying and more studying. Or maybe, hoping to be spotted by baseball scouts is more appealing. Though I clearly understand your statement and what you ment, I don't think the DR prevents anyone from acheiving success. Sure, there are economic problems that could cause inequalities in distribution of free education across the country, but those that are lucky enough to get free education are not making the most of it. That is where it all lies.
I do think that Dominican-Americans are going to be a big influence in Dominican politics.The only problem that I see with this phenomenon is that way too many Dominican-Americans will influence the DR with a strong American way of doing things. Such push could eventually lead the DR to give up being a free independent nation and become a state of the U.S. Such action would be an insult to all the men and women that shed blood so that dominicans could have somewhere in the planet to always call home. The dominican elites would certainly hate anything of that nature because it will take away much of their powers. It's something akin to asking the U.S. to withdraw all of their military bases that are in non-American owned lands. It would be detrimental to the power of the U.S. But I think that Dominican-Americans should try to influence the country in many ways. Maybe, take away the "welfare mentality" of the everyday people just waiting for the government to do something for them and instead give people the motivation to actually go out there and try to make it, expecting nothing from nobody but themselves. For dominicans to stop dreaming about New York or Puerto Rico and begin acting on their lives in the country that was kind enough to allow them to live freely.
I disagree with Tom F.'s view on democracies spreading. I don't think that Democracy should be forced upon other nations, that is a very undemocratic manner of doing things. I would like to see countries with different types of regime to have a resurgence of people asking for democratic liberties, like what's happening in Iran, not imposing it to them by force. Most of the people that support democracy are people that only know such form of government. Few supporters of democracy have actually lived in a non-democratic country. Just how you think that democracy is the best thing in the world and you see all the good in democracies and the bad in other regimes, so do the people that live under other regimes as well see other countries with different political structure. We ought to understand how each political system works and try to see if maybe democracy could be much more positive than the other form of government. Look what has been happening in Russia. People there are now starving en masses (something not seen in Communist Russia), many children are no longer attending school because they have to sell things to help the family survive, old russian women are forced to sell their last bit of clothing for survival. In the other hand, there are some russians that have departed from the modest lifestyle that all Russians shared during Communism and have moved into extremely lavish mansions and are spending money by the boatload on any given day. On the streets of Moscow you see people on shoes about to lose their threads while others whisk by on lavish Mercedes sedan. The question here is whether democracy was kinder to the Russians than Communism. Sure, the Oligarchs would say yeah, but look at the other 99% of the population. Hopefully you now see why I disagree with you or partially disagree with you on this issue, though I do see your point.
