Berzin: How many more years are you going to be blaming "imperialism" for all our ills? Are imperialists to be blamed for our present political class that graduated 49 years ago?
Have you forgotten that our independence is only 68 years younger than USA's. We're not that young anymore to continue blaming Uncle Sam, Spain and France. We have had our own self-determination for too long to continue this blame-game. It is too easy an answer.
How do you explain Taiwan, South Korea, Israel? Some of these nations are not even older than our current "democracy"(1966-2009 period). Why do they succeed and we don't. Oh yes of course, you'll tell me with help from Uncle Sam. But why can't we convince Uncle Sam to be generous with us too? Are Israelis smarter than we are?
We had two chances to become a Taiwan in 1916 and 1965. We had the Americans here. But rather than get the best out them we told them "Yankees go home". We still do. We hate them. We hate the empire. We envy them(that's the biggest problem). Puerto Rico is headed the same way. Lost opportunities! Latins are just ingrates.
But let's stick to us Dominicans. We despise Spain, whom we used to call "La Madre Patria". We can blame them all you want for the oppression of indians. But that's how history works. Alexander the Great was no angel. Yet what would civilization be without him?
Now Spaniards develop most of our beaches and help create a tourist industry that is the envy of many of our neighbors. But we continue to deny their contribution to our society as a whole. While our socialist and left wing friends keep up this fantasy life without imperialism, our women want nothing more than marry a Spaniard. They spend hour chatting in internet looking for "un Espa?olito" because our Dominican men are a bunch of machistas who want their little ass for nothing.
Spaniards are not so bad to our women. It is perhaps our men who hate them because the do better for our women. They are culturally, educationally and financially better than most of us. Whose fault is that?
Let's take India. How long has India been a nation? Why are they now a potential world power? How did they react to imperialism? What did they learn from Britain? That's the difference. Some of us take advantage, others live their life in hatred and retribution.
When "the Yankees" came here in 1965 we blamed the Marines for sex violations. What sex violations? Our girls and women came rushing to them my man! Let's stop the lies. They loved those 6 footers with blue eyes with sharp uniforms. Let's stop hypocrisy. My own girlfriend went for a Marine, and then for another one. That's fair game.
Berzin, I'm sorry. I'm sick and tired of these "imperialism" books. So what about Africa? Africa was better during colonialism. There hasn't been so much famine and poverty as now. Are Anglos to blame for Egypt's underdevelopment, a nation that existed long before Rome? Why are the Nigerian people so poor with all that oil? Why does the Saudi dictatorship do better? Is South Africa a better nation now with apartheid over? Why have they lost their opportunity to become a better nation?
But history is full of success stories. Take Australia. What was Australia before the British but a bunch of wild aborigenes feeding their dingos. What about Canada?
When you look at it it's a cultural thing. When we migrate to foreign powers we continue our cultural underdevelopment by crowding together in ghettos instead of merging into the new culture. We try to bring our own culture and force it into the system, instead of integrating fully for better development.
We stick to colmadones, bachata, playing dominoes on sidewalks, and living the easy life(welfare, drugs, gangs)
There are many Dominicans abroad who took the hard way and made it in the system and live a better life and can say I am one of them.
I stick to my prediction that Dominican Republic will not come out of this vicious circle for another 200 years. We have lost 50 years already because we are now worse than 1961 as an organized nation. We have failed every test as a state. We will be a failed state for many more decades, perhaps centuries. It is our destiny. But don't blame the Yankees or the Spaniards.
I recall a bold foreign policy step we took under Hipolito Mejia's leadership. He sent our troops to Iraq. That was a wise decision and a smart foreign policy strategy. But did we take advantage of this success? No. We lost our resolve and pulled out to follow now a bankrupt policy of appeasing terrorist nations and joining a ghetto storefront organization called Petrocaribe and potentially become member of ALBA.
We lost every opportunity we had to be with our friends and live with our friends, but instead we choose the enemy. We're slowly betraying an old friend, Taiwan, for the promised land of dictatorial China.
We'll see how far we're gonna go with China, Russia, Lybia, Palestine, Iran, Syria, Venezuela as our new trusted partners.