they will stick up for them, until they have the opportunity to rip them off. why do you think there are so many unfinished houses in the DR? because relatives in the USA send money to family here, to oversee the building of the house. family here pockets the money, and gives fanciful stories to the guys slaving abroad, about how great the house is looking. when the guy comes home at Christmas, expecting to see some worthwhile progress, it is still some land , and a barbed wire fence. so much for family.
- Thread starter tccstudent
- Start date
Dominican Republic Values
they will stick up for them, until they have the opportunity to rip them off. why do you think there are so many unfinished houses in the DR? because relatives in the USA send money to family here, to oversee the building of the house. family here pockets the money, and gives fanciful stories to the guys slaving abroad, about how great the house is looking. when the guy comes home at Christmas, expecting to see some worthwhile progress, it is still some land , and a barbed wire fence. so much for family.
I disagree, people respect each other and take into consideration the effect their actions will have on their neighbours, I find the community very strong have so many examples of selflessness that I don't care to mention as it is a daily normal. If you feel no community spirit then you are missing out, that's a shame.
I don't understand what you mean by Rights.
Your experience is very different to mine, our family is a hugely strong unit and we are ALWAYS there for each other no matter what. Respect and tolerance purely down to family is something that is far stronger in with my Dominican side of the family than my family in the UK.
We seem to have experienced different lives, but I find family is very strong, and community can be if you choose to live among reasonable people. Move to Villa Mella and live with a hated family with ladrones for teenagers then you probably won't get much respect and not experience what you could.
I would have expected her to say that! :laugh:
Privacy is also something that people don't seem to have a need for as much as we gringo's do.
Also think that OP should consider that many of the negatives come from an underlying positive value.
Some have brought up baseball. Don't know if it's a value, but it certainly is one of the national passions.
Perhaps, "the means justify the ends" is what explains a lot of "fraud". Including baseball players and fake marriages. The underlying value is determination. Committment to finding a way to make a better life, by any means necessary. And when that means is document fraud, it's not so bad, compared to killing someone (for example.) So the ingrained passion for improving your lot in life is much higher than following the rule of law. That trait, whatever it is called, is what spurs people into overfilled yolas that have a 50-50% of making it--better a life with a chance than a life getting nowhere.
Also, don't think anyone has mentioned ingenuity. Don't know if that's a value or a characteristic, but Dominicans can make machines work, create new ones, and maintain existing ones with rubber bands and prayer. (I saw another poster that made reference to making a space shuttle out of spare parts, don't remember who said it, but it captures the essence of what Dominicans can do with very little resources.)
Appearance is another value that shows up in different ways. Clean, pressed clothes throughout the population. Then the emphasis on designer labels, seems to welcome the rip-offs. It doesn't matter if it's an original, as long as it looks like one.
Same thing with virginity for girls, not as important to be one, as it is to have lived a life where it appears that you still are one. The cabanas have already discussed, but part of the same "appearance" focus. It appears that he (she) is a good family man because they provide and go to church on Sunday. As long as no-one sees what they do when they are away.
What you will never capture in a paper is the absolute zest and enthusiasm Dominicans have for life.
Good afternoon GIvadogahome,
we may in fact have different experiences, but here's what I mean by 'collectivism':
1. your street
2. your neighborhood
3. your car
#1 - does your street have garbage on it? a candy wrapper or beer bottle? who threw it there? why couldn't they wait till they got to the next garbage can? it may be easier for THEM to just throw it out when they're done with it, but to think for the collective means holding your garbage until the next trash.
#2 - is there a construction project in your neighborhood? do they think about your sleeping hours or do they start as early as possible and work as late as possible? do they care about the harm they're causing to your street by blocking traffic? by cleaning up the mess? or do they just leave it there? the individual vs. the collective.
#3 - your car does it have problems with it's axles yet? have you realized how many holes there are on the street? if we all pitched in a bit of what we're paying for tire and axle repairs, we could probably fix half the holes on the calle, but that form of collectivist thinking wouldn't work here because SOMEBODY would want to manage the money, and can that person be trusted to think of the collective instead of themselves (ie. and steal the money?).
For me living here personally, I *LIKE* The individual rights that are afforded to the person. It's every man to himself, and those of us who have money and hustle...well we get ahead without the nanny state 'equaling' everything out. But that's a Westerner coming here and taking advantage of the 'arbitrage'.
The things that you (and others) have mentioned are not collectivist forms of thinking, they're simply charity. And it's true, that on a one-on-one basis, Dominicans are very kind and charitable people. THey will share the food off their plate. But collectivist thinking needs to think of those that they DO NOT know - for example, do you think the politicians lose sleep over the food that they're STEALING off the foods of the people they DO NOT know?
Charity is not collectivism.
Anyways, have a good afternoon!
IN ONE WORD: CREATIVITY!
DOMINICANS in my mind are some of the most creative people in the world.
Merengue, Bachata, Dembow - creative musical styles all created here.
Two videos that were recently sent to me by dominicans that made me laugh:
(edit: oops I'm only allowed to post one video at a time on this site)
[video=youtube;PhBjvkjlxXk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhBjvkjlxXk[/video]
DOMINICANS in my mind are some of the most creative people in the world.
Merengue, Bachata, Dembow - creative musical styles all created here.
Two videos that were recently sent to me by dominicans that made me laugh:
(edit: oops I'm only allowed to post one video at a time on this site)
[video=youtube;PhBjvkjlxXk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhBjvkjlxXk[/video]
Dembow creative ? It is a copy of Jamaican dancehall from the 90's. Dem bow was even the title of a song by Shabba Ranks.
Merengue, Bachata I am with you though.
Dembow creative ? It is a copy of Jamaican dancehall from the 90's. Dem bow was even the title of a song by Shabba Ranks.
Merengue, Bachata I am with you though.
you beat me to it. actually, bachata is the same three step beat that i used to dance to in high school, and that was a long time ago.
If you wanna know just "How Much" Dominican family members support and trust each other,just visit any Dominican home!
If you look around,you will see that every cupboard,door,closet,and even bureau drawers,have a key lock on them!!!
Some way to live!!
"Oh!',and most of the wood around the locks is smashed,where the lock was broken open!
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If you look around,you will see that every cupboard,door,closet,and even bureau drawers,have a key lock on them!!!
Some way to live!!
"Oh!',and most of the wood around the locks is smashed,where the lock was broken open!
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this guy i know just lost his job. i gave him a lead to a lady with a company, who is in the process of hiring. he told me, three days ago, that he would go and see her, yesterday. well, last night i saw him, drunk as a skunk, sitting on a beer crate, in a colmado. i asked him if he had gone to see the lady. he replied that he had not, since he could not put together the 40 pesos for the round trip in a carrito. Dominican values.
I have "TRIED",on numerous occasions,to steer Dominicans who have no job,(I ALMOST said:,"Who are "looking" for work,but we know that's seldom true!) to job openings that I am aware of.Jobs where I know the owners,or human resource people,so they have a very good chance of being hired!
"Somehow",they never seem to get there.
I have always said,that,"If a dominican has a roof over their head,and food in their belly,they Will Not Work"!!!!
Even when the job is handed to them!
They seem to be able to get to my house around lunch time everyday,why can't they find an employment office????
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"Somehow",they never seem to get there.
I have always said,that,"If a dominican has a roof over their head,and food in their belly,they Will Not Work"!!!!
Even when the job is handed to them!
They seem to be able to get to my house around lunch time everyday,why can't they find an employment office????
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because they know that you will feed them. i once did a stint at a call center, to collect information for an essay i was working on. there were guys there who were chain smokers, but who never had their own cigarettes, or a lighter. as long as someone else was dumb enough to buy them, why should they? i did the gig for two weeks, and nobody ever had a pen, but always wanted to borrow mine. it does get tiresome, after a while, but it?s the reality of life here. worst yet, after they mooch off your stuff, they call you a pendejo for giving it away. maybe i am.
"Gorgon",you sure got the dominican "system" right!
I sometimes worry for my children's future here.
Will they be at a disadvantage when they have to live every day as honest adults,in a "World Of:Liers,cheats,scam artist,and the like????
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I sometimes worry for my children's future here.
Will they be at a disadvantage when they have to live every day as honest adults,in a "World Of:Liers,cheats,scam artist,and the like????
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i do not know where to begin in responding to that insight. well, as we all know, they are all deported for antisocial behaviors. there are none that have been deported for visa overstays, or just sneaking into the country. then, the centers have no workers who have never left the country, but learnt spanish right here. yawn.
Criss, i play dominoes with a group of guys, one of whom has this really endearing little daughter, all of about 3 years old. he brings her every afternoon to the game, and i usually bring her little things like Oreo cookies. NOT ONCE has this guy ever told her to thank me. never. so, i keep doing it, just to be able to had it to her, and to tell her, myself, that she should say "thank you". he thinks she is entitled to the kindness of strangers, but i try to teach her that she is not.
i have in a pharmacy two kids i really like, a dominican boy and a haitian girl. maybe 12 years old, they come most days, buy a pill or two. but boy, are they nice! always hello, please, thank you, bye bye. sometimes i give them a little someting: paleta, lollipop, chocolate, menta. they always smile and say thank you. never failed.
and there are, of course, kids of the neighbours, also known as beasts, possesed, i suppose, by evil spirits. they come every single day, screem like banshees, sometimes roll on the floor. always start a sentence from dame. gues what, never even gave them a menta. heck, i do not even let them take dulce even if they are one peso short. hateful criaturas.
and there are, of course, kids of the neighbours, also known as beasts, possesed, i suppose, by evil spirits. they come every single day, screem like banshees, sometimes roll on the floor. always start a sentence from dame. gues what, never even gave them a menta. heck, i do not even let them take dulce even if they are one peso short. hateful criaturas.