So, unfortunately caught just very tail end, but will no doubt be repeated all day. I suspect it all has to do with anger over the ban on used clothing.
It's truly sad if it goes through. The DR and its crony cadre of elitists believes you can make poverty disappear by making the businesses that employ and clothe, feed poor people disappear. Many here want to present to us a picture of the DR which is patently false. They show us malls and high-rises as if that is proof that poverty is not as great as we make it seem. The used clothes business is proof positive of the grinding poverty and misery with which the general Dominican population lives in.
The DR is an extremely poor and destitute nation. Don't be fooled by ridiculous pictures of Ferraris, Lambos, malls and high-rises lull you into a false sense of complacency regarding this. In any poor nation, you'll find a small group displaying wealth with disregard to the needs of the general population. Zimbabwe which is as broke as you can get under a hyper-inflationary environment also has Ferraris, high-rises and the like. Such accoutrements of wealth are not evidence of a prosperous nation nor do they make the DR unique.
You can go to any nation in Latin America like Honduras for example which also suffers from grinding poverty and you find the same articles of wealth. It is evidence of nothing at all. The DR is not unique in this. The DR is an endemically poor nation with crushing levels of poverty unlike anything you see in the USA. That's why Dominicans when given the chance will escape that island prison for parts North hoping to land in NYC which is nirvana for them.
The most insidiously hypocritical stance though is by those who want to pull the wool over us. They want us to believe the opposite is true. They want to present a DR on the par with a Western European capital. This mentality is not restricted to Pick and Nails. You'll find many Dominicans within the USA mirroring the same sentiment. It makes you wonder though what the hell are they doing cleaning toilets, tending gardens and babysitting children in the US of A if the DR is such a great place as they describe it to be.
I call them out on this whenever I get the chance. If they find the DR so superior to the USA, then why don't they leave. Get the heck out of the US. Return to the DR at once and then tell us how wonderful the DR actually is. It isn't. Life in the DR is like running an obstacle course in the Gobi desert. You are constantly behind the 8-ball alone and unaided by a govt that frankly even if it wanted to could not. Social services are lacking. Jobs are lacking. The quality of life is dismal.
So if and when this ban goes through, those least able to will be the ones most affected by it. The DR poor will become that much poorer. A source of jobs and cheap clothing will be stripped away from them. It's typical of a third world third rate nation were presentation is more than substance. What matters is how it looks not if it works and this ban is evidence of that.
Do you understand that you can go online to Ebay and shop for designer duds all USED in the Ole U.S.A. and see that there's a larger market online than in brick and mortar?
In the U.S. major labels and biz groups have tried for decades to have the used clothing biz shut down and only restricted to exports. Unlucky for them, each time they tried to muscle their way, they got beat down horribly.
They even pushed the local authorities to limit where and how many thrift stores can operate within shopping districts.
Stop talking of stuff you certainly show to know nothing about in the first place, and secondly and worst, trying to make a point about the DR economy on all this.
Stick to other topics...
Fortunately the powers that be did not shut down such businesses in the US, but those in the real power in the DR do seem that they will finally shut down the business in the DR where I think the percentage of people who need inexpensive clothing is likely to be higher. And after all, it is not about the US or it happens everywhere, it is about THE DR, is it not?
And after all, it is not about the US or it happens everywhere, it is about THE DR, is it not?
Because Pichardo believes in the DR while O/C doesn't. Being negative about the DR all the time gives people certain advantages among the DR1 crowd. Of course, many here have never asked themselves why Pichardo believes in the DR and O/C doesn't. All economic evidence is that the DR is progressing, most middle-age and older Dominicans are aware of this. Many may question where the DR is going, but almost no one denies that the DR has progressed.windeguy, lets be fair. Yes it is about the DR but O/C opened the door by making a comparison of the DR poor to the USA poor or actually used the USA poor as a reference point to judge the DR poor. The USA was referenced by O/C's first. Why can't Pichardo use the USA as a bases for comparison? What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
NotLurking
Priceless, for everything else there's Mastercard. lolOnions/Carrots said:If that makes me a racist, then so be it. HEIL HITLER!!
All economic evidence is that the DR is progressing, most middle-age and older Dominicans are aware of this. Many may question where the DR is going, but almost no one denies that the DR has progressed.
Wait! So you mean to say that the billion dollar biz of second hand clothes in the USA, Spain, Canada, France, Italy, etc... Which is about a bazillion times fold the actual amount of the market in the DR, is the actual economic state of those countries' people??!!?????
Do you happen to understand that in the U.S. of A. alone the used clothing biz is a billion dollar industry, which generates over 12 billion pounds of used clothes each year? That only in registered thrift used clothes stores the number is bigger than any other developed or undeveloped nation save for France and India?
Do you understand that you can go online to Ebay and shop for designer duds all USED in the Ole U.S.A. and see that there's a larger market online than in brick and mortar?
You really need to do your homework, before you go around posting such utter Blah, blah, blah on a public forum...
So, given the numbers is the U.S.A's prosperity and middle class a mirage behind all those Gotham's skyscrapers?
Pleaaaazzzzeeee!
In the U.S. major labels and biz groups have tried for decades to have the used clothing biz shut down and only restricted to exports. Unlucky for them, each time they tried to muscle their way, they got beat down horribly.
They even pushed the local authorities to limit where and how many thrift stores can operate within shopping districts.
Stop talking of stuff you certainly show to know nothing about in the first place, and secondly and worst, trying to make a point about the DR economy on all this.
Stick to other topics...
The biz is that in the DR the large and small stores IMPORT NEW clothes in packs and boxes and declare them as USED when they are far from it. This is hurting the biz that do their imports legit and pay the corresponding taxes.
The problem is big, since Aduanas can't open each and every box to check for these guys and atop that, they even remove the labels from the clothes and reattach them once they land in the DR door to door.
Can you imagine trying to compete for clients if you must pay import taxes on a pair of jeans than the same dealers import as used clothes and pay nothing but shipping for?
It's a huge problem and the solution is incorrectly to ban all such imports, but to make the shipping companies liable for any found violations with hefty penalties. The problem with that approach is that it can't be legally prosecuted by the DR as wanted. We have trade agreements that deal with this and protect (sadly) these abuses by such shipping companies overseas.
How do you propose the DR deals with this? Make it a legit way that allows for trading agreements to pass muster and also protects the importers that PAY their taxes on aduanas, but deal directly with the violators.
It's very hard to do and the latest reports on the media open the problem to all. As the aduanas indicated, it can't place such ban at all.
Damn, I need to pay mOre attention.
O&C, you need help.
SHALENA
windeguy, lets be fair. Yes it is about the DR but O/C opened the door by making a comparison of the DR poor to the USA poor or actually used the USA poor as a reference point to judge the DR poor. The USA was referenced by O/C's first. Why can't Pichardo use the USA as a bases for comparison? What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
NotLurking
That is saying two wrongs, O/Cs post and Pichardo's post, make a right. Neither matter when referring to the US as anything but a potential origin for used clothing. The DR and how it treats imports of used clothing is the subject.
Because Pichardo believes in the DR while O/C doesn't. Being negative about the DR all the time gives people certain advantages among the DR1 crowd. Of course, many here have never asked themselves why Pichardo believes in the DR and O/C doesn't. All economic evidence is that the DR is progressing, most middle-age and older Dominicans are aware of this. Many may question where the DR is going, but almost no one denies that the DR has progressed.
The used clothes market in the US and Europe is huge, but is completely different from the one in the DR.
In the DR it is out of necessity, in the US and Europe it is, mostly, aimed at those people who want a nice dress or suit at cheap prices.