Probably something everybody is aware of, but I was just thinking about it today while driving from a client to my home. In the middle of the afternoon I see men everywhere doing nothing, walking around in casual clothes, sitting with some other guys talking and laughing and I'm not talking about a barrio but sectors like Millon, Evaristo Morales.
When I have to go somewhere early in the morning (before 7am) I see the street full of people going to their jobs: 80% women (were are the men?! they appear a few hours later in the streets doing nothing). Besides there are many men having jobs that are completely unproductive: watchmen, messengers (why does this economy still needs so many messengers, its about time to modernize the paymentsystem, fase out the use of checks and reorganize the economy to be able to generate real jobs for al those people sitting around.
Our maid comes from San Cristobal. I was bringing her to Pintura this week, for her to drop of some notebooks for her daughters, she started fighting with her husband on the phone while I was bringing her (about money). Later I ask her if her husband works. answer: Claro! he works in the weekend as a watchman in for some building and 1 day in the week he collect money for someone....THAT'S HIS JOB??? Letting his wife work from monday till friday long days in the capital and be at home the whole week sitting in the colmado doing (almost) nothing?
My homecountry is a small country, having about 16,000,000 habitants and a GNP of USD770 billion. Why does DR that has 10,000,000 habitants only a GNP of USD37 billion. I know I am comparing a wealthy developed country with a country in development, but that s about 5%. Keeping in mind that my country does hardly have any natural resources and DR does.
I'm afraid that what's wrong with the DR has to do a lot with mentality. As long as a great part of the population is conformist and not willing to do something to improve their situation, this country is going to stay the way it is, with an economy that's always in crisis, the few people that DO want to work (and the few people whose ancestors did) are doing well and will keep developing, while the rest will stay what they are: poor.
When I have to go somewhere early in the morning (before 7am) I see the street full of people going to their jobs: 80% women (were are the men?! they appear a few hours later in the streets doing nothing). Besides there are many men having jobs that are completely unproductive: watchmen, messengers (why does this economy still needs so many messengers, its about time to modernize the paymentsystem, fase out the use of checks and reorganize the economy to be able to generate real jobs for al those people sitting around.
Our maid comes from San Cristobal. I was bringing her to Pintura this week, for her to drop of some notebooks for her daughters, she started fighting with her husband on the phone while I was bringing her (about money). Later I ask her if her husband works. answer: Claro! he works in the weekend as a watchman in for some building and 1 day in the week he collect money for someone....THAT'S HIS JOB??? Letting his wife work from monday till friday long days in the capital and be at home the whole week sitting in the colmado doing (almost) nothing?
My homecountry is a small country, having about 16,000,000 habitants and a GNP of USD770 billion. Why does DR that has 10,000,000 habitants only a GNP of USD37 billion. I know I am comparing a wealthy developed country with a country in development, but that s about 5%. Keeping in mind that my country does hardly have any natural resources and DR does.
I'm afraid that what's wrong with the DR has to do a lot with mentality. As long as a great part of the population is conformist and not willing to do something to improve their situation, this country is going to stay the way it is, with an economy that's always in crisis, the few people that DO want to work (and the few people whose ancestors did) are doing well and will keep developing, while the rest will stay what they are: poor.