Progress, economy, vs. monuments, landmarks, projects
How many poor people have you seen holding (privando), not just a cell but, but an expensive cell phone? Many!
But then, they are still considered poor, because cell phone or not, that's what they are. Actually, the expensive cell phone, together with some worthless (low quality) but over priced clothing, defines poor people.
At the end of all days, it's not what you have which defines you, but what you do.
The same holds true for countries. And not to a lesser extent.
Having a Wallmart, an IKEA, a new amusement park in the Capital or a new luxury development here and there for the very few rich locals and some foreigners passing by for 3 years or so and even worse, setting up a few new landmarks or "projectos modelos" so typical for struggling countries, is not synonymous with having even the now sick an frail General Motors or some other other industry supplying National demand first, creating new (supplying and supporting) industries and thus creating not only offer but a real economy. Furthermore, I don't think we really need to discuss the inadequacy of comparing the automobile market in Japan with the DR's car market.
The creation of big, very visible buildings, some useful and other not so, which includes megalomaniac "monuments" is nothing new to this country just as most "developing" (struggling) countries, now and in the past.
Some of the remains of these "projectos modelos" and how else they were called can still be seen, mostly around capitals and large cities. Others have just faded away in ruins even when they are less than a decade old, while Roman buildings still stand in Europe.
What I am trying to say is, if all these projects, buildings and monuments would really be synonymous or having furthered a healthy blossoming economy and progress, why did they not 10, 20 30, 50 or 60 years ago?
I am not saying it's ALL bad, but history seems to indicate that it's not the ticket to prosperity.
It is my opinion, based on what I have seen abroad, even in countries which have been virtually set back to square one after either WWI and WWII or both, that it is broad quality EDUCATION of ALL social levels first and a healthy industry supplying it self and the Nation second which seems to be the foundation for a blossoming country's economy. Services come after a certain level of prosperity has been reached ACROSS the majority of people of all social levels.
The DR, I am deeply sorry to say, is failing hugely at the first step: Broad quality EDUCATION of ALL social levels. Industry? We have cheap "work force" but it lacks education. Actually most of the upper class, while it does not know it, lacks it too to a certain degree, or they would see to it that the rest gets a quality education (which goes to show that at the end, the dog keeps on spinning, biting it's own tail). So, the industry... we import so many things which in other countries are either made there or at least partly (assembled). It would seem that there have always been "great" ideas about "export"... and that seems to have failed in quite too many sectors, because of the lack of educated workforce at all levels, because we have too little industry satisfying local demand first before trying to compete with the heavy weights and because... importing (commerce) is so mucho mas comodo. So now, for every one Dollar that comes in, we virtually have the need to export two.
How this can lead to financial havoc... well, check out some bizarre aspects of the US economy... and they, when compared to this country here, still have, hum... quite an economy.
So again, trying to pull up the appearance of a "developed" country boasting this and that here and there, will doom these very "this and thats" to meet the same faith past landmark buildings, projectos modelos and monuments have or are.
Coming back to my to my comparative remarks at the top of this post, barrio kids will tell you that if the will hit it big some day (me consigo unos qualtos de los grandes), they'd buy a new fancy cell phone every week, and Hummer to go with it. I tell them, that if they'd ever MAKE that money, they probably wouldn't anymore because they would not want to be poor again.
Prosperous countries, incidentally, don't pull up many projectos modelos.
They don't need to anymore, even when THEY would be the ones able to affoard them.
... J-D.