Is The Dominican Republic headed for a dictatorship?

[irsav]

nobody said pay them 100/hr.

as i said, debating you is risky business.

Yes. Very risky. Because I am WELL traveled all over the World, highly educated, speaking four languages, and TELLING THE TRUTH.
All the countless disadvantages of a Third World country can be tolerated only because of the super low Third World prices in return.
Economy 101.

 

[the gorgon]

Yes. Very risky. Because I am WELL traveled all over the World, highly educated, speaking four languages, and TELLING THE TRUTH.
All the countless disadvantages of a Third World country can be tolerated only because of the super low Third World prices in return.
Economy 101.

telling the truth...ok...

i call it advocating exploitation. Your mileage may vary.

 

[bob saunders]

telling the truth...ok...

i call it advocating exploitation. Your mileage may vary.

Well you are both correct, cheap food, booze, women, and attractive weather are all part of the attraction to developing countries and many people will take advantage of poor people knowing they have little choice but to take what you give them. This of course can be dangerous.

 

[the gorgon]

Well you are both correct, cheap food, booze, women, and attractive weather are all part of the attraction to developing countries and many people will take advantage of poor people knowing they have little choice but to take what you give them. This of course can be dangerous.

yes, but don't glorify exploitation. it is ugly.

 

[irsav]

telling the truth...ok...

i call it advocating exploitation. Your mileage may vary.

Both American teacher in Cabarete and Lindsey were VERY generous and loving to locals. Both were brutally murdered nevertheless.

 

[the gorgon]

Both American teacher in Cabarete and Lindsey were VERY generous and loving to locals. Both were brutally murdered nevertheless.

which means exactly what?

 

[irsav]

yes, but don't glorify exploitation. it is ugly.

It is not exploitation. It is HONEST MARKET PRICES OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY.
There are over a hundred countries in the World where $1/hour is a very good pay.
Also there are many countries where $1 A DAY - is a normal income.

 

[the gorgon]

It is not exploitation. It is HONEST MARKET PRICES OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY.
There are over a hundred countries in the World where $1/hour is a very good pay.
Also there are many countries where $1 A DAY - is a normal income.

and you find that acceptable?

 

[irsav]

which means exactly what?

It means that no matter how much you pay them and how much you love them - you may easily become the next "Cabarete Teacher" or " Lindsey". If you forget who is who in this country.

 

[the gorgon]

It means that no matter how much you pay them and how much you love them - you may easily become the next "Cabarete Teacher" or " Lindsey". If you forget who is who in this country.

with that, i am through with any dialog with you. bye

 

[irsav]

and you find that acceptable?

As long as local people is happy and satisfied with it - it is acceptable. At least when I lived in Greenville, Liberia, locals were very happy been paid $5/day.
And Dominican people are free to go on strike and demand whatever. $5 or $20 or $100/ hour. It is OK. In just 90 short minutes Spirit will bring me back to the beautiful South Florida.

 

[irsav]

Well you are both correct, cheap food, booze, women, and attractive weather are all part of the attraction to developing countries and many people will take advantage of poor people knowing they have little choice but to take what you give them. This of course can be dangerous.

... also no RE Tax, no income tax, no Code Enforcement, cheap auto mechanics, cheap house cleaning, cheap landscapers...
This country has many attractive points. But just one wrong move - and they may lose all our business and our dollars at once.
We pay on our terms - period.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

A fair wage is something that two adults should be able to arrive at. When I was sharing a gardener with a neighbor she was most upset that on the days the gardener worked for me I was paying him too much. This was ruining the arrangement for her she said.

All employees anywhere in the world want more money, more benefits and less crappy duties. Back home there are labor unions, mandated benefits and more employment laws than most employers can keep track of. Very little of that level of complexity exists in the DR. Treat people fairly, pay a reasonable wage and don't yell at them and everyone should be able to be happy most of the time.

The more you pay, the more the employee would like to be paid. That's just the way it is. It's a never ending cycle - who's exploiting who?

 

[irsav]

A fair wage is something that two adults should be able to arrive at. When I was sharing a gardener with a neighbor she was most upset that on the days the gardener worked for me I was paying him too much. This was ruining the arrangement for her she said.

All employees anywhere in the world want more money, more benefits and less crappy duties. Back home there are labor unions, mandated benefits and more employment laws than most employers can keep track of. Very little of that level of complexity exists in the DR. Treat people fairly, pay a reasonable wage and don't yell at them and everyone should be able to be happy most of the time.

The more you pay, the more the employee would like to be paid. That's just the way it is. It's a never ending cycle - who's exploiting who?

Yes. You did a bad service to your neighbor - a fellow expat. Please do not do it again!

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

Yes. You did a bad service to your neighbor - a fellow expat. Please do not do it again!

Excuse me, you know what they say about making assumptions...

The neighbor I was referring to was as hard core Dominican as they come, albeit a very well off Dominican, married to a European, a Dutchman I believe.

You might want to take it down a notch Bud. You're seeing adversaries where there are none. This place can do that to you if you aren't careful.

 

[bob saunders]

... also no RE Tax, no income tax, no Code Enforcement, cheap auto mechanics, cheap house cleaning, cheap landscapers...
This country has many attractive points. But just one wrong move - and they may lose all our business and our dollars at once.
We pay on our terms - period.

You are familiar with the saying " you get what you pay for"

 

[the gorgon]

You are familiar with the saying " you get what you pay for"

great comeback, bob. these guys want to pay Dominicans peanuts, but expect craftsman work.i watched a guy in an autoadornos rewire the electrical doorlock, ignition, and security system of a car some time back. it took him three hours to do the job, and the owner of the car was balking at paying the guy 2000 pesos. where he comes from, it would have cost him that much to enter the workstation. and that is the same type of guy who goes on websites and trashes Dominicans for shoddy work.

i find it pernicious that people try to justify paying a guy 20 dollars for a job which would have cost them 250 where they come from. kinda like bawling about the 2 dollar Cuba libre which costs 9 dollars in their homelands..

 

[reilleyp]

You can pay $1/hour to your housekeepers, cooks, gardeners, cleaning staff, taxista. And they are happy and thankful. "No good in it at all"?

You pretend to pay them, and they will pretend to work. When no one is watching, either they or their family will make up the difference between what you pay them and survival wages by slowing loosening door hinges, cutting window security bars, pinching security cameras wires, poisoning watch dogs etc. The happy and thankful part is all an illusion. Try living on $1 per hour anywhere in the world. Technology has turned the page. They see that there is a better world out there.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

After my move I do not need a weekly gardener anymore. However there are times when I do need some help. On those occasions I pay my old guy $1000 for about 4.5 hours work. By doing so, I'm fairly confident that he will come anytime he is not otherwise engaged. Works for me, works for him. He gets more money than the other guy would pay him and I am confident he'll not have to think very hard about whether it is worth the trip to my place or not. Nice guy. It doesn't pain me at all to cough up that amount of cash.

 

[the gorgon]

You pretend to pay them, and they will pretend to work. When no one is watching, either they or their family will make up the difference between what you pay them and survival wages by slowing loosening door hinges, cutting window security bars, pinching security cameras wires, poisoning watch dogs etc. The happy and thankful part is all an illusion. Try living on $1 per hour anywhere in the world. Technology has turned the page. They see that there is a better world out there.

i love it when foreigners keep up the refrain that Dominicans are ''happy'', even though they have nothing. it is that kind of tomfoolery that encourages the mind boggling remarks by a guy like irsav, who seems to live in an alternate universe, completely detached from any contact with the real world.

sorry to burst one of the expat bubbles, but the people are not happy. not because they smile means they are happy. if you were born in these parts you would know that there is a happy go lucky disposition among caribbean people which allows them to put on a smiling face even in the most dire of conditions. smiling is their coping mechanism when they are drowning in outstanding obligations to loansharks, and they have debts they will need 20 years of austerity to discharge. when they barely know where the next meal is coming from, they still have an outwardly cheerful attitude.

so, irsav and types like him, do not believe that Dominicans are happy when you pay them 200 dollars per month. you would not think of working for that. why do you feel that they are happy to?