Of nails and snails and pupy dog tails...

C

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
I for one hope for change in the DR. Hopefully it won't bring all of the negatives the dizque peace movement did in the States and certainly no bloodshed.

In fact if I had my citizenship and US2M I'm certain I could get something rolling here. Sometimes it boggles my mind the antipathy the locals have for their country. The only ones who are satisfied are the ones who are able to take advantage of the situation or in politics. Shameful too are the ones who could really make a difference, the highly educated and well read and aware of politics outside of the DR, are for the most part intent on leaving the DR.
 
T

Thandie

Bronze
Nov 27, 2007
694
80
0
Chip said:
Shameful too are the ones who could really make a difference, the highly educated and well read and aware of politics outside of the DR, are for the most part intent on leaving the DR.
Click to expand...

So true!
I wouldnt necessarily call it shameful....but SCARY and VERY telling!
When those who can make a difference are leaving in growing numbers, that is not promising for any country!

I know of about 20 Dominican couples who fit your above description, who have or are planning to moving to Canada and when I have asked them why?
.... because they are fed up with those in leadership and how their country is being managed and want to leave a, what they call 'hopeless' situation.
These are Dominicans who had very 'comfortable' lives in the DR and didnt move to Canada because they needed to financially.
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
I know few educated Dominicans with a solid financial who want to leave the country.

Seems MOST who want to leave have little future here.

It's almost sad how many lawyers, architects and engineers the universities are pumping out with so few career opportunities available.

IMO, the Dominican brainpower outstrips the $US6000 per capita GDP...
 
C

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
cobraboy said:
It's almost sad how many lawyers, architects and engineers the universities are pumping out with so few career opportunities available.
Click to expand...

Yeah, their pumping them out, but with little or no emphasis on ethics or thinking outside of the box to effect change, what good does it do? Talk with any recent college graduates and you will be shocked at the lack of vision or hope they have for their country. All they want is to leave, a decent job or better a botella.
 
E

ExtremeR

Silver
Mar 22, 2006
3,078
328
0
Chip said:
Yeah, their pumping them out, but with little or no emphasis on ethics or thinking outside of the box to effect change, what good does it do? Talk with any recent college graduates and you will be shocked at the lack of vision or hope they have for their country. All they want is to leave, a decent job or better a botella.
Click to expand...

Chip, is hard to get a vision for their country when they can't find a good, decent job for themselves first. Spending 5 years studying a career to then be offered a wage of 15K a month is frustrating at best. So when they see those analfabetos getting rich in just 2-3 years in the government, then they start feeling like a fool. That created a culture of corruption in the Dominican Republic very difficult to erradicate from night to day. It's either two ways, get contacts in the government and score a botella, or leave the country however you can.
 
E

El_Uruguayo

Bronze
Dec 7, 2006
880
36
28
You can't really say it's shameful that they are leaving for a better opportunity. Is it shameful that you left the US? I mean you could be doing things to make it better there.

As for the brain drain, its common in LA and the developing world as a whole. People want opportunities, advancement, stability and $$$. The only way I could see someone leaving as being shameful is if they received a free subsidized education and then took off - they should then at least stay and work a few years in the country. But its not easy, I know a bunch of young dominicans that don't really want to leave, but they are getting sick of the same old story, and are now considering leaving. This is understandable, this is what created all the countries in the Americas, and especially the USA. People will always migrate towards something where they can prosper more.

As for keeping the good ones in the DR, the right employer can have a serious edge over the competition by paying the brighter bulbs better, and giving them incentives to stay, grow etc. But most often the case is that employers take the stance that there is always someone else in line that's willing to do the "same" work for less, and that the employee should feel lucky they have a job. What they don't realize is that quality of work or workmanship, responsability, relationships built, and corporate memory can be lost by going with a cheaper option. Its a slave driver mentality, and that is what is shameful. The people that can really make an immediate change in the country are the ones with money - until much of the upper crust realize that those on the lower levels of society (their employees) are people too, and treat them as such, things will stay with the status quo - which is good if you're stinkin rich, but not for everyone else.
 
C

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
ExtremeR said:
Chip, is hard to get a vision for their country when they can't find a good, decent job for themselves first. Spending 5 years studying a career to then be offered a wage of 15K a month is frustrating at best. So when they see those analfabetos getting rich in just 2-3 years in the government, then they start feeling like a fool. That created a culture of corruption in the Dominican Republic very difficult to erradicate from night to day. It's either two ways, get contacts in the government and score a botella, or leave the country however you can.
Click to expand...

The "vision" should start way before the college years. Kids should be taught ethics from an early age and that working a low paying job for the goverment (such as a police office or nurse) is something to be proud of, not ashamed of.

Dominicans are very sharing when it comes to friends, neighbors and family, but when it comes to politics all they can think about is "me". Where in the world is the love of the patria?

The educational system is to blame and the goverment which continues to pay the real civil servants not even half of what they are worth.
 
S

SteveS

Member
Apr 15, 2008
297
24
18
Going home....

Today's paper
45996713.png


As a corrupt official, I must be shaking at the prospect of being sent home one day.

My God, I have to go home? now? after stealing and lying? Do I have to take the rest of the family home too?

And of course there's willingness and always has been willingness to combat corruption....... that's why its present in every govt. department....

My Wife mentioned this morning that under Balaguer people like Radhames Seguro would have had mysterious car accidents, drowned falling asleep in the bath or had a suprising heart attack.....

I don't profess to know what went on back then, and my wife said that nobody knows whether even Balaguer knew, but it worked....


Wake me up when the headline reads

"We know things are bad, its our fault, but every corrupt official we find from today, will spend a minimum of X years in prison and we will confiscate all proceeds of the corruption retrospectively."

POCA in the UK works, and the US have a similar law.


Steve
 
C

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
SteveS said:
Today's paper
45996713.png


As a corrupt official, I must be shaking at the prospect of being sent home one day.
Click to expand...

Nice - if he actually does it. However, the real corruption is the institutionalized and legal practice od paying politicians ten times the market rate or more. When will this gross abuse stop? We need to start making these people feel ashamed.
 
M

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
1,358
113
elizabetheames.blogspot.com
Well, Uruaguayo, most of us came down here to the DR when we had only half of our brains left, to spend our dotage (ages? outages?) in the sun drinking pina coladas... no great loss to our mother lands... but what is being lost from the DR are some of the brightest and best of the young minds. Few of the best and brightest from the North Countries are looking to relocate here to make their mark......

I was talking to a Dominican friend who said that at least under Trujillo, it was ONLY Trujillo who stole -- there was a certain honesty in everyone else since the pie just belonged to El Jefe.

And I have another friend who taught college classes here who said that when she asked her students their ambitions, a frightening majority said that they wanted to "go into politics and make a lot of money in a little bit of time"

So it is going to be really interesting to see if Leonel can really do anything -- or really wants to do anything..

Just IMAGINE what this country could be economically WITHOUT the corruption?

Why, even one of the Asian Tigers!!!!! The first little Caribbean Tropical Tiger....
 
Conchman

Conchman

Silver
Jul 3, 2002
4,586
160
63
57
www.oceanworld.net
One of our former Dominican managers used to complain about corruptiona all the time. One day he told me, that he is still in the Armed Forces full time. I asked him, how is this possible, you work for us full time? He said, well my general has keept me on the payroll since I 'left' the army 10 years ago, and we split the payroll money. I told him, well isn't that an example of corruption and you are part of it? He said, without blinking an eye, 'thats not corruption, thats the way things are done here.'

Many Dominicans complain about corruption, but in their mind its not corruption if they benefit from it!...GO FIGURE!
 
caribmike

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
6,808
202
63
Me too. Man, that's unbelievable. How one could ever stop that? I think it is really not possible.
 
Conchman

Conchman

Silver
Jul 3, 2002
4,586
160
63
57
www.oceanworld.net
Maybe if we pretend it doesn't exist, it will go away!

from DR1 news:

'Fernandez said that he was confident that there were no corrupt officials in his government. "I trust that they are not committing acts of corruption." '

WHO THE *UCK IS HE KIDDING?
 
caribmike

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
6,808
202
63
OK. I understand, that this guy Segura is not an official, then? People without access to media and illiterates might believe him... (and there are a lot).
 
caribmike

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
6,808
202
63
Now I understand, no wonder there are no corrupt officials in his government, that's what the decentralised entities are there for... Smart... :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom