- Thread starter AlterEgo
- Start date
The Government sells food combo for RD $ 300
Mods, can you please review posts in this thread which seem to be more intent on making a statement on US politics than on commenting on the thread.
Regarding the question about the Comedores Economicos, I have a friend who manages one in Santo Domingo and he mentioned that they are opening more, he has been recruiting staff. I know we hear a lot about corruption in the Dominican government, but it is good to know that some of the taxes we pay are getting through to do good work. I see so many children who look like they could really do with a bit more food, worryingly thin, so any initiative like this gets my full support. I can't imagine anything worse than not having enough food to feed your kids.
Regarding the question about the Comedores Economicos, I have a friend who manages one in Santo Domingo and he mentioned that they are opening more, he has been recruiting staff. I know we hear a lot about corruption in the Dominican government, but it is good to know that some of the taxes we pay are getting through to do good work. I see so many children who look like they could really do with a bit more food, worryingly thin, so any initiative like this gets my full support. I can't imagine anything worse than not having enough food to feed your kids.
Of course you don't like the idea, you cannot get your hands on any free food. But other than that why should it bother you? It has nothing to do with you does it? You remind me of some Baptists talking about how terrible it is that some Catholics kiss the cross. What a nasty habit. No one is asking them to kiss the cross, at all, and no one is asking you to participatein the 300 peso food program.
Der Fish
I was a productive tax paying member of society in Santo Domingo. People like me pay for political programs with huge taxes but then have to spend money on private clubs/schools because the state can not provide safe places for our kids to play, or decent schools for our kids. These programs are a joke and only provide extra expendable income that will be squandered on vice.
i understand the sentiment of the middle class. they are the ones forking out the taxes but sending kids to private schools because the public ones "no sirve" and getting private health insurance because the public hospitals "no sirve". still, the progress of the nation as whole requires looking further than that. everyone has to start somewhere. comedores economicos and cheap fodd packages free to income that can go elsewhere. so maybe 99 out a 100 people will spend it on booze, drugs and hoes. but that 1 out of a 100 who spends it on developing own business or getting the kids to a better school will one day get one step higher on an income ladder. maybe tomorrow it will be 2 out of a 100, who knows. you can lead the horse to water but you cannot make it drink. true. but that one horse to drink will thrive and carry you further.
I wonder if there is a really compelling reason for you to stay here? You seem to hate the way the country is organised and the people, I just wonder whether you would be better off getting on a plane and going to live someplace else. Or maybe take some time out to get to know some real Dominicans and realise that they are not all the low-life that you think they are. As has been said, this is about a food program for the very poorest, people who have not got enough even to put a plate of food on the table. I find it worrying that you find this so disturbing and that you can live in this country and not notice how many poor people who genuinely need help there are around you.
rfp IS a real Dominican. And he did leave Santo Domingo to move his family to Florida.
He actually sounds a lot like my husband does from time to time. Sometimes we are harshest on our own.
Good point. I don't like seeing my fellow Americans abusing the EBT "food stamp" program. Every month, I see a few people buying crab legs and steak with government funds, and it really irks me.
The thing is, I know most people on the program don't abuse it. And even if they did, clearly more than 1 in 1000 of the program beneficiaries are innocent children, as well as the elderly. Those are Republicans AND Democrats, "inner city" AND suburban AND rural folks.
My mother grew up on government rations, and she eventually became an assistant superintendent of schools. Her sisters became equally successful in their respective fields as well. And my family was just one of untold success stories.
Now tell me what silver spoon rfp was born with that allowed him a visa and the means to move his family to Miami, which we both no is no easy feat for a poor to middle class Dominican.
He isn't the only Dominican board member who sneers at the average Dominican calling them savages etc. The other one I am thinking of also went to Florida.
So why don't they join a Florida board and run down the Floridians?
Der Fish
Loving that comment. So now you've got me really thinking. I do feel really negatively about people in my country who just bitch and bitch about how hard their lives are, so I can relate to how rfp feels. But I do agree with Derfish, I can't quite get with the idea of moving abroad, then joining a board of expats in your former homeland and spreading all these negative vibes about that country, seems like a strange thing to do. So I do think it would be better to leave those of us who choose to live here to glory in all the delights of Dom Rep and for rfp to focus his energy on marvelling at how wonderful life is in Florida. Personally, I qualified for a green card and chose to live in DR, and have never once regretted that decision.
Moving back to the subject of this thread (how unusual) I met my friend who works in the Comedor Economico tonight and he told me that they feed 5,000 people a day and charge 10 pesos. He said that it was complete bull as far as he is concerned (he is a manager) that people who eat there have enough food, he said that just talking to service users each day it is clear that the service is a lifeline.