For those that wonder why Pichardo never bothers responding to most of you I believe it appears to him most of you have an agenda against everything Dominican given that very few have anything positive to say. Therefore, what would be even the point in responding?
Furthermore, how would posters feel if there was a forum about their country and all the immigrants did was bash said country? If I as an American have gotten the third degree for criticizing things in my country how much the more would an immigrant be lambasted?
Pichardo in fact has shown a great deal more restraint defending his country than many of you have defending your own countries on this forum.
Chip:
Sorry to disappoint you...but...many of the other "agendas" here have to do with a little balance to Pichardo's photo arrays and his constant PR posts, and his responses that some of us view as being but a small part of the "real" DR. But, I actually think he enjoys his role here as head cheerleader.
There have been many of us in the recession thread who have pushed back when Pichardo has tried to tell us how we don't know how "biz" works in the DR....and that even though the malls are empty, that is not not how those store owners really make their money. Or that the DR is on a gold standard with its currency, or that IMF is the DR's banker because they give better terms, or that all the schools will have laptops and be wired for internet, or that the DR soon will not need Chavez' subsidized oil because soon those new biomass fuel plants will be ready and every car will run on ethanol made from sugarcane, or that the peso will soon be 25:1 against the dollar, or the DR has never defaulted on its debt, or......
Some great perspective has been given by the OP in his day to day business dealings here in the DR. Additionally, Shalena has added her two three or four centavos on the state of some of the hospitals. These are counter weights to the pie in the sky claims and photos Pichardo would like us all to believe.
Pictures of malls, johnny rockets, Wendy's etc., are but a small part of the DR and do not come close to supporting his dynamic economy theory. In fact, he may be acting unwittingly like many of those Dominicans returning home who toil all year for their one chance to impress everyone with how successful they have become in America. You know, the ones who arrive wearing borrowed jewelry with lots of photos of "their" new Lexus that belongs to someone else, spending money like they are rico....all to return to the US to slave away for another year to do it again. That is what Pichardo's photos remind me of. They are the facade to the real DR.
The real DR as many of us have pointed out, is a country taking on more and more debt without a plan. They have a borrow, spend and pretend mentality. Yes they have everything Pichardo's pictures point to, but below the surface they are playing a pretend game.....like oh so many of those returning Dominicans at Christmas.
That having been said, they have much to be proud of. Over the years, much of the borrowed money has gone into the right places to help move the economy forward. And that is no small task in a country that is considered one of the most corrupt in the world by Transparency International. The people have endured corrupt and complicit government officials from the political parties for decades now. Yet they hang on to a belief that one day it will get better. Hopefully, one day a real leader will emerge and be empowered by patria and not party......and then Pichardo can prove us all wrong.
Until that day, I and others will call them as we see them.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
