What Benefit Do We Get From You Guys?.

[Vacara]

Did anybody ever wonder why China is the economic power it is today???... very simply... because they had cheap labour (sounds familiar???) and they had the brains to allow "foreigners" to co-manage their factories and they learned and "stole" all of their skills... Pretty smart guys...

The US today is what it is, because they are a melting pot of all kinds of cultures, and they profited from this...

W A I T a minute, so China is a great power today because they "stole" skill & had cheap labour?, and Americans are great because they are a melting pot?, is this all the credit you can give to Chinese inventiveness?. Can we not call "stealing knowledge" the US sending engineers to Nazi Germany to learn how they built the Autobahn because American highways at that time were a disaster?.

Did you know that from the dawn of time until the 18th century; China and India were the biggest industrial power the world had ever seen?, who invented gunpowder, the kite, rockets etc?. 2,000 years before Jesus was skimming money doing cards tricks on the street of Jerusalem the Chinese were already extracting oil and had pipes to carry natural gas all over their cities. It took the Industrial Revolution (and the Opium war) to wrestles that trophy from them.

Read this book The clash of civilizations and the ... - Google Books and you'll be surprised at what those countries were doing when Europeans were called barbarians.

Regarding the rest of your post and like I said before, day to day involvement in the country's economy is a good contribution; things like paying your bills, shopping, etc. are nice, but those are short lived benefits. If I bring these arguments to a debate here in the US I'd be escorted out of the auditorium, they would probably tased me (don't tase me bro'!!)

To me; learning about the great job Fireguy was doing with Dominican kids, reading Annie's blog, seeing Lambada's involvement in political process and local affairs, watching pics of Hillybilly getting an award for his contributions to sport activities and being a first row witness of the promotion that DR gets from Robert and this website, all this is priceless, you can not put a monetary value to all these activities.

 

[tht]

..day to day involvement in the country's economy is a good contribution; things like paying your bills, shopping, etc. are nice, but those are short lived benefits. If I bring these arguments to a debate here in the US I'd be escorted out of the auditorium, they would probably tased me (don't tase me bro'!!)

No doubt you would have been escorted out. The US economy, however, is a mature economy, the DR economy is developing. I believe the percentage of the population in the bottom of Maslows Pyramide (food, shelter) is significantly higher here (even when Santiago and Santo Domingo are included), than in the US. Contributing to a local economy is not of zero significance. We can’t all be on the A-team with the rich and famous, some of us just like to keep our neighborhood alive.

Have to run just got an invitation for a seafood lunch. Don't kick me out of the country please. :nervous::nervous::nervous::nervous::nervous:

 

[RacerX]

that sounds just perfect to me.
at least better than bad weather, no nature near that big city, no ocean accessible anywhere and many not-nice people without oppoortunities.
tell me a better place to have no opportunties at.
Mike

where is that?

 

[Robert]

Better get back to the Dominican Republic very quickly or it's closed.

 

[jrhartley]

german butchers

 

[Robert]

german butchers

Keep it up...

 

[DR Mpe]

Better get back to the Dominican Republic very quickly or it's closed.

Well not sure why Vacara started this thread named "What Benefit Do We Get From You Guys?." referring to expat and gringos and then went into discussion about India and China. Well, not many understood Einstein and Picasso either.

 

[La Profe_1]

Vacara, at the risk of sounding as if I am blowing my own horn, one benefit that has accrued to Dominicans because I am here is that I organize yearly free dental clinics (staffed by a University Dental School in the US) where between five hundred and seven hundred fifty Dominicans are treated free of charge.

The last clinic treated almost five hundred people and the university calculated the value of the donated services to be in excess of $150,000 US.

Is that a big enough benefit?

 

[Lambada]

Is that a big enough benefit?

Now that's what I'd consider a real benefit, same as I do the work JDSauser does with 'his' 2 little girls & what Mike Fisher does out east and countless others who contribute effort to improving lives: making a real difference to health and/or education now with a view to improving future life.

A far greater good, IMHO, than offering a domestic job which doesn't raise people out of servant status.

 

[bigbird]

Vacara, at the risk of sounding as if I am blowing my own horn,.....

It doesn't hurt to give a little toot toot with the horn once in awhile....

That is wonderful what you do.......... (you can stay in the DR....LOL)

 

[POPNYChic]

La Profe, That sounds wonderful. Kudos, props, points, whatever lol

Though I'm the child of Dominicans and spent half my life in the DR, I am technically an American expat--or I have been for many long periods, anyway. Currently considering dual citizenship and arming the revolution. Or maybe not lol Not sure yet....

I dont wanna die for wanting to change things. I could be comfy instead. This is the challenge I think many of us Dominicans abroad face. Do we come back to w our newly gained knowledge and TRY and turn things around and sacrifice income and whatever else we get elsewhere? Or just assimilate and let the people in DR handle it....which isn't proving the most fruitful? If so many of the best and brightest have left....along with some not so bright....how is that affecting the DR's development?

 

[Vacara]

Vacara, at the risk of sounding as if I am blowing my own horn, one benefit that has accrued to Dominicans because I am here is that I organize yearly free dental clinics (staffed by a University Dental School in the US) where between five hundred and seven hundred fifty Dominicans are treated free of charge.

The last clinic treated almost five hundred people and the university calculated the value of the donated services to be in excess of $150,000 US.

Is that a big enough benefit?

This should have been the second post in this thread, it makes me want to kiss you. There must be other selfish posters keeping gems like this for themselves. You got to share the good news guys.

 

[AlterEgo]

Vacara, at the risk of sounding as if I am blowing my own horn, one benefit that has accrued to Dominicans because I am here is that I organize yearly free dental clinics (staffed by a University Dental School in the US) where between five hundred and seven hundred fifty Dominicans are treated free of charge.

The last clinic treated almost five hundred people and the university calculated the value of the donated services to be in excess of $150,000 US.

Is that a big enough benefit?

La Profe should get rep points from every person reading this!!

AE

 

[MikeFisher]

This should have been the second post in this thread, it makes me want to kiss you. There must be other selfish posters keeping gems like this for themselves. You got to share the good news guys.

they are sharing,
they share their time and income with people who need it.
they do not need to share such as News on a forum or a headline in the newspapers.
but if you are interested in some of the small stuff done by small people, not talking gubmints or big companies or millionaires, the net is full of info.
here i give ya a lil start
Beyond the Beach Childrens Foundation
a Canadian Charity for projects involvong DR children, founded by Canadian Tourists.
or some Fotos of an Expat and his Dominican wife on the streets of the so called rich tourist paradise valley Punta Cana
The Streets, just open your Eyes and act
not every Expat is just hanging out at streetbars day and night,
some have a real job, a life and still spend time for their Neighbourhood.
cheers
Mike

 

[Vacara]

La Profe should get rep points from every person reading this!!

AE

Concurred. And Robert should double them up. Let's see how they grow.

 

[MikeFisher]

La Profe should get rep points from every person reading this!!

AE

absolutely right.
done.
Mike

 

[Chirimoya]

I provide professional services for several local non-profit organisations on a voluntary basis, I volunteer for community events like beach clean-ups, and I try to minimise my negative impact on the environment - as I would do wherever I was living.

I donate money to a wonderful project promoting better nutrition and education for children in early childhood in the poorest rural area of the DR.

I help promote and provide information about the DR to foreigners through various projects - I suppose you could include posting helpful advice on dr1 there.

I wish I could do more, but family and work commitments take up most of my time...

 

[Vacara]

I provide professional services for several local non-profit organisations on a voluntary basis, I volunteer for community events like beach clean-ups, and I try to minimise my negative impact on the environment - as I would do wherever I was living.

I donate money to a wonderful project promoting better nutrition and education for children in early childhood in the poorest rural area of the DR.

I help promote and provide information about the DR to foreigners through various projects - I suppose you could include posting helpful advice on dr1 there.

I wish I could do more, but family and work commitments take up most of my time...

Looks like we are having a dessert buffet now. I tried to give Chiri rep points but the system won't let me.......cuz I've been a fan of his posts for a while.

 

[belgiank]

A big thumps up for La Profe, and all the others doing something to help their respective communities here...

We also try, in a much more minor way, to help and improve life in our community... but, aside from La Profe's effort which is huge, I do not feel the need to expand on what I do for the community here, as I do it because I want to, and not because I feel I have to, and not because I want to get credit for it...

Aside from this... this topic starts to feel like I have to justify why I live here... and I don't... I worked for my money, and chose to come and live here, and I owe nobody any explanation or justification...

And because I start to feel like this, we maybe should start a topic of "What benefit do we get from people of the DR, living in the States or Europe"... same stupid question...

I want to believe, and hope that the majority of expats try to do something to help people over here... and believe that those that do, do it because it comes from their heart, and not because they believe they have to...

My 2 cents worth...

 

[MikeFisher]

that's the point,
it is the DOING,
big or small stuff doesn't matter,
each within his/her own possibilities.
nobody helps because he/she has to, that would not be help, just a obligation.

to differ our point of view on the same theme maybe we should start a thread that run's the subject " What benefit to we Expats get by living on the Isle compared to our former life back home?"

til now it's been a interesting pleasure to read through the 12 pages here, leaving the usual few nutheads comments aside of course.
Mike