Neoliberalism and xenophobia

Mood: Politically frustrated, personally philosophical
Music: Laura Pausini - Víveme

I'm sure anyone reading this can guess how my morning started. Something along the lines of: "Did you see what the nicas did this time? They're ruining our country!"

I have had it up to here with all the hating. One man commits homicide in Nicaragua and tries to flee to Costa Rica - yes, it's a terrible thing to have happen, but it's ONE MAN. You CAN NOT generalize the entire population of a country based on one psychopath!! The way that many Costa Ricans manage to take one incident and blow it completely out of proportion constantly astounds me.

Doña L. tried to compare Nicaraguans/Jamaicans/Colombians in Costa Rica with Mexicans in the United States. I told her that yes, the two situations do have certain things in common: many immigrants enter the country undocumented, and because of that tendency, there tends to be a certain amount of prejudice against them. She told me that wasn't what she meant; she was thinking more along the lines of how said immigrants don't pay taxes, raise crime rates, impregnate female citizens, and use illegal arms to start firefights.

Wasn't that what I just said? PREJUDICE?!?

Yes, illegal immigration has negative effects on a country. But instead of assuming that all undocumented immigrants are criminals and immediately deporting them, we should work on immigration reform to allow people into the country legally so that this won't be such an issue. Moreover, we need to have some way to educate the populace about the situation, and break the prejudices that surround immigrants and their roles in society.

Anyway, it got me thinking. Costa Ricans tend to claim that in their country, racism has been eliminated. But honestly, go out and ask a tico right now about their views on Nicaraguans, Jamaicans, or Colombians, and you'll get the truth of the matter. So if Costa Rica is still racist, what else is being covered up here?

The answer? Neoliberalism. If you've been following this blog, you know that I'm doing an internship of sorts in the Costa Rican legislative assembly, which means that right now, I know more about the upcoming Costa Rican presidential elections than I do about Obama's health care reforms (I promise I'll start following US politics again in December). Anyway, there are 6 candidates to the presidency, four of which actually have a chance, according to the most recent Gallup poll. They represent four different political parties: Liberación Nacional, Acción Ciudadana, Movimiento Libertario, and Unidad Social Cristiana. Between these four, there are three ideologies: social-democrat, libertarianism, and christian-democrat.

I don't think I need to say much about the christian-democrats. An explicit repudiation of communism, no opposition to capitalism, support for a free market economy, support for CAFTA and the economic colonialism of the United States. Compassionate conservatism. EW.

Movimiento Libertario, though they accept the state intervention in matters of health, education, and infrastructure, continue to accept the theories of neoliberalism in regards to the new "soft imperalism" of the United States. Just like the christian-democrats, the libertarians supported CAFTA and continue to advocate for limited government.

And then there are the social-democrats. Both Liberación Nacional and Acción Ciudadana claim to be social-democrat, although Liberación is more of a third wave movement. Both claim to follow the basic principles of socialism, however they belive more in the primacy of political action as opposed to the primacy of economic action or economic determinism. AKA they're too wrapped up in getting themselves reelected to realize that every economic move they make brings them closer to being colonized by the United States.

So basically, all four of the candidates with a shot at the presidency lean towards neoliberalism and United States economic imperialism. Great. Racism and neoliberalism. The two things that this country needs most.

But what about the people?, you may ask. Don't the people know what's going on with their government? Don't they know that they're getting sold economically?

From what I've seen, nope, not really.

Sure, you can always find university students and the occasional politician who have read the newspapers (and moreover, read between the lines) and know what's going on in their country. They're the ones who voted against CAFTA, the ones who are voting for independent candidates who truly espouse the concepts of progress. Unfortunately, the views of this minority are largely overwhelmed by the herd mentality of the rest of the country. CAFTA's gonna create jobs? Awesome, bring it on! Dolarization? Sounds good! GET INFORMED PEOPLE!!! You want a way out of this economic crisis? Abandon the principles of neoliberalism. Period. Oh, and hey, you should think about legalizing those undocumented immigrants. The income you would make on their taxes alone would be worth it.

All right, I'm done for now. I'm so frustrated with all of this crap that it's entirely likely that I'll smack the next person who says the words "free market economy" or "nica".

And now, back to your regularly scheduled brain-washing.

Pura Vida,
Sarah

New words:
lid - combat
dimitir - to resign
reo - defendant