Get your pots out for the lads!

[Gringoboy]

Any news as to if there are any more planned for tonight?
I don't use social networks, so am not in the know.
I closed my FB account the day they went to Wall St, but that's another story.

 

[scotttswan]

Any news as to if there are any more planned for tonight?
I don't use social networks, so am not in the know.
I closed my FB account the day they went to Wall St, but that's another story.

someone posted something about the 7th?

 

[Smcali23]

Any news as to if there are any more planned for tonight?
I don't use social networks, so am not in the know.
I closed my FB account the day they went to Wall St, but that's another story.

The football's on, Argentina are winning. There'll be no protests tonight.

 

[el_expatriado]

Any news as to if there are any more planned for tonight?

Unless Cristina has decreed the coming of the apocalypse, there's no way you are going to get the Argies to protest during a game of La selección. And even that might not do it.

 

[notebook.fix]

Unless Cristina has decreed the coming of the apocalypse, there's no way you are going to get the Argies to protest during a game of La selección. And even that might not do it.

Religión comes first... Politics 2nd. 3 -0 ....

 

[Gringoboy]

4-0 should do it.
I have a feeling that we may come out again tonight since we have a result.

 

[tomdesigns]

The many sides of Argentina. I have lived in Centro and outside. 3 houses to my right is a plot of land populated by some 40 or more very poor from Paraguay they live in a condition I do not have words for. They speak a strange mix of Spanish and indigenous and there are many such places here.

It is if I am in a melting pot of poverty and sometimes, to be honest, it gets to me.. I know they are without education and so ignorant they can not even understand how you and I process thoughts as they are utterly crippled in their minds.

What a luxury it is for us to have educations and the ability to process thought thru those educations.

This country is overwhelmed with such as these and they vote based on the sensation in their stomachs as that is what little they have to work with.

I am watching even the educated with money here looking for ways to get out of the mess.. They spend their money as fast as they make it because they do not want to put it in the bank and lose 30% of it in the next year in the bank.

All of them want to convert to dollars all of them want a way out.. and the poor they are just stuck and do not even know why. I am ashamed as a first world man that we would let such things go on while we are so busy with wars.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

I am ashamed as a first world man that we would let such things go on while we are so busy with wars.

tomdesigns, I can surely appreciate your sentiment. It can be hard to rationlize the poverty here sometimes (though it doesn't compare with what I witnessed in India). With all compassion for your feelings I'm not sure "crippled" is a word that I would use.

We had a housekeeper for years from Paraguay. She spoke Guaraní, the language you were probably referring to, and Spanish. The level of poverty from which she came was unbelievable. And the stories she would tell of what they had to do to get (almost) edible food would make you squirm.

She lived in the villa next to Retiro when my wife met her on the street in front of our apartment. She offered to sweep the sidewalk every morning for 2 pesos. We paid her for a week. Then we noticed that she was not only sweeping the sidewalk but had brought a couple of guys with her one morning to fix a broken tile in the sidewalk. In addition, she was watering the plants and flowers, and she re-hung a welcome sign that had blown off the door.

We helped her get her papers and hired her as our nanny. She was unbelievably great: responsible, dedicated, and always did 50% more than what you asked her to do. And, for someone with a 3rd grade education, she was suprisingly astute about politics and how the world works. She was very aware that (many) governments "buy" votes by giving freebies. Once she was able to vote, she voted her conscience.

There are many stories like this that friends here have relayed to me. What I've taken from my 47 year's experience with people is that education level, socio-economic level, race, nationality, religion, etc, do not determine a person's honesty, clarity of thought, and compassion for one another.

Having said all of that, though I may feel horrible about the conditions in which others in the world might be living, I can't be responsible for the entire world. What I can do is help when and where given my means and ability. Take comfort in the fact that you can, and do, make a positive difference with the people that you meet every day in your own way. To those people that difference can be extraordinary.

 

[BAwithkids]

GSDirtboy's story is great. I, too, was troubled by the tone of tomdesigns post. Poor people aren't less intelligent, but often have less social, educational and cultural capital with which to negotiate the world. And for many of us, even as fortunate as we are, worries about a place to live, food for our families, personal security, and any kind of stable life would lead to political decisions in which short term solutions to our immediate challenges were prioritized.

 

[starlucia]

i know they are without education and so ignorant they can not even understand how you and i process thoughts as they are utterly crippled in their minds.

.......wtf?