Inflation expected to top 30% this year

[nikad]

A lot of that blaming comes from the way Argentines are taught, I believe.

As I've mentioned previously, I have a 14 year old sister-in-law going to school here. She goes to a private school (not an exclusive one, it's only about 250 pesos a month). Required reading in history classes is "Las Venas Abiertas de Latina America." I'm sure everyone remembers the book Chavez gave to Obama early in Obama's presidency when the two met.

The thing about a book like that is that it contains good elements of truth - but only half truths. It doesn't tell the other half of the story, like it's the corruption and greed in their own countries that allowed bad deals to be made, it's the ongoing corruption and greed that ensures the populace will remain ignorant of any other way to do things because it benefits those in power.

The history professor tells her class all the time, with venom (my sister-in-law, being from Paraguay, actually feels quite uncomfortable with the amount of hate the teacher displays), that the United States is evil, that it is absolutely bent on keeping Argentina poor. She has no real reasons for that statement because it doesn't do the US any good to have a poor neighbor where they are not even really taking advantage of that poverty, but since when does logic play a part in this?

My sister-in-law's English professor is much more honest about these things. A couple of days ago she came home from school and told me the English professor said "I'm so tired of hearing people in this country blame others for where we are. Until we take responsibility for our own actions we are going to continue being poor and ignorant and ruled by corruption and greed."

It is very sad what you are commenting here: teachers, especially in elementary and high school should not talk about their political ideologies or give subjective views. when I was going to school this was not allowed and school authorities would discourage it, and I did not attend an exclusive school. Only at university, when you already have the factual knowledge you were encouraged to discuss these matters... If I was your sister in law´s parent, I would change schools asap ( God knows what they are telling her about sexuality, religion, etc )

 

[sergio]

I don´t think you´d hear the comments El Queso speaks of at the expensive private schools. It sounds more like what is taught in state schools where teachers are usually strongly anti American and politically on the far left.

 

[nikad]

I don´t think you´d hear the comments El Queso speaks of at the expensive private schools. It sounds more like what is taught in state schools where teachers are usually strongly anti American and politically on the far left.

Sergio, what difference does it make if the anti teaching is against the US, Jewish, or anything else? I send my son to school just so he can learn the facts of history, sciences, etc, not to be brainwashed. I bet some elite schools have an " agenda " too

 

[esllou]

Sergio, what difference does it make if the anti teaching is against the US, Jewish, or anything else? I send my son to school just so he can learn the facts of history, sciences, etc, not to be brainwashed. I bet some elite schools have an " agenda " too

I've been a language teacher for fifteen years and I am always hyper sensitive about giving my opinions on things like that. When in Italy, I found myself defending berlusconi and other undesirables, all in the pursuit of squeaky clean unbiased fairness. When I've socialised with students after class (adult courses!), it's a different matter, but a teacher has an enormous responsibility in the classroom.

 

[ElQueso]

Nikad - I and my wife are her legal guardians, and we are working on moving schools, but not for that reason alone, anyway. We have talked to others out around here and this is not an uncommon thing. Many people we talk to out here "know" that these things she is being taught are true, so of course they are being taught this.

I mention "out here" in the 'burbs because we brought her to go to school while we lived out here and haven't had experience with any schools in the city, to this point. We are moving on the 1st of May back into the city and are currently looking for a private school in which to place her. The school she's in now is secular and we are looking for a Catholic school this time. That has it's own problems, I know, but I'm hoping there will be a little less political commentary. Besides, my wife's family is Catholic.

But this kind of thing has its examples from the past.

I don't want to start up an argument on the Falkland Islands here - that's not my point with the following comments. But in 1943 Peron (he didn't rule alone until '47, but he was part of the military junta who ruled at the time), in an attempt to drive the public conciousness related to the Falklands (and attempting to take advantage of some of the confusion amongst the Allies during World War II) ordered translated into Spanish a horribly inaccurate book (unfortunately written by an American in the 1920's) related to the Falkland Islands' history. He ordered that the book be taught to all school children. There are large, demonstrable errors in the book (errors which honest Argentine historians agree are errors) that give Argentina somewhat of a claim on the islands were they true.

Before the mid to late 1930's, Argentina hadn't seriously claimed the Falklands, and in the late 1800s, more than once, the Argentine Congress issued official statements that there were no unresolved issues with Great Britain, during the time that GB had occupied the Falklands for decades (and Argentina never actually had).

Unfortunately, there are many who say this very act by Peron is what has caused the strong national conciousness related to the Falklands, led up to the 1982 war in which more than 1000 British and Argentine people lost their lives, and now gives Cristina Kirchner some reason to want to claim all that oil for herself (don't kid yourselves - she doesn't want it for the country! And while, once again, claiming it's the fault of others that they are not going to have the oil that Britain found there recently).

BTW - if someone wants to argue the Falkland islands, please start another thread or go to the one where we have already been discussing this.

 

[nikad]

Nikad - I and my wife are her legal guardians, and we are working on moving schools, but not for that reason alone, anyway. We have talked to others out around here and this is not an uncommon thing. Many people we talk to out here "know" that these things she is being taught are true, so of course they are being taught this.

I mention "out here" in the 'burbs because we brought her to go to school while we lived out here and haven't had experience with any schools in the city, to this point. We are moving on the 1st of May back into the city and are currently looking for a private school in which to place her. The school she's in now is secular and we are looking for a Catholic school this time. That has it's own problems, I know, but I'm hoping there will be a little less political commentary. Besides, my wife's family is Catholic.

Well, it is great that you are looking for a place where they won´t inflict all that hate and venom Of course at a Catholic school everything will be taught under a specific philosophical point of view, however there a) you know that in advance, and b) they will not teach her to hate because it is against the religion. In any case, I don´t know which neighborhood you are moving to, but I have a lot of experience with schools in the city and can recommend you a few based on location, price, and even the good public ones, so feel free to drop me a PM.

 

[ElQueso]

One reason the more exclusive schools may not teach so much anti-American (and other Western/European countries) is that they are usually (out here at least) afilliated with one of those countries. Hamilton out here, for example, about 1/4 kilometer from where I live, is strongly British. The kids go to school a half day in Spanish and a half day in English. Of course, they also charge around $2000 pesos a month (which may be on the cheaper side for this level of schooling from what I understand).

There are Italian, French and German schools out here too.

I think a lot of the "lower-level" schools DO teach more left wing thought processes (at least compared to where I come from), and the many of the teachers I have had experience with are openly left-wing anti-American.

I have not encountered a lot of extremely strong anti-colonialism/anti-American/European sentiment in Buenos Aires itself, but enough moderate to mild feelings to understand that it seems to be in the culture, for whatever reasons.

Some of that related to the States, I know, has to do directly with US foreign policies, to the point where I have friends who would gladly move to Europe but would never consider moving the the States, without having ever been to either place.

 

[nikad]

Back to the original topic, this article ( Spanish ) is very interesting, and explains why and how people´s purchasing power will be the same we had back in 2001 in just a few more months ( 1=1 exchange rate ). This is equally bad for both locals and expats earning dollars http://finanzas.iprofesional.com/no...-bolsillo-de-volver-a-la-epoca-del-1-a-1.html

 

[ssr]

This is equally bad for both locals and expats earning dollars

How many locals earn dollars? And, regardless of whether they are getting paid in a foreign currency or not, how many locals have wages that are keeping up with this ridiculous inflation? Are many Argentines getting 30% raises every year?

Seems like there may be a serious crisis looming...

 

[jp]

Eurgh... i worked briefly as a language teacher in southern india. As well as conversational english, I was put in charge of "value education", where with a straight face I was supposed to tell 6 year old kids than people who smoked had no self respect and were likely to abuse others through their carelessness, people who drank were trying to suppress their inner rage and people who lacked faith had no morals and were therefore capable of anything. I didn't last long...

Inflation - my rent ratches up 20% annually, utility bills have spiked, gastos are way up, taxis are up a bit and food and drinks seem more expensive, but not massively so. My peso salary went up by 15% which made a difference, but I'm still not sure how it all balances.

There are some aspects of inflation that I think end up being a little misleading. My train ticket to work went up by 20%, which sounds a lot, but then when you factor in that a 20% increase only represents 15 centavos more than last year, it becomes a little bit insignificant. Can't help suspect that inflation gets overdone a bit. Reminds me of the media hysteria surrounding marijuana and schizophrenia. The headline read "marijuana increases schizophrenia risk by 42%" but they failed to go into details, and point out that the instance of schizophrenia was something like 0.0027% across the population, rising to 0.0038% in marijuana users. Sure, its a huge increase, but its a huge increase relative to a tiny figure.

Truth lies somewhere between the media hysteria and the governments lies.