Goshinki said:
I have to ask you the same question. Sounds like your knowledge of Argentina comes solely based from your extremist blog sources. You need to start reading beyond the blogs to get some idea of this country. Use google translate and you can at least start to read some stories as written by locals.
Argentina is not paradise. No country is.
Since your takes on the USA sound a bit extremist, I'll give you a an extremist take (though factual) on Argentina today:
It is not actually what you would consider a strong economy (and I mean you in particular) -- not unless you consider a dependence on China continuing to buy up all your soy a solid basis for an economy. (And do you really want to put your eggs in the basket of Argentina that are depending on China to keep their accounts full, while redirecting huge proportions of their agricultural production away from foods and meats for their people and into the soy markets? Meat production has fallen so much in Argentina that there is talk of importing beef from Brasil)
Argentina is a land of 30% inflation (despite the official government number stating it is only 12%). It is a land whose president has seen her personal wealth rocket from 3 million USD to 25 million USD in just the few years that she (and her husband) took office. She is a president who retains a personal business advisor that she consults before making any political decision to see if it is going to help her investment portfolio.
Argentina is a land that could at any moment essentially be taken hostage by a powerful union. In the past few months we have seen numerous threats of complete shutdown of the trucking/transportation industry if the government doesn't give into their demands. In a country where there are practically no rail lines, this means that we are dependent on the good will of a criminal union leader to decide whether or not food products will be delivered to our shelves, whether or not there will be gas in the gas stations, whether or not there will be medications in the pharmacies, and whether or not newspapers will be delivered to the news stands. In the past few months alone we have seen shortages of products on the shelves, shortages of gas, and the blockade of the delivery of newspapers.
Argentina is a country that uses natural gas for heating and cooking. We are coming into winter. The country is not even able to provide heat in the schools of this nation. Since Argentina does not produce enough natural gas it is reliant on a good relation with Evo Morales, that puppet of Chavez, to send us enough gas down the pipelines so we can make it through winter. May I remind you that most of this nation does not fall into a sub tropical or tropical climate? 13 million people in the area surrounding Buenos Aires this morning woke up to 2 degrees celsius, 1 month before winter officially begins. A lot of those people do not have gas lines into their homes, they have to buy propane tanks. A lot of these people suffer their way through the winter with barely any heat (they must make a choice between cooking their food and heating the house). Children will sit suffering the cold throughout the winter wishing that the broken panes of glass on their public schools could at least be repaired so that the -5 degree winds didn't blow right through them.
This is a nation that in what you term a "strong economy" regularly sees shortages of staples such as dairy products, sugar, butter, cereals and grains from the shelves of supermarkets. Where notices are posted in supermarkets telling you that you are only currently allowed to buy 2 of one product, where you can go for days or weeks not being able to find a product that has always been on the shelves. And this is in a time of a "strong economy" -- imagine what it would be like if that economy worsened.
This is a nation that has yet been able to ensure that its' poorer regions have access to basic services - potable water for instance. Where in the north several families must share access to a single tap or pump, where fights break out over access to the water. Where maternal and infant mortality rates soar beyond those of a supposedly developed nation. Where doctors lack the basic supplies necessary to save the lives of their patients.
Now, someone like you, with your extremist views of America, will probably say that this is just an extremist description of Argentina. It is a description of a real Argentina that does exist, but without any of the positives included. This is the same as what your descriptions of the USA have done.
All countries have their problems. Don't believe that Argentina is simply a country of "gorgeous countryside, strong economy, bountiful resources and kind people." It is also a country with extreme problems, malnourishment, poor access to resources, extreme corruption in government, and unions that could put a stranglehold on your access to the basics.
If someone started writing about Argentina from the same angle as the blogs you're reading about the USA, believe me, this place would sound like hell on earth.
By the way, I wonder if the pictures of the gorgeous countrysides of Argentina have included any like this one attached from Santiago del Estero. This is the "Real Argentina".
