Why do you choose Argentina?

[Alby]

yes, I love Argentina, I dislike being so shitty. i think it's third world. you don't live here, you visit the country. not the same. then you go back to your real country which it's normal and not with inflation

I live here, and have lived in Latin America for over a decade. And, unlike Argentina, my country has shut the door to me, because of the pandemic, and is not likely to open it for several years, because its people have grown greedy and selfish and insular and ignorant because of the wealth they have accumulated over the last 25 years. Every time I went back for a visit I was more appalled than the previous visit. The last time I was there, I felt like I was walking like a ghost through the last days of decadent Rome and couldn't wait to get back to Buenos Aires. Nobody could understand what I was talking about, but six weeks later the pandemic broke out.

 

[CatLady]

I live here, and have lived in Latin America for over a decade. And, unlike Argentina, my country has shut the door to me, because of the pandemic, and is not likely to open it for several years, because its people have grown greedy and selfish and insular and ignorant because of the wealth they have accumulated over the last 25 years. Every time I went back for a visit I was more appalled than the previous visit. The last time I was there, I felt like I was walking like a ghost through the last days of decadent Rome and couldn't wait to get back to Buenos Aires. Nobody could understand what I was talking about, but six weeks later the pandemic broke out.

well you are weird, I don't like socialism

 

[Renzi]

yes, I love Argentina, I dislike being so shitty. i think it's third world. you don't live here, you visit the country. not the same. then you go back to your real country which it's normal and not with inflation

Much of the USA is actually pretty shitty and "third-world." Anyone thinking of immigrating should subscribe to this Youtube channel first.

 

[CatLady]

Much of the USA is actually pretty shitty and "third-world." Anyone thinking of immigrating should subscribe to this Youtube channel first.

they don't have inflation and peronismo!

 

[wineguy999]

well you are weird, I don't like socialism

From mild insults to ad hominem attacks in the very next post. Brava!

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Hello I'm an Argentinian and found this forum researching ex-pats. I'd like to know why do you choose a third-world country to live, as I'm trying to emigrate.

I'm tired of people using the lazy, third-world tag to describe Argentina. Or, to paraphase the quote in my signature:

"For a complex problem like Argentina, third-worldism is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong."

Countries don't simply slip in and out of their world groupings at the whim of their observers: Argentina was indisputably a first world country by the end of the nineteenth century and that's what it remains - albeit one that has a history of falling on hard times.

Was Germany a third-world country in the 1930s when they had a disfunctional government, hyperinflation and the people were starving? Was Great Britain third-world in the 1970s when the country was broken, broke and had to crawl to the IMF for help? Is Australia third-world because so much of it still has no permanent roads? The USA because there are places where people can't drink the water?

Every time the latest scandal hits Argentina, my other half (the reason I stick with Argentina, since you asked) says it wouldn't happen in the UK and I have to remind her that not only has it already happened in the UK but we did it bigger and better than you.

Corruption? What's a few million dollars over a convent wall set against a £1.3billion bribe (at the time about USD2,000,000,000) from a British company which, when it became public knowledge, prosecution of which was deemed to be "not in the public interest." Heck: we Brits own islands whose whole purpose is to hide dirty money.

Weakening the judicial oversight of the administration? What do you think Britain has been doing for at least the past fifty years?

Corruption in high office? Britain's latest scandal is just that: the latest in a never-ending run of scandals. I could go on....

Sorry, Argentina, but you are a first-world country now and have first-world problems just like the rest of us.




PS If you have the time, this blog post from National Public Radio is worth a look.

If You Shouldn't Call It The Third World, What Should You Call It?

There are many ways to refer to the parts of our planet where people lack decent health care, education and services like electricity and clean water. And just about every label has its problems.

www.npr.org

 

[Somewhereinba]

Sorry but lets get back to reality - Argentina has 40% poverty levels. Extremely high unemployment (masked by the fact so many people work for the Government or in politics). A currency that no one will trade with. Extreme inflation and massive issues with crime. It is NOT first world.

 

[BAHibs]

I was in the middle of the beginning of a round the world trip when the pandemic started, I arrived in Argentina one day before the borders closed.

What I had planned to be a two or three month stay pre Covid has turned into a stay of more than a year so far in which I met my girlfriend and I plan to be staying long term.

Earning an income in dollars online and being able to use the dollar blue / CCL rate means I live better here than in Europe (at least for the time being).

 

[semigoodlookin]

How can one correctly argue the stupidity of calling Argentina third-world and then with a straight face say it is first-world. Why does everything have to be an extreme with people these days? The reality is, Argentina has first world and third world, but the label is old either way. Argentina is what it is, we must live in the reality. Most the people praising the country here are correct, but so are most (maybe not aptly named CatLady) of those who critisize Argentina.

 

[Renzi]

How can one correctly argue the stupidity of calling Argentina third-world and then with a straight face say it is first-world. Why does everything have to be an extreme with people these days? The reality is, Argentina has first world and third world, but the label is old either way. Argentina is what it is, we must live in the reality. Most the people praising the country here are correct, but so are most (maybe not aptly named CatLady) of those who critisize Argentina.

The first and third world labels are themselves very outdated since they go back to the Cold War-era world order, and had more to do with political alignment than economic development.

Looking at the most recent UN HDI rankings, Argentinal is about in the same range as poorer southern and eastern European countries, but far above most of the rest of Latin America.