I get this question in a variety of forms on my visits back to the U.S., and I assume you all do as well. I addressed that question in my latest blog posting. Rather than clog up this forum by copying the article here, I have included a link to the blog for those of you who are interested.
Keep in mind I tried to orient my thoughts towards my subscribers in the States. I was merely trying to address 'the question' not conduct a civics class on Panama. I would appreciate any and all comments and/or critiques. It might even warrant my expanding the discussion in future blog postings.
Thanks
blog link Larry's Central America Travels
Replies
I should think some time spent in Afghanistan, Borneo, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, North Korea and other such countries would clearly settle the issue being discussed on this forum.
Having been to a great many countries and living in many, I actually look with wonder that the cities in the world work as well as they do. I am so taken to all you have done there in Boquete to organize yourselves and stay open and generally in your hearts. Robert and I so look forward to our three month visit in November. If it is as it appears, we will joyfully join you.
The difference between FIRST WORLD and THIRD WORLD is SECOND WORLD in between those two... :-)
To be serious, the difference between 3rd and 1st worlds is the level of corruption - in a first world country - corruption is at much higher levels in the government and in a third world country corruption is at low levels in government and among little people such as cops, doctors etc.
In "our" town in South Carolina there was (and still is, after 3 repairs were made) a water leakage on the public street in front of my house, which infected my skin with some parasite, despite water being overrun and overkilled by chlorine. I'm afraid I may get cholera here. The way they repair it is they wait 3 years then do a "repair" then leak continues and they wait 8 months and do repair, then etc. and now I notified them, so they "repaired" the leak by placing the red "tower" next to the leak, I guess that means, do not drive over, we will come and repair it next year and when they DO DRIVE OVER IT, and when I report the offender, the town tells me to leave the offender alone, because "there are too many crazy people here". It is quite organized here, not Third World, but definitely not First World. The attitudes of locals is do you maximum harm secretly. Hey I'm European, not a "yankee", could you spare me? Why do I have to deal with two kinds of racists: Black and White. They discriminate me all the time, because of my accent. I begin to start to think, SC is sinking to Third World levels, and the corruption here is rampant. Florida is worse. Chicago street look Third World, all broken. And the reason why USA in the South looks still quite well is because of the good climate and because they spend so little building their what they call "homes" which are made from some masonite board and some plastic. When I build proper brick walls (about 3-4 feet tall with proper insulation of 2-3 inches inside) they are AMAZED. Yes, because I use FIRST WORLD standards to build my house in a SECOND WORLD country (USA).
So... I'm moving either to Europe or to Panama.
Then we should change those terms from "3rd world country" to ORGANIZED and DISORGANIZED country.
" A man walks down the street, it's a street in a strange world;
maybe it's the third world, maybe it's his first time around.
He doesn't speak the language. He holds no currency.
He is a foreign man -- he is surrounded by the sound,
the sound of cattle in the marketplace. Scatterlings and orphanages.
He looks around -- around -- he sees angels in the architecture,
spinning in infinity: he says, "amen" and "hallelujah" ...
Paul Simon, "You Can Call Me Al", from "Graceland", 1986
"It's dying makes a death, living makes life"
Barbara Kingsolver, "The Lacuna" , 2009
"Jake, your proctologist called, he's found your head ..."
Unknown
That's wonderful.
My dear friend Wryawry
You are a new sensation....lotsa fans down here.... LOL
Well... Did I kickup a fire-storm? That was not my intent. The point of my original posting on my blog (the one I referenced) was that it is dangerous, if not meaningless, to talk in generalities. The unemployed auto worker in Detroit probably has a different view of things in the U.S. than the owner of a popular bar in Miami. Likewise, whether one classifys Panama as 'developing' (or 3rd world) is a differnt question when posed to a expat retiree living in his dream home in Boquete, versus the views of the young Peace Corps worker on his 2nd year in the camarche. But, after viewing all the responses I would like to add:
As Lee called to my attention, ‘developing’ is more accurate term and would be more widely understood than '3rd World'. I often feel when someone in the U.S. asks me the ’3rd World’ question, they are not real certain what that means, and I am certainly not sure what they mean by it. I DO know that most people who are not travelers, and/or are not really familiar with Latin America in general, or Panama in particular, have a mental image of the way we live here that is far from the reality. In many cases that image is based on occasional visits over the years to Mexican border towns.
A simple but illustrative example is music. I get a kick out of playing for my American friends a song from one of my CDs by Marco Antonio Solis or Luis Miguel, and watching their ‘jaw drop’. Most have an experience with Spanish music that runs only from a film clip of a mariachi group to Jose Feliciano singing ‘¡Feliz Navidad.’
But more to the point, I feel that most expats do want to retain a certain level of creature comforts in their environment when they migrate to an overseas location, and Panama fills those requirements quite nicely in my opinion. A lot of the complaints voiced by the expat community in Panama revolve around interruption in those basic,e.g electricity, water, and infrastructure. That is where one has to adjust their expectations, accept the realities and hope that things will improve over time.
But many other complaints also involve both the legal and law enforcement systems. In those cases it seems to me that people have to be realistic in their expectations. There are not going to be sweeping changes in these areas just because expats rail about them. A person’s ‘problems’ with the basic way they do things in Panama should have been considered and accomodated in the original decision to relocate here. If not, it would appear to me to be comparable to deciding to pick up and leave Texas and move to Boquete solely because you liked flowers and coffee!
Let's face it folks, we are adults (supposedly). The concept of 'Love it or Leave it' should not be given or taken as a taunt, but as solid advice. If one migrates to Panama not being aware of, and ready to accept, its shortcomings that was Mistake #1. Hanging around being unhappy about the realities of this country is a much bigger Mistake #2. It is a given, almost all Immigration Offices have two lines - both an 'Entrada' and an 'Salida' window!
You'll also see their jaws drop if you play tipico ;o)
As the basic way they do things here, some things have degenerated in the last 12 years. Are you saying we shouldn't try to help improve things or point out problems. No matter where I am if I pay for something I have an expectation (and reserve the right to bitch about it). From speaking to Panamanian friends friends they are disappointed too. Telling people to leave if they are not happy won't improve anything for those left behind.
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