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ALL POLTICS ARE LOCALSubmitted by 1st Capt. Ron on 5 November, 2007 - 10:31.
I have seen several topics on Nicaliving start off with one topic, but eventually will lead to politics. Since this is a web-site about Nicaragua, I thought I would try to find out what political issues those in Nicaragua are concerned with. I would think power and utilities would be a big one. Possibly employment as well, but I am hoping people on the ground in Nicaragua might be able to explain the situations to me and their views on the problems\fixes. ( categories: )
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The trenches
I will try to take stab at this. First the reason so many threads run into politics or possiblly US politics and not Nicaraguan politics.
There have been so many times the US has interfered with the normal developement with Nicaragua. Some would argue to its detriment some would argue for its favor. One thing is true right now the US has a great influence over the Nicaraguan economy, so what hurts the US hurts Nicaragua.
Doesn't really matter there exists the rebelous child syndrom. You see it or hear it sometimes when talking to Nicaraguans in Nicaragua its amazing how many times it comes up.
For the most part from Nicaraguans I hear the positives aspects of our influences, from new expats I hear the negitives (predetermined ideas) and the rest well we start to develope our own ideas as we learn the obsticales and how to make it work.
It really is a new country in an old shell. Kind of like a hermit crab at first there is alot of room then you start to feel the walls, it just dosen't fit right, a little heavy on one side. Its all you know, so you don't know its not right or maybe its just the current pushing you around because your legs are still to small. So here is this little hermit crab falling into holes and finding all kinds of oportunity to prosper as long as the preditors don't see you getting along you'll do just fine. (Abstract thought)
The electric system is tricky and you can't touch it without taking a bath in politics. As far as the other topics you touched on it seams there are laws restricting you from doing almost anything unless you know the right moves or pay the right person. Experiance is our teacher here.
Be extremely careful with the lawyers you need them but they need you more. Take your time with this issue it will save you tons of grief.
I think the whole political and legal system should be scrapped and start over that would be my fix. It just seems the focus is all wrong, For all I know there may be good reasons for it being the way it is, I just don't see it. Please don't think I would copy the US system either.
My advice would be just buy your solar panels or wind turbines learn how to use them and set up your own house. Yes its expensive but so is spending your time trying to learn the right way. At least your power won't go off during normal daylight hours. This would be a positive step that will give you some control over your own destiny. The government nor Union fenosa is going to fix the power problem anytime soon. The reason I say this is they have alot of different solutions in their hands and they refuse to look at them, its easier to blame each other. Its as simple as change the law.
In alot of cases you may need to adapt this type of approach. And it would of course depend on where you want to set up and what you intend on trying to do.
Fyl says it best you either spend your money or you spend your time, do your homework. The thing that kills it for most is you end up spending your time trying to figure out how to spend your money or visa versa. In the end you spent more than you thought in both. Frustration sets in and maybe you don't like the place so much.
Most of the pit falls are here on NL learn and listen and ask, but just like you, we are all still learning how to do it better.
Small gene pool
We don't have any natural resources to sell. Our tourist infrastructure is non-existent. Our international debt is outta this world. The US is busy shipping back the few remittance men we managed to ship up there. Our currency is tied to a failing dollar. Our education system is 30 years old and shows it. Our central systems have been sold off to the likes of Enitel and Union Fenosa with little nett benefit. Our airline disappeared into TACA. We are down to trading a few miserable missiles for an x-ray machine and begging for aid.
If we had a visionary or two like a young Che, a 30 year plan, started on the 4 year olds and imposed Japanese educational standards on the schools, maybe, just maybe, we would have a chance. In 2038.
Suppose a diety dropped a car manufacturing plant on us. One car for every man woman and child would be less than 8 months production at Fiat. We couldn't ship them out of the country because the rails were destroyed and the roads are bad. Not that we could find the people to operate and maintain such a factory - there just aren't the skills and education available.
Education of young kids and a very long term plan. There is no alternative.
Well, there is one. The bifurcated society where a western style upper class appears almost overnight built upon the US baby boomers that has virtually no connection with Nicaraguans. Will the Nicaraguans be able to use that tax base and revenue stream to leverage themselves outta the muck? A project that has taken US African Americans hundreds of years so far. Will the biggest building in Managua be Blackwater Towers? Were Blade Runner / Escape from New York fictional? Is Mel Gibson a visionary?
Slow day in Jinotega.
funny thing
All the gold from the Raan is sold to Canada (Numont), the lumber that was being cut down was being sold to China, Canada and Europe as well as the US. And what of the cattle there is cattle every where and Nicaraguas for the most part eat very little beef. As I have read here and there the biggest importer of Nicarauan beef is the US. The coffee market is a little iffy.
My biggest complaint is very little of the export markets money ever helps the Nicaraguans or the country. But to say it exports noda is false to say it exports don't help the country or help feed the people holds a little water so the moneys going somewhere, just not to the people.
The US is a rich country it built itself rich and rewarded companies who became successful with more power so more people prospered. Yes sometimes this power was misused. Nicaragua or Nicaraguans steals any company doing better than average, tries to run them with no experiance, they are soon run into the ground, thus destroying their value. Then they turn around and say I am poor can you help me. This sceario has been repeated so many times in history its pathetic.
Nicaragua needs right now a few trail blazers to show it can be done. Then when the bandits circle them with threats and bullshit the people in the communities need to stand out front and "say its time for change, thats the way we used to do it". Its a beautiful place and it need talented people who know how to do things to help guide it in the right direction.
Black water towers? Do you think that Black water could have been created during the contra war, how else could the US fund a secret war? There you may have something if this could be true then I would have a problem with them coming home.
On the bright side, if more extaneros move here the more variety there is for the gene pool. On those grounds alone whe need more doers come in help shape the next century be a part of building the best place on earth.
Dispair?
After reading these comments I get the feeling alot of people have simply accepted the situation because the issues are so big. If we narrow it down to a single issue either roads, utilites, education or some other issue, which would be the first to fix?
1st Capt. Ron
I pick education
In the early 1980s, the FSLN picked education (and health care) as where to start. I have to agree they were starting in the right place. Unfortunately, starting in 1990, that priority got moved down the list.
Why education? Because it is a long-term investment. You need to get it in place first and then work on other issues.
There are schools and there are teachers and the number of people in school is on the rise again. That's the good news. The bad news is that, in general, I see people learning how to read but, beyond that, how to be poor like their parents.
Let me offer my wife Ana as an example. She has a degree in Agriculture. What did she learn? How to grow beans, rice and corn. Or, more accurately, what she didn't learn was about new, innovative things. Growing other crops. Nutrition. Business practices. Integrated pest management. ...
Now, one can argue that this practical knowledge of "what we do" is important. Maybe it is even though we see rice grown in the US and subsidized by the US government being sold here for less than local rice. But, half the population here is under 18. Unless those people learn something besides growing rice, you flood the market with these people.
If, on the other hand, you start putting together a real basic education--something that can be the foundation for real college classes--and start looking at college programs to create talent for the future you are building what is needed to move Nicaragua forward.
For example, if you had good Computer Science schools (that is, where you actually learn what makes a computer tick rather than "this is how you use software you bought) experienced management could easily see Nicaragua as a place to do software development work.
I agree that education is a
I agree that education is a good start, but the problem with the way the FSLN, et. al., went about it, is that the best they could hope for would be well educated seamstresses, laborers, and unemployed. Education is not enough. There has to be a means for individuals to put that education to work. Like it or not, when starting out from ground zero, there has to be an influx of resources to get things started. Those resources will always have a price, no matter where they come from (Fidel, Tio Hugo, the former USSR, or individual investors). The only difference is in the expected payment. History clearly shows that when there is no readily available means of payment (such as oil or other internal resources), only capitalist investors can provide the start-up resources and assurance that those resources are allocated in such a manner that they will provide the greatest return. Hopefully, DO and an invigorated FSLN won't have enough clout to again dismantle what little infrastructure has been built. Otherwise, education will be a waste of time and money for everyone except for those few who can go somewhere else. As far as computers go, there is probably room for a few native geeks, but they may as well learn to repair Rolex watches. Without any other infrastructure, they can learn, but will still have a hard time finding work, and will earn a farm laborer's wage.
Personal example
This is not speculation--this is what I tried to do and why it didn't work when I first moved here.
In my "past life" I published a computer magazine. That magazine paid out money for the following to contractors:
What I tried to do was get some of that work done in Nicaragua. Of course, much of it required decent English skills making it hard but it didn't seem like it should be impossible. For example, many magazine articles are written by people whose native language is not English. Editors get paid to deal with that--the important part was the technical side. And not everything (making t-shirts, for example) required English skills.
The net result was that three different people living here but all from outside Nicaragua did a bit of work. The total was small and close to none of the money made it back into the Nicaraguan economy.
Now, much of this is related to technical education. That requires some decent lead-time. But, beyond that, some education on the operation of a business was in order. The person who was supposed to do the t-shirts, for example, went from hard to find to impossible to find.
As for "native geeks", I have tossed out some ideas here (long ago) for products that make sense. One is to develop a reasonably-priced Point of Sale system targeted for Latin America. With wages lower in Nicaragua than the other countries in Latin America, it would be easy to offer a competative product. If I saw the talent here, I would offer some technical help and am sure I could find the financing to make it happen.
Elaborattion
Forgive me but i have no idea what is a point of sale system?
Computerized cash registers
That's the short answer. Basically a system used for sales that keeps track of inventory, costs, re-order levels, ...
Some things that make a "made for Latin America" system different are:
In addition, being completely based on non-proprietary hardware and software for all but the application saves money and makes local support easier.
efficency
SO basically you would concentrate on helping the businesses in Nicaragua become more efficent therfor increasing their ability to be profitable? This actually needs to be done.
Prioritization?
Of course a prerequisite to that Computer Science program or making Nicaragua a valid option for software development would be to get the electricity issues worked out.
Personally, utilities get my vote (not that my vote has any impact on anything). Most of the other things on the list of optional priorities will go a lot smoother if electricity and water issues are stabilized.
Not sure
First, electricity is probably not as big an issue as it appears from outside. In some areas (mine included) the power is seldom off. It is also easy to fix--it just needs money thrown at it. Daniel made the statement that the problem would be solved by December, let's see.
There are lots of good ways to address low-demand electric needs such as computers. I have 900 watts of solar panels here and about 6 kilowatt hours of batteries. While they are just connected to my office they are capable of dealing with any of the power outages we have experienced and also decrease my electric bill by about $20/mo.
tell me more
FYI,
you mentioned "For example, if you had good Computer Science schools (that is, where you actually learn what makes a computer tick rather than "this is how you use software you bought) experienced management could easily see Nicaragua as a place to do software development work."
I am a computer guy an consider myself compident enough t teach others the basics about computers. Are you referring to hardware skills (A+) or to networking? -- Maybe both?
1st Capt. Ron
My plan
If I was "head of computer education" for Nicaragua, here is what I would be doing:
Probably more but that is a good start.
Correctly addressing needs is clearly something that is missed here. I was in a big pharmacy here today, Farmacia San Sebastian. There are 10 computers with displays and keyboards there. Ten full-sized computers. No idea what software they are running but in a world where thin clients make a lot of sense, what I see there does not.
I see other similar examples regularly. Knowing how to solve the problem can save money, save electricity and make hardware and software maintenance a lot easier.
teaching higher ed
Eventually, the blank stares and lack of results caused my friends to chose more basic objectives for their lessons. They are happier and so are the students.
When selecting students for your A+ classes, give then an online written exam with part of it an essay response. If they can fill in the form and write something, you are in with a chance. Once I started doing that with job interviewees, things changed for the better.
Leastways, thats the way it is in Jinotega.
speaking of education
I just finished reading an amazing book by a fellow named Greg Mortensen (and a journalist) about his efforts to "fight the war on terror" (and much more) in afganistan and thereabouts through building schools in remote areas, reasons, success -- called Three Cups of Tea -- highly recommend it to folks of all political bents.
btw, why does a computer tick? Mine isn't ticking, should I be concerned?
Hmmm...small world (kinda),
I just received that book in the mail the other day, based upon a Granada friend's recommendation. I'm looking forward to reading it!
tick tick tick
Schools, education, teachers, ideas - the only solution to almost every problem the world has.
Excellent take
Fyl, The Education as first priority hats off. Computers and other fields need to be enlightened. I hear chat about building schools this is not education but they are Nessecary. So here's an example I have seen in My wifes family. Three of her sisters are school teachers and an aunt. Several times while discussing things I was amazed at how little they actualy had been taught themselves. They knew nothing of the Roman catholic church, Michelangelo (even though the last supper hangs everywhere in Nicaragua) Or even the history of their own country. The idea that Columbus may not have been such a hero was almost a slap in the face, or the idea that others may have explored the new world before him, was pure amazing. Scientific stuff was vacant, their math skills as far as could tell are pretty good. Writing has to be perfectly puctuated is also very important. Critical thinking is no where to be found, knowing the importance of history is of no value. These things lacking I think is a bad idea.
A cultural difference; I have never seen a Nicaraguan someone who was schooled in Nicaragua read for pleasure, the only time I have seen them read is for study. Every time i pick up a book to read someone hands me a chore. I was told reading is my way of avoiding work so I gained a flajo? reputation, (lazy) It didnt matter I built walkways to keep the mud out fixed the holes in the roof to keep the rain out. When I let one of the school teachers use my computer to prep an assignment for her class she could not figure out how to change the language, so here i walk in and 4 of the brightest minds in town are there trying to figure it out. It was of no use to point out the icons are the same even though the words are not. All graduates of the computer school in Rivas. Well i didn't know either so I called a friend and in 3 minutes my computer was in Spanish. Since i knew something they didn't they all walked out and never touched the thing again.