Why talk about reality?

As we regularly hear, my views are anti-U.S. But, in addition, I just found out that apparently I hate it in Nicaragua as well. I suppose we should also toss in Costa Rica.

Or, I suppose another interpretation is that I am trying to offer useful information about living in Nicaragua. With over half our members being either in or from the U.S., comparisons between Nicaragua and the U.S. seem like the best way convey that information to a lot of members.

Now, do I hate the U.S.? I don't think so. Where I have problems are:

1. The U.S. government meddles in the affairs of oh so many other countries.
2. The U.S. government doesn't see very interested in the needs and wants of the majority of its citizens.
3. The average U.S. citizen doesn't seem very interested in trying to point the government in the right direction. This usually takes to form of what is personally best over what might be best for the majority.

Now, I may think that free universal health care is more important than killing more people in Iraq. So be it. Others may think new bombers are more important than environmental laws. And so on. The one common thing is that the majority of the people in the U.S. are not happy with what the current government is doing. Some of those people are doing something to try to make a change. Most people are watching sports on TV with a hope that those who decide to vote in November will be able to pick "a better government" that will "fix things".

I am no expert on internal politics of a zillion countries but from what I have seen in Nicaragua and Costa Rica and what I have tried to learn about many other countries, the citizenry seem a lot more willing to participate in trying to point there government in the right direction. Even if I disagree with the direction, the folks get credit for actually being willing to get involved.

Now, do I hate it in Nicaragua? Definitely not. If I did, it is very unlikely I would be building the Geek Ranch there. I picked Nicaragua as the place I will live the rest of my life. I am confident I have made the right choice.

That said, I do "complain" about Nicaragua. The kind of inefficiencies I see all the time (an hour or more in a bank line, for example) are a problem. They are things that drag Nicaragua down that could be easily fixed. For NicaLiving readers, telling them they exist is important. I will help people either decide they can't deal with the problem, that they use the "have your empleada stand in line" approach or they try to do something to actually correct the problem.

A lot of my "recent complaining" has had to do with getting the CoolTop property construction moving along. My business partner, who is Nicaraguan, has the same complaints. We both could be living and working in other countries but we choose to do this work in Nicaragua.

If we were doing a project like this in the U.S., there would be less "dealing with the drunk government employee" but we also know it would cost so much more money and take so much more time to do the same thing in the U.S. that we couldn't even do it.

If you are looking for generalities such as "tropical fruit costs less in Nicaragua than the U.S.", read a travel guide. You don't need to come here for that information. But, if you actually are interested in moving to and living in Nicaragua, you probably need to know the fact that there are less checks and balances here (than in the U.S.), for example.

So, again, the U.S. comparison is here because it is useful. Comparing Nicaraguan export laws to those of Argentina might be a better comparison (because of how they are being used to address food shortage issues and how they currently are backfiring in Argentina) but I am guessing 5% or less on the NL members know anything about the government of Argentina and what is happening there.