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Nicaragua: Class and The Ethics of Vanity
Submitted by fyl on Wed, 2007/04/18 - 07:12.
This ZNet article will likely be disagreed with by most NicaLiving members but it is a worthwhile read. Aside from some general political background, the article details where the MRS came from and why.
One of the leading representatives of the European Union countries in Nicaragua is Eva Zetterberg, Sweden's ambassador who helps manage some effective development projects in Nicaragua via Sweden's development cooperation programme. In an interview she gave me in September last year, Zetterberg discussed varieties of intervention including those of the US, the EU and Venezuela. Zetterberg remarked in passing that the EU intervention in Nicaragua was necessary and important because Nicaraguans have been unable to manage their affairs successfully on their own. However well-intentioned such a remark may be, especially from someone so clearly committed to doing their best for Nicaragua's people, it very clearly indicates the colonialist attitudes that still underlie contemporary development cooperation relationships with member countries of an imperialist bloc like the European Union.
it will never happen
but, wouldn't it be neat if Toni Solo jumped in with a comment, rebuttal, to all this nonsense.
writing style C+ manipulative techniques C-
Good word usage, knows lots of $2 words. Inserts much polemic and editorial comments. Spins nicely. The difference between 'fair' and 'unbiased' is subtle but quite obviously intended to manipulate the reader.
Article length is too long, attempts to cover too much ground without a cohesive thesis statement or summary paragraph to draw it together and no decent resolution to future action. ((now re-read that last sentence and look for the words 'cohesive' and 'decent'. See what I mean by editorial comments?))
Ike was right and the Defense industry, Pentagon and Wall Street have owned and operated the US for many years. The all to real effects of corrupt US politicians and big non-defense business is obscured. Nicaragua has no meaningful Army, defense idustry or stock market so we-all get a glimpse of what the US could have become in an alternate timeline. The politicos, Pellas's, Wolfowitzian corruption, gets the spotlight that in the US hovers over Halliburton, Iraq, homeland security, and useless missile defense systems.
The Gene Pool Theory of Democracy states that the smaller a country, the more insular a country, the lower the likelyhood of decent politicians. The US has 300 million people from a very diverse DNA pool to draw from and - despite soiled dresses, cocaine habits, draft dodging stories - most of the politicians are acceptably low in the corruption sweepstakes. Nicaragua has 4 million from a very isolated and inbred society. The people who could even vizualize a life in politics is probably less than 40,000 and of those, the ones with any hope of election is less than 10,000. That is a Very Small Pool. The politicians WILL be corrupt, corruptable, will rip off whenever they get a chance.
The trick is how much politico corruption can you live with?
For me, if the taxes are low, the regulatory burden almost non-existent, the army presence infinitesimal, then the politico stories just start to become the entertainment pages of the newspapers. Have you noticed that almost nobody here cares about politics and how almost everyone is relatively happy?
Would that the US could be as free as Nicaragua.
I love it here.
S0-Called Colonialist Attitudes...
Giving money to most if not all recent administrations is comparable to giving money to some drunk, dishonnest uncle, hoping he will take care of the family. Will not likely happen with the family for the same reason it will not happen with the country. It is not colonialism which leads to the conclusion many people do not like here if that is true. It is fact, it is history, it is everything decisions are supposed to bie based on. The attitude which is not the right word to describe it is not based on racisms or colonialisms but on real life. There is no factual evidence which would lead any thinking persons to give their hard earned money to the president or government of any Latin country. Absolutely none. The Swedish representive had the audacity to actually speak the truth, which is something people rarely see in Latin America. The only time Nicaragua as a government did anything for its people is when the foreign aid money flowed like water - and was siphoned off like water, too. Every noteworthy thing ever said about the countrys government taking care of its people, was in reference to outside money coming in to do the job inside stolen money could not do. If you want to make Nicaragua a better country, listen to more people from Sweden and less people tied to political nonsense and anti-history.
I love it...
I love it when we go down these roads of intellectual discourse. Why is it always more important to try and figure out if the writer is fyl than to really look at the meat of the article and dispute that.
And just attacking it's liberal or left bias does not make what is said wrong.
And FAP, as for the writer being a gringo or not having lived through it all, well, I never lived as a black slave in the US or had to live through the Great Depression, that doesn't mean I can't study, observe or learn and then comment on what it was like and be correct.
I guess as a gringo, I'll never be able to understand life in Nicaragua so maybe I should rethink my future plans about moving there.
By the way, I think Ortega is a dishonest, lying, thief and a corrupt politician, but the intellectual dishonesty here just get's to me sometimes. But hey, since I am a gringo and didn’t live through it all, maybe my opinion of him is wrong as well.
You guys disappoint me
You have (correctly) concluded that I know who Toni Solo is. Most of you have also correctly realized that Toni Solo is not me.
But, can't anyone offer some useful criticism of the article? It clearly has a lot of research behind it. Rather than random insults, can't anyone offer a bit of research that disputes what is found in the article?
Useful Criticism
You are not looking for useful criticism or the truth. Felix has offered up both & you act like he never posted.
The article certainly glosses over many known facts (slaughtered indians, land plundered, millions of $'s missing,etc), no one (if they have half a brain) believes that any president of Nicragua has been free of corruption, but I also believe that most will agree that Ortega's rule was by far the bloodiest. The article is interesting but highly biased. Have Toni Solo write an article showing the pros & cons (with honesty) of the last 4 administrations, then maybe you will see some useful critisism & thoughtful post. How can someone respond to this article by Toni Solo, it is one sided, half truth, half baked, & highly biased, how is that for useful critism. Tell the whole story then let people pick there sides. No president is going to come out looking like a saint, atrocities have been comitted by all, but for Toni to write this one sided article is a bit irresponsible, especially if Toni pretends to be a real journalist.
Sorry about the spelling, first cup of coffee (Nicaraguan Organic) & too lazy to spell check.
completely bias
article, from the get go, "In January this year, the administration led by Daniel Ortega took over a government ransacked by their predecessors in the crudest possible way". Say WHAT? , I am sure you have read books about Ortega time in the early 80's or not? he at one time was the only president with 9 Rolls Royce limos, and he was one of those who ransacked the country dry, did you forget the pinatas free for all plus all the properties he has and money etc?.
But let me stop right here,this subject is useless with people that think,they know better than those who lived it in flesh and bones.
Regarding Toni Solo,only You know(Nica Saying),if it's You or not, Not hard to confirm thou :-)
FAP
Bueno,
Felix - ya sabés como es él, verdad? Entonces, porqué darle la satisfacción en esto? El no sabe NADA de la realidad de ese tiempo, te lo ASEGURO!!! Solo pretende en lo que sabe, porque no estuvo en Nicaragua en ese tiempo. Olividate de él - no sabe nada.
No, he knows his truth
I lived in the United States in the 1960s and in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, I went to a lot of rock concerts. From that experience I can tell you a lot about what I saw. One statement I would make is that the crowds at Grateful Dead concerts were the most calm and respectful of any concert I have every attended.
That's my experience. Felix has his experience. In Nicaragua, lots of people will have lots of experiences and the results of those experiences will form their opinions. But, they do not necessarily offer an unbiased picture of the whole situation.
Somewhere out here is a photo of the Extreme Cigars pickup truck in a celebration of the Sandinista election victory last year. Clearly, part of Felix's family has formed a different opinion than him. And that is what we (and this site) is about.
Now, where was Toni Solo in the 1980s? I actually don't know. What he wrote has references. While I was not in Nicaragua in the 1980s, if I were to write a piece about what it was like here in the 1980s I have quite a few close friends from the US who were here plus an assortment of friends and relatives who have lived here all their lives.
I have talked to lots of those people. Many are pro-Sandinista. Some are anti-Sandinista. Many, including my mother-in-law, can talk about what it was like on the ground here. My ex-neighbor can talk about what it was like being a Contra here.
So, bottom line, let's keep those stories coming. The more we hear from diverse sources the closer we will get to what it was really like.
Maybe
Fyl wrote
"Somewhere out here is a photo of the Extreme Cigars pickup truck in a celebration of the Sandinista election victory last year. Clearly, part of Felix's family has formed a different opinion than him. And that is what we (and this site) is about."
Another explanation (& in this case is speculation, but I know of other cases that I saw) may be that the Extreme Cigar Pickup was in the celebration because like many other business owners they thought it wise to go with the flow. I saw Sandinista flags & posters on many homes & businesses of people that did not vote Sandinista, but due to their past experiences thought it prudent to hedge their bets. I can tell you that the Islanders that fled for the States during the revolution did not do it because they wanted to (Corn Island was thriving before the revolution & was very well off compared to the rest of the country, scotch was drank by the case & is still the preferred drink on the island), something about getting shot at (& in some cases shot), & having your property confiscated quickly changes your perogative.
I agree
I must admit I was surprised that members thought this guy Toni Solo was a liar, being an Outsider I am more interested in how Nicaragua can flourish now and in the future.I guess it's more important for some people to dwell upon the past.
This guy is completely
This guy is completely clueless.
He must be a Nicaraguan living in the US, it sure sound like it.
and and
He is a gringo, not a Nicaraguan heck ask Phil, he pays his bill lol,a Nicaraguan would Never say such stupid,invalid claims like those,specially if he lived through all the Sandinista hard ships,I am tired of IDIOTS that NEVER experienced life in the early 80's and yet they claim themselves to be experts in the subject,you can read ALL the books in the world,but nothing comes even close to actually being there to factually know what happened and why,and ALL they do is blame the U.S.A
FAP
Equally one-sided
First, I am not blindly defending the article. In fact, I take exception to many things said in it. But, your "facts" are also very one-sided.
Take the word "hardship". I don't think anyone--whether they lived in Nicaragua or anywhere else--would say the 1980s were not full of hardships. But, many of those hardships were a direct result of illegal actions taken by the US government. For example, whether you liked the Sandinista government or not, it is pretty hard to justify many actions taken by the US government (the mining of Corinto harbor being an obvious example) to "prove" the Sandinistas were bad.
If we could "rewind" history, I would be all for re-playing the 1980s with a bit more external honesty. That is, the US certainly could choose to embargo Nicaragua which would create hardships but many less than what was experienced by funding a war against Nicaragua.
The most interesting re-play for me would be for the US to do nothing. That is, if it had just continued to trade with Nicaragua as before. While we have no way of knowing, I would expect that the FSLN would have split into three political parties and Nicaragua would have progressed rapidly toward what we would all call self-rule. If anything, US support for anti-FSLN acctions helped galvanize the "Ortega side" of the FSLN. That is, make people feel unity was needed to fight a common enemy.
Nope
Lives in Esteli
hahah, I thought it was
hahah, I thought it was funny.
Znet Article
I appreciate you bringing this forward, I happen to think Toni Solo is a great writer on Nicaraguan Politics and have been impressed with his insight since I read an article by him (Probably got it from yourself) written back in 2005. He is also a gentleman that loves Nicaragua and I think optimistic about it's future giving Ortega a Chance. The above article covers a wide area from recent (Mind Boggling) political history to the current Dilemma facing Ortega and his Party. What a juggling act and challenge to come! I enjoyed the Latter part of his article "What's to be Done" also intriguing was the comment that some factions would use "Managing the dollar decline" as a "Damocles sword" I personally think the Bush Administration has done a lot of Damage to the American Dollar. I'm glad I have a little money in Euro's.
Toni Solo = Phil Hughes???
http://www.enom.com/domains/whois.asp?DomainName=tonisolo.net&submit.x=0...
Got to admit that is an interesting article, hardly any bias at all.
psycho
This proves this guy is nuts
Nahhh no way Kev
I am sure he is Only the billing/Technical contact better yet I bet you the .... ummm never mind.
Who cares anyhow right? :-o.
FAP
UMMM never mind?
Ghost writing, what's the bet? Three way.