| Capitalism
is the major export of the United States. I have met many Americans
who think this word is synonymous with democracy. One, however, is an economic
system and the other political system. Certainly the United States is in
the business of making the world safe for capitalism so it is easy to understand
how Americans can make this error. The fall of the Soviet Union has produced
the thought that capitalism is triumphant and holds the answer to all the
world’s troubles. It is only necessary to allow the “invisible hand”
of the market to work by itself and all boats will rise with the tide of
global wealth. Such is the mindset of the New World Order. Perhaps it just
needs more time to work before the results are seen. Or perhaps the theory
is flawed at its inception.
There are 46
“free-trade”
zones here, fourth largest installation in the world. I haven’t actually
been into one, as they are enclosed in high wire fences, guarded by men
with guns. Inside, more than 200,000 people of the Dominican Republic,
mostly women, work for one of the 520 foreign companies, 6 days a week,
ten hours a day. There are no unions here. When the workers at American
Airlines started to discuss the possibility of forming a union, all those
workers lost their jobs. Wages are steadily decreasing through Latin America
as there is an ever-present threat of a less developed nation whose citizens
will work for even less money. Seventy percent of the trade-zone jobs are
in the textile industry. The Dominican Republic then exports the
products, primarily to the United States, with no tax put on them. The
workers are, however, taxed on their earnings. There are always applicants
for jobs. The products from these zones accounts for 85% of the exports
from this country, supplemented by the traditional products of coffee,
sugar, tobacco, fruit, leather, silver and gold. The United States is the
largest trading partner receiving 51% of the exports and sending 43% of
the imports.
Another
big industry here is sex tourism. The Europeans are by far the largest
tourist population here, accounting for more than 85% of the visitors.
Many of the all-inclusive resorts have a reputation for easy encounters
with locals, male and female. Prostitution is not illegal here, but neither
does the government regulate it. Costa Rica, by contrast, which has legalized
prostitution, requires frequent health checks and the payment of taxes.
Those who have a particular lust for sexual encounters with minors of both
sexes are particularly noticeable here. There were local headlines that
a child pornography ring was recently busted and four Europeans actually
sent to prison but enforcement of the laws against the exploitation of
minors, which do exist, are scarcely enforced. Casinos abound in the resort
areas and the Dominicans themselves have a passion for gambling, buying
lottery tickets every week in the hopes of hitting the big one. And the
local rum is as cheap as the Coca-Cola mixers.
The first Europeans
here, in this village on the north coast of the Samana Peninsula, bought
and built up the available land. Some even paid for it in coconuts (well,
that is the story anyway.) Now the Dominicans have learned from them
and large land parcels near the beach are selling for $90 a square meter
($9
a square foot or $36,000 an acre). Even the undeveloped steep mountaintops,
where access is extremely difficult, is priced at $12,000 an acre. Construction
costs here may run to $100 a square foot.
It is difficult
to find a meal in a sit-down restaurant for under $12. Even at the Dominican
restaurants,
dishes, which feature a very large serving of rice with a very small portion
of chicken, meat, or fish, sell for over $4. A good housecleaner, one who
is independent and has several clients, can earn that in one hour. A schoolteacher,
with a college degree, starts with a salary of about $250 a month. Ten
thousand pesos a month, or an annual salary of about $4,000 is considered
a good wage in this country.
So know that
if you come here, or go to another developing country, to live on a simple
retirement income of $3,000 a month, you will be among the wealthy. You
will be the target of scams and scoundrels, both foreign and domestic.
You will need a large and impressively frightening dog, or an armed guard,
as well as bars on your windows and a wall around your property. Sometimes
the police themselves are the thieves.
However, you
can leave your belongs with impunity along the tourist beaches when
you swim. I alone walk at night in this town with no sense of fear whatever.
But I am a native New Yorker, well trained by travel. Despite the publicity
from some of the all-inclusive resorts who aim to keep the tourists within
their own compounds, this is reasonably gentle and safe nation, whose residents
welcome strangers.
Should you
be robbed, I suggest you consider the old question: “What are the crimes
of the bank robber compared to the man who owns the bank?”
If you come
here with the attitude that these are somehow “inferior” people,
who are fortunate to have the opportunity to meet and serve you, you will
be targeted even further.
Even those
people who are illiterate are not stupid. Locals will not have to speak
English in order to sense an air of “superiority.” One Dominican
friend of mine said to me recently; “Everyone is a racist.” I countered
with my opinion. I would be a fool, I said, if I did not acknowledge that
there are differences in skin color. However, to be a racist, in my mind,
means that one assumes that one’s own race is superior. This I do not do.
My greatest heroes have been men of color: Gandhi, Martin Luther King,
Nelson Mandela.
If you come
here for sexual gratification, you will be given that but not the respect
of the community. You will be regarded as the predator that you are. Know,
however, that many happy marriages have ensued between Dominicans and foreigners.
But the love and respect that are needed for a relationship are rarely
founded with a cash transaction.
If you come
with the attitude that your way is better, that you are here to “save”
them,
they will gladly take your money, listen to your advice, and go on about
their own way of doing things. This is an independent nation. It is a democratic
nation in which you do not have a vote.
If you are
looking for an easy way to make a fortune in real estate speculation, you
are already too late for this country. You may be able to clear a bit of
jungle in El Salvador.
If you are
hoping to establish an “American” colony, with all the conveniences
and amenities of “home”, you will be sold a very expensive property
in a guarded and gated community and consigned to the company of your own
people.
If you do not
learn Spanish, you will exist in a pale shadow world, never understanding
what
is being said around or about you. You will not even be able to talk
with ex-pats from other countries. You will lead a lonely and isolated
life.
If you understand
that as a person of wealth among them, a foreigner whose wallet and passport
allow them to travel wherever they wish, you are expected to share a bit
with the local population, even perhaps pay a bit of a higher price than
the locals. Your foreign income is not taxed here. It will be up to you
to decide how to contribute your fair share.
If, however,
you come in peace, with a willingness to participate in the lives of the
people, to be of assistance as your talents allow, you will be welcomed
and respected.
You will be
greeted with smiles, waves, hugs and kisses. Local doors will open
to you. Residents will travel 5 hours by bus to visit you in the hospital
in the Capital if you are taken ill. You will enjoy completely unspoiled
and often deserted beaches lined with coconut palms.
You will be
able to bask in the beautiful sunshine of this country and the loving hearts
of its people.
If you are
interested in a Spanish school in Las Terrenas
The following
are the previous articles Elizabeth wrote for the magazine:
|
