Rise of a New City

Walking around Santiago, you can feel that the city is growing and moving forward. There's an optimism in the air that comes with continued work and growth during what is certainly one of the most intense financial busts in the last 100 years. Chile has always, like many Latin American countries, been reliant on the economic swings in the commodity markets. Demand for raw materials is often a back and forth game, and these countries have entire economies built on their country's natural resources. Chile stored away it's acorns in these last boom years and has been able to crack open the piggie bank in the last 8 months to continue supporting their population and drive their economic infrastructure. While copper was trading at ridiculous highs, the Chilean government spent about 3 years building up a 'rainy day' fund. That fund is what is driving the continued growth here in Chile as well as the drop that Caitlin and I have seen in the dollar's strength against the peso. Recently, at the summit of the Americas, Chile held center stage with their economic strength and infrastructure plans putting them ahead of the pack. Prosperity has risen at such meteoric speeds here that Chileans are eager to shed the tired label of a developing, and peripheral nation. Part of the reason that conservation seems such a long way off here(we routinely have to beg off a store clerk who wants to double bag our purchase of butter) is that Chileans are proud of their prosperity and want to show the world that they're not in the minor leagues. Along with this optimism are the everyday reminders that this city is marching on and becoming a booming, modern metropolis. Reminders that times are good can be seen not only in the cranes that dot the cities skyline as crews work 12 hour shifts to change the cities skyline. City workers can be seen everywhere manually raking leaves, sweeping sidewalks, and collecting trash. Viva Santiago!

Bio Bio of Food and Bikes

By now you've heard stories about the really interesting markets here in Chile. They range from weekly neighborhood markets that happen on local streets to more permanent markets that take place over the space of city blocks. These markets are famous here in Chile and throughout the world for their size and the eclectic nature of what you can find. The area isn't always the best for getting snap happy with a camera, but if you can imagine it, you can buy it at these markets. The one for which that is most true is Bio Bio. I'm not sure that with the ten months that we will be here that we'll be able to figure this place out. It has more stuff, more buildings, and more mazes that you lose yourself in than I can describe. Here is as best a representative sample as I could give you in one blog post. Feel free to throw out questions and I'll happily tell you if I've seen it there. Preserved insects as art, kitchen fixtures, construction materials and tools, electronics, books, car parts, old industrial machinery, fine art, great restaurants, bicycle shops....the list goes on.

Religious Capitalism

As a bit of a follow up to my last post, the relationship here between the church and state is worthy of it's own post. Chile has been a catholic nation for as long as there has been Spanish influence here. The cozy relationship between the church and state has become less of a codified norm and more of a reality held over from an earlier time. As Chile has embraced capitalism and opened it's government to pro-business and progressive socialist stances, the church has been officially relegated to similar standing as other faith organizations.

A 1999 law, "Norms for the Legal Establishment of Churches and Religious Organizations," commonly known as the "Ley de Cultos," gives other religious entities the same legal status that the Roman Catholic Church enjoys; however, the Catholic Church unofficially retains a privileged position

The idea that there are other faiths that practice as openly here in Chile is true, but Catholicism still shapes national holidays, hiring practices, public morality, and education. Many public schools here are partially controlled by the church and the education that most children receive is a catholic one when compared to the secular education that most US kids receive. The church also still plays a heavy role in other government institutions such as the military. Perhaps a proselytizing scandal wouldn't be as out of place here as the recent one in the states has felt. But then again, as I was being interviewed for my job...I was asked what my faith affiliation was. Taken aback at this question as well as some others, I replied that I had been raised christian but wasn't practicing. The interviewer went on to discuss the church's influence in education and people's sense of morality. He wanted to warn me particularly that people here in Chile don't really go to church as a rule, don't practice their faith as a rule...but generally would report on any survey that they were a faithful catholic.

The country has an area of 292,260 square miles, and its population is just over 15 million. Seventy percent of the population age 14 or older was identified as Roman Catholic by the 2002 census (down from 76.8 percent in 1992) In the census, the term evangelical refers to all non-Catholic Christian churches with the exception of the Orthodox Church (Greek, Persian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and Armenian), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Seventh-day Adventists, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Approximately 90 percent of evangelicals were Pentecostal. According to the 2002 census, evangelicals totaled 1,699,725 persons, or 15.1 percent of the population over the age of 14 (up from 12.4 percent in 1992).

Military recruits, whatever their religion, are required at times to attend Catholic events involving their unit. Membership in the Catholic Church is considered beneficial to a military career, and in the navy, it is said to be almost a requirement for advancement to the highest posts. In 2001, an ecumenical chapel was opened in the Investigative Police Academy, and an evangelical Christian chaplain was appointed. Two ethics instructors at the Academy were evangelical Christians. In 2004, the Ministry of Defense named Catholic and evangelical Christian chaplains and offered regular religious services in a chapel in the ministry.

Religious instruction in public schools is almost exclusively Roman Catholic. Schools are required to offer religious education, on an optional basis, twice a week through middle school. Teaching the creed requested by parents is mandatory; however, enforcement is sometimes lax, and religious education in faiths other than Roman Catholicism is often provided privately through Sunday schools and at other venues. Local school administrations decide how funds are spent on religious instruction. Although curricula are approved for 14 other denominations, 92 percent of public schools and 81 percent of private schools offer instruction based only on the Roman Catholic faith. Evangelical church leaders reported continued resistance by school administrators, based on economic considerations, to appointing evangelical religion teachers in the Santiago suburbs of Quinta Normal and Puente Alto.

The marriage of this Catholic state with the fundamentals of capitalism has produced an interesting relationship. One of the most entertaining of this is the marriage of unlikely bedfellows along the streets here in Santiago. While many of the streets here are in fact grouped by business type, the churches are spread out more randomly. So much so that while I haven't been able to get a good picture of this, I can promise you that just a few blocks away sits a storefront church right next to a strip club. They hold evening services and just sitting and watching the doors of these two establishments open and close next to each other was fascinating.

"I think the catholic church in Chile is more of political party, then a religious organization really."
~ anonymous expat living in Chile

While hiking this last weekend, we found this when we arrived at the hot springs

Quoted sections taken from this 2005 US government report on religious freedom.

Top Three News and Politics On My Mind

Pacific Ocean Gyre
I tend to think that the environmental lessons of the last 50 years have not been learned and that it generally takes an economic shift to move environmental legislation and awareness. But what if there is not tangible economic shift to be felt...what if we've gotten so good that we can't see what we're doing?

LA Times award winning series on our oceans and what's happening to them
A documentary looking at the true scope of the problem in our oceans(please forgive the melodramatics)

Drug Decriminalization
I think that the US is reaching a point of polictical momentum that could be critically important for the 'Drug War' With the increase in violent crime in the 1980's, drugs seemed like a great scapegoat at the time. Turning their abuse into a law enforcement issue was good politics and it felt good. But after 30 years of failed policy, no meaninful reduction in usage, a national security crisis at our southern border, and an economic motivation....hopefully we can scrap the approach that has led us astray and wasted money. Hopefully we can get to a pragmatic solution that lowers usage, decreases addiction, and improves the way we live.

An eye opening look at how successful decriminalization has been in Portugal
California goes for the 'gold' in marijuana legalization

Torture
As far as torture goes, I feel like I've been singing this song for far too long. I've never been for it and said it was shitty from day one. The ticking bomb theory just doesn't exist in real life. It's use in the justification of torture by the US makes us sound that much more silly. The world is a dangerous place with people who don't agree with our interests. We should do what works and what advances our moral interests/world standing. With all the news coming out on seemingly a daily basis, these are my two takeaways on the issue. We didn't punish Richard Nixon for his crimes and that spawned an entire generation of government employees that learned that if you're high enough up on the ladder, the law doesn't apply to you. Let's not make that same mistake again.

Treat others as you'd like to be treated - Gingrich on torture back in the day
It's not political...it's criminal. Democrat or Republican, we should have accountability

The Politicized Torture Debate

I wrote a bit about this today for posting later this week, but I saw this video clip and wanted to pass it along. It's (of all things) Jesse Ventura on The View. The conversation is interesting because I think that there are three main points in the debate about torture.

1) It doesn't serve our national interests to break the law. Therefore, whether torture works or not, we should not do it. Also, anyone who was involved should be held accountable to the established rule of law
2) The left: This is something that we might be able to get Bush on because he pissed us off on so much other stuff and now I smell blood. Chaaaarge!
3) The right: It's better for our national security...well it's not really torture, it's enhanced interrogation....well it was a tough time to be in power....EVERYONE knew about it and was doing it!!!!!!!

The first point is where Ventura is coming from. Interestingly enough...from the viewers perspective...he's surrounded by Joy Behar on his left and Elizabeth Hasselbeck on his right! I find myself in Ventura's camp, and think a whole lot of Americans might as well. Definitely worth a watch as I feel it sums up this debate in one - nice - 'View' - morsel!

Jesse Ventura discusses torture on The View

"There is a peculiar aspect to the debate over the use of waterboarding on terrorist detainees. Those who have actually experienced the procedure first hand insist it is ineffective at best and torture at worst. Those who couldn't be more removed from its employment argue that it works in thwarting terrorist attacks."
~Sam Stein: Hufington Post

¿Adónde va el capitalismo?

Getting used to the culture here has been easy for precisely one reason. Capitalism. Chile is capitalistic country with powerful influence from both the church and a democratic government with some socialist tendancies. Sometimes, that idea of 'capitalism rules', seems contrary to those other two influences. Here in Chile, it's interesting to see them go hand in hand. A business student of mine, who enjoys talking politics, told me that when Chile had been sitting on excess copper revenue, he was angry with the government for not spending it on more social programs to help students and the poor. This guy runs a company! We also get about two days off every month for a national holiday, which is nice, and most of them are Catholic holidays observed by the state.
These oddities aside, my favorite analogy for comparing Chilean capitalism to the American version, is to describe two people looking at abstract art and having two different experiences. In exploring the city, we've found that many of the streets in this city are seemingly organized by business type. It's very common to be walking along one street that seems to be filled with all of Santiago's printing press businesses. Turn down the next and find where all the bicycle stores have set up shop! Vendors can sell anything...seemingly anywhere. Without a permit you can sell some sandwiches you made this morning or the crap you pulled out of your neighbors trash can. All you need is the drive to do it and an early enough wake-up call to pick whatever piece of sidewalk you think is best. Permitting is also not required for protests or gatherings in public areas. If you have a voice and an opinion, you can get your friends together in the main city square whenever you'd like and hope that the folks competing for space didn't bring a megaphone. And speaking of regulating volume... the buses and motorcycles don't seem to be regulated with regard to volume. It's not uncommon to be drowned out of a conversation, in your apartment, by a passing motorcycle or bus. Along with these types of unregulated activity, here are a few photos that evidence the unbridled capitalism here.

Snacks are everywhere...on every corner. The joke about a Starbucks
begins to ring hollow...

Inside the mall they maximize the space...outside the mall
you can get your picture taken with this alpaca, dressed up
to show off some Chilean culture

Who doesn't like a nice beef sandwich?

---------------------------------------------------
**CONTENT WARNING** It's amazing how prevalent pornography is on the street and in stores. Children of any age can see the full range of what's out there if they spend a day walking past enough newsstands and bookstores

Delicious Treats From Far Off Lands

Caitlin and I have been enjoying ourselves here in Santiago, but the one constant topic of conversation is the lack of readily available, cheap food. You've heard all about the produce, and that's great for the figure...but what you really need is something savory, filling, and cheap enough to eat a ton of.

PEANUT BUTTER

The food here has it's moments, but there just isn't the variety of flavor to be had here below the $10-15 a plate mark. The sweet and salty or savory flavors just don't have a home here in Chile. With that in mind, Caitlin brought with her...two jars of peanut butter. With that as an intro, we present to you:

Ode To Peanut Butter

As an example of how sweet toothed the Chileans are...

teenage boy

random thought: maybe living here has transformed me into a teenage boy. never in my life have i cliff jumped or hopped curbs with my bike. scott and santiago are inspiring me to do both of these things.

stealing

while we were in valpo scott saw someone actively trying to steal a car by pulling on the wheels and hubcaps of the car. *please, don't waste your time buying a car alarm here, no one will rescue your car, you'll just annoy me with the sound* passers-by just kept passing by as if it was no big deal. maybe they were scared. scott tried to stop him. he wasn't easily deterred. scott's yelling at him, "que es esto, que es esto?" i wasn't quite sure if we were going to get knifed.

now you have to understand; chile has the most renown police force by far in south america. this isn't some corrupt operation where you'd pay them off, bribe them. in fact, scott and i have heard of stories where people have gotten in trouble for entrapment. once someone is caught commiting even a minor crime or traffic violation, the carabineros have said, "you know, this could go away if..." and then throw the guy in handcuffs when he commits with interest.

theives steal stupider s*%^ too, like decals and such. take a look at this picture taken at bio bio (the place you go to buy stolen crap and get great deals!).


i thought the thieves were less dumb after i saw the price tag (4 mil= about 7 bucks). if someone would pay that amount i could surely see how the pesos stack up!

in other news, scott and i like to participate in something the FBI has started cracking down on recently in the States (purchasing pirated dvds-though certainly through different methods then chile's). i thought it was no biggie here; you line up on saturday and sunday nights next to our metro stop to sift through the collection and off you proudly go with your new american subtitled dvd(s). well apparently it's illegal here too. we watched 4 vendors disappear before our very eyes with their stash as though they were about to get raided. literally piles of dvds, display blankets and personal belongings gone in a flash. i wasn't even sure what alerted them or where they hid so quickly. we were the only potential customers standing around looking blankly (and the only gringos). nothing more exciting ended up happening but i still wonder, would we have gotten in trouble too?

Everybody Loves Some 'Dirty Water'

Responding to demand is what we do around here. You want it, Caitlin and Scott will provide. Here is the music video for the Red Sox victory song, "Dirty Water" as played by the Standells...who knows how long ago. Could the sox have picked a more 'boston' song...played by more 'boston' kids....I think not.