¿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