The only means of implementing justice on an individual level anymore is with your wallet...

Good evening Everyone,

 

I am sitting in the apartment currently waiting on Ozell to return.  I thought he returned home a little while ago, but I was getting a shower with the one guy I have met in Buenos Aires who has been a positive experience.  We have been able to meet up a few times already for dates, and he is a great human being.  We weren't going to see each other today, but I wanted to see him to help rid the after effects of being robbed yesterday.  At least there is one person in this city who is a respectable human being.  We should be able to see each other one last time on Saturday before he goes to work at the same club where I was first robbed in this town. 

 

I want to thank Ozell for bringing light to a couple of important points in his blog post which I did not mention in mine.  He and I were on completely opposite sleep schedules last night.  I was angry and needed to get started on venting my anger, and therefore, I stayed up until 2am writing on the blog and responding to the Argentine's e-mail and watching Family Guy in Spanish.  I believe Ozell was equally as disgusted with me being robbed and began his reconciliation process by listening to his music via his IPod and then going to bed by 9pm and sleeping until 2 am.  We pretty much switched places at 2 am when I went to bed and when Ozell started writing his blog post.  He was up until after sunrise.  We then caught a few hours sleep together in the mid morning before I got up again...

 

Anyways, one important point that Ozell brought up was the fact that the people who robbed me in BA (and in fact, everyone who has robbed us on this trip) are not poor.  They have their basic necessities and most common luxury items from what we can tell.  For example, the one guy whom I saw bump me yesterday was dressed in baggy but new clothes and was listening to his IPod.  He had a Hip-hop look to him.  The unknown people in the club who robbed me five days ago could all afford to go out to a club where the entrance fee was $18 USD (which is pretty expensive for Argentina), pay for the drinks at the club, and wear stylish clothes.  The point is that these people are not stealing in order to feed themselves.  They are stealing for the sake of stealing.  It is a game to them.  It is not a survival necessity.

 

The other point Ozell made which is worth noting again is the fact the vast majority of the population in the cities we have visited have as good a standard of living as most of us do in the USA.  Yes, there are people who do live in mud huts with dirt floors and in slums.  But these have mainly been the indigenous peoples, and as I mentioned in my post, they seem to have a much greater appreciation for ethics and personal integrity than the people who have been robbing us.  It is the lower middle class and middle class which are the offenders.

 

Now to the subject heading for this blog post...  "The only means of implementing justice on an individual level anymore is with your wallet."  This is a conclusion I arrived at during the last 7-8 years under the Bush Crime Family's reign of terror.  Our nation is not governed by laws.  Policy is not dictated by facts or science.  The USA (along with most countries) is governed by corporations and their narrow interests.  There is no such thing as the "public good" anymore.  If you hear that term or related ones like "in the best interest of the public" or "for national security", you would be better served to replace those phrases with "in the best interests of corporations/banks" if you want to gain a better understanding of our present state of affairs.  But my point is that we have ceased being a democracy some time ago.  All vestiges of the American Republic have been obliterated within the last 8 years.  And your voice during the period when our Republic was operational- your Vote- is absolutely meaningless.  Sorry to fuck up your delusions Obama supporters...

 

The only way a person can hope to implement their vision for a better society currently is with their money/meal tickets.  That is your only "vote".  This will probably not last long either.  In fact, the current financial crisis is designed (yes it was designed and implemented by human beings) to eliminate this means of expressing yourself also.  But for the time being, you can only hope to express your beliefs by choosing where to spend your money and to whom you give it.  You don't like multinational corporation store chains in your neighborhood?- shop at the independent stores even if it costs you more.  You want a particular political candidate to win (even though you are foolish to think there are any differences between the major parties' ultimate objectives), you would be much better off contributing your money to that candidate than pulling the lever at the voting booth.

 

This can be applied across the life experience spectrum- as sad as that may be.  In my case, it is the only way I can express my disgust with the Argentine society and my experiences here.  You want to steal from me or make apologies for your fellow citizens who do?- then all I can do is to minimize the amount of my money that I give to your country.  I cannot go to the police.  I do not speak the language.  Theft is so rampant that they would do nothing about it.  In fact, the people here seem to tacitly endorse it as long as it is mainly directed to foreigners and not the local population.  The police are often corrupt.  And the perpetrators will never be caught.  All I am left with is attempting to hurt them where it counts most... in the pocketbook and on the balance sheet.  My money and the money of others is my vote.

 

Therefore, I will not be getting my haircut here in BA.  I will wait until Uruguay.  Ozell and I will not be going out for a nice dinner at an Argentine steakhouse.  We will wait until Uruguay.  We will not take in a tango show in one of the famed local halls.  We will catch a show of traditional dancing in Uruguay.  I will not be going out to a bar/club tonight, Friday night, Saturday night, or Sunday night.  I will stay in the apartment, split a bottle of wine with Ozell, and play a game of chess.  I will not eat at any restaurant the remaining time we are here in BA.  I will by the basic food necessities at the grocery store and make my own food.  As small as all of this is, it will easily cover the losses of my cash, my wallet, and my camera.  Furthermore, I will tell anyone who listens what a disgusting place Buenos Aires is and to do my best to convince people throughout my lifetime never to visit Buenos Aires or Argentina.  Most likely, this will cost the Argentine people multi-thousands of dollars over the coming decades.  Yes, in the grand scheme of things all of this is a drop in the bucket, but it is the only way to effectively voice your opinions anymore.

 

It is unfortunate that I do not speak or write Spanish.  But even with that handicap, I think I am going to write a letter to the major newspapers of Buenos Aires and express my displeasure and disgust with their city- politely and civilly of course.  The main emphasis will be on the only thing anyone understands or values anymore- money and the loss of tourism dollars.  I also intend on expressing my disgust with the property management agency when we check out on Monday.  Again emphasizing how I intend to disparage Buenos Aires to anyone who will listen back home and abroad on the rest of my travels and eliminate as much tourism money as I can from coming into this city.  Why?  Because I am not foolish enough to believe anyone here will listen to some "uppity gringo Yankee", but the authorities will start listening if enough local people/businesses start complaining about the city's negative image abroad.

 

You have to vote with your money...

 

Sean