Reality Wake-up Call

Yesterday was an interesting one, full of educational insights. I had the great pleasure to engage in extended discussions with a woman who had recently moved here from Venezuela and a man who is just visiting from Argentina. What I heard from them vividly reminded me of how incredibly fortunate all of us in Canada and the U.S. are and how our problems pale in comparison to those experienced by so many others around the world.

Both of these people are well educated. Both are middle class. Both work hard. But both have great obstacles placed in front of them in their respective countries that will likely forever prevent them from ever getting very far ahead, owning a home, not worrying that poverty and/or imprisonment could happen any day. Do you think these last two concerns occupy the mind of most middle-class North Americans? Not likely.

Let's look at each of these countries individually:

Venezuela: Located on the northern edge of South America, this nation is incredibly oil-rich, with great wealth abound. Since 1999 it has been ruled as a virtual dictatorship by Hugo Chavez. This fellow is the great hero of North American socialists, as he's promised to redistribute the country's wealth to the poor. A lovely concept in theory, but in practice it ain't much fun when the government takes your property to help with the redistribution. Disagree with them and you get put in jail ... or worse.

Argentina: I've often heard that 100 years ago this nation, which is "more European than Europe", was the 4th wealthiest country in the world. Things have deteriorated greatly since then. The worst period was 1999 - 2002, aptly known as the Argentine Economic Crisis. Many people lost everything. The father of the fellow I spoke with lost his factory and never recovered. The reasons for Argentina's problems are numerous, but some of the more prominent ones are: Corruption and over-entitlement.

I've long said that Canada doesn't have any real problems so we invent fake problems just so we have something to complain about! One thing is for sure: When you have great prosperity, you have the luxury of worrying about the most trivial issues. Poverty and hunger tend to focus one's attention on what's really important!