A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR

As much as we can, and surely do, complain about the things going wrong in our country; the idiotic presidential candidates, financial and racial inequality, expensive healthcare and education…and not to say we should stop complaining, but there honestly aren’t a whole lot better places to live in the world. 

Photo I took of the Colosseum

A few years ago, when I first arrived in Italy I was completely mesmerized.  It was magical and I thought I would rather live in Italy than boring old California any day of the week and twice on Sundays.   I fell in love with the country and I think I left a part of my heart there forever.   But as I got to really know the country, not just from a tourist’s view, the Emerald City I saw as Italy began to uncover itself.

Like perhaps Berlusconi’s constant boasting of sleeping with 14 year-old prostitutes.  Or that socially speaking, sexism is still extremely prominent in Italian society (not so different from Brazilian culture as well).  Or the fact that all public facilities including schools are so unorganized that you have to use physical force to move your way through a crowd…

But it certainly isn’t all bad; there are many things the US can learn from Italy as well.  Like the fact that our country is still centered on the concept that “time is money”.  Which although has provided us with a “wealthier” lifestyle, has certainly not provided us a healthier one.  Italians, on the other hand, know how to take care of themselves, relax and enjoy life.  Something I have yet to see corporate America (or even non corporate America) exhibit.  Which might have just something to do with how the US has the highest percentage of obesity in the world. 

Of course every country has upsides and downsides.  But I think we can admit some countries have significantly less quality of life and opportunity.  And until now I knew very little about this because I was always a tourist visiting those countries, Guatemala, Egypt and even the countless times I’ve been to Mexico. 

And sure I could see the poverty and corruption but it never actually sunk in.  And I am aware that being American, it probably never fully will.  But being here NOT as a tourist, but actually living and working here, has brought a whole new light to the reality that exists in the majority of countries in the world.   

It isn’t just about poverty. There are a lot of poor people in the US.  My whole life I have been exposed to these issues.  My mother was a probation officer for 40 years working with clients from some of the poorest places in the Bay Area, and my father (among his many jobs) worked at San Quinton, one of the worst prisons in the country.  Not to mention that neither of them were raised in middle class homes and are both the first in their entire families to go to college.  So growing up I knew that even compared to the poverty within the US I have been quite fortunate.  But all that doesn’t really compare to the poverty in Brazil. 

For the most part as Americans, we are taught to trust people until you are given a reason not to (something we take for granted).  In Brazil (and MOST countries in the world), it is engrained in the minds of almost every citizen that, regardless of social class, you DON’T trust anyone unless they give you a reason to.

Now I’m not sure you realize how that way of thinking effects a person’s mind day in day out.  In fact, I don’t even realize it.  I mean it really creates a completely different view of the world.  It makes people skeptical and cynical and manipulative …and with good reason.  And it’s an extremely exhausting way to live.  To constantly be preoccupied with lying and proactively avoiding getting cheated out of your money. 

At the gas stations, you can never be sure if they are actually giving you what you paid for because most rig the machine to show you are pumping more than you are. Walking in the street you have to always be aware of your surroundings, who is there who isn’t there, where your money is, how much money you have on you, how long that person has been behind you. And I don’t mean to minimize the existing violence and dangers that exist within the US.  But regardless of if you live in Brooklyn or Upper East Side Manhattan, or Hunter’s Point or Sea Cliff San Francisco, when you get gas you likely aren’t worried about if they are robbing you with the machine.  So the issue here really is on a whole other level.

And I have seen this with everyone.  When Karen and I go to buy paint, she constantly reminds me not to show any excitement about the prices, otherwise they will raise them.  When I needed a new cell phone charger, Daniel told me to wait in the car because if they saw how nice I was dressed they would surely charge more.  When finding parking in Sao Paulo, I’m not allowed to speak because if people hear English or even my accent in Portuguese they will probably break into the car looking for money.  Oh and when you get out of the car, a guy asks if you want him to watch it for you and you have to say yes or he’ll break in, which means when you return you also have to pay him.

And I honestly think most of the people here don’t even realize that they spend their life thinking about these things.  Perhaps because they have nothing to compare it to.  And it is so drilled into their minds that even when they leave Brazil, they often still live this way, because it’s the only way they know how. 

I used to really not understand how people could some of these things.  Steal, cheat, lie, and I had very little sympathy for people do.  But now I really see how deceit is contagious, and can be extremely difficult to avoid.  And how most of these people really aren’t given other options.   

It’s like taking a test is school that will be graded on a curve.  You study and study working very hard to prepare but come the day of the test you find out that everyone else is cheating, and the professor (or in this case the government) isn’t doing a damn thing about it. So you know that regardless of how hard you studied, if you don’t cheat you will end up on the bottom of the curve, and fail.  Except that failing the test doesn’t mean you just have to take the class over, it means not being able to pay the rent or provide food for your family.  So what do you do?  Well cheat of course! That is what anyone would do.  And then you take another test later and the same thing happens again and again and soon OF COURSE every time you take a test you cheat, because you were trained that it’s the only way to pass…or  only way to survive. 

It’s this way in most businesses here; a gas station can lower its prices because they aren’t really giving you the amount of gas they show.  So the station that is honest to its customers will end up with no customers unless they too cheat with their product to lower prices.  The same with clothing stores, Daniel and I went to a bunch of clothing stores in Sao Paulo over the weekend to know about the market since he is thinking of opening his own store.  And we found out that all of the privately owned clothing stores selling American brands are illegally importing their goods from the US. When you see the competition for you business is stealing, the only way for your business to stay alive is to steal.  It’s all backwards and messed up and WRONG but that’s how it is.

And that is what I see happening here.  It isn’t everyone, but it is a large majority among the poor of Brazil.  And the fact is that the poor of Brazil is a large majority of Brazil (regardless of how much the rich want to ignore that).  All I am saying is that I understand this more now, how it happens, how complicated it is to fix these problems, and how honestly (with exceptions of course) it is the government to blame and not the individuals (in most cases). 

To show one of the many good things about Brazil
as well...the view can be truly amazing!

I mean the minimum wage here is $3.50 in Reals (Brazilian currency), which doesn’t get you anything.  Food is relatively cheap here, but it’s cheap only when assuming you are making at least a minimum of $8.50.  But everything is expensive when your only making $3.50 an hour.  So you see, the government has structured itself in such a way that you honestly cannot survive on an average income. In fact you can just barely survive on two incomes with that wage.

Now I need to note that I am certainly not promoting the US to be a paradise.  I’m well aware of the endless problems existing within the US; the fact that we don’t have free health care, or that getting a state school education costs over 20 thousand dollars a year, or that the richest people in our country (who are sitting around deciding whether or not to buy a private island), are only paying 2% of their taxes while the poor pay 30%...to name a few examples.  And I am certainly not praising the US on its wonderful value system, especially with our overwhelming consumerism. 

Something I noticed living in Southern California is that they too have their own downward spiral of contagious deceit.  I’m not sure if you are aware, but California is the state with the highest percentage of plastic surgery in the country, and overwhelmingly more prominent in Southern California.  Which I can’t be sure, but it’s probably safe to say that Southern California has the highest rate of plastic surgery in the world.  I have heard people argue it is because of the weather and showing more of your body, or that prices are lower there, or that it’s because of more advertising (gee I wonder why).  But the fact is, plastic surgery, just like the stealing in Brazil, is contagious, and even could be argued as a survival technique (giving the benefit of the doubt).

One person gets so much plastic surgery that she looks like a Barbie and all the guys go crazy.  So the next girl does the same, and soon enough, you are growing up as a girl feeling that if you ever want to get married, then you obviously need look like a Barbie.  And then the fakeness spreads to the men, and they realize that the guy with a Lamborghini is getting all the Barbie girls, so in order to get a girl he needs a Lamborghini… And so the contagion spreads, until you end up with what we call HOLLYWOOD.

I even saw on Bestincosmetics.com an author write that “In Southern California, and especially in Los Angeles, plastic surgery is no longer a luxury but is a way of life.” (http://www.bestincosmetics.com/plastic-surgery/los-angeles.html) And it’s true.  We all affect one another, and society is contagious. No matter how much you don’t want to admit it, the environment you are surrounded by, whether chosen or not, shapes a large part of who you are.

Another amazing thing here-
Sugar Cane Juice

Now as I said, even with all these problems in the US, we really can’t compare to the poverty that exists here in Brazil.  The city Daniel’s father grew up in has a life expectancy rate of 27. TWENTY-SEVEN.  So, although there is a lot I don’t agree with going on in the US, and I will continue to fight for change, I would rather live in a Barbie land paying off student debt for the rest of my life, than die at 27, and go through god knows what before that.  And to put this all into perspective, Brazil is the wealthiest country in South America, and the 8^th largest economy in the world.  So what does that say about the rest of the countries?  

Now I would like to end on the note that although I am understanding the way the systems work, and understanding more of how difficult it is to develop a 3^rd world country, there are still many really great aspects of Brazil.  And like Italy, there also aspects of this country that the US can learn.  And, aside from my commentary, I am still greatly enjoying my time here.