Costa Rica: Exotic land of the surreal

[Xantcha]

How about voluntary cooperation? Isn't that how the first governments were formed?

Actually, government forming is quite the bloody business

Besides, one of the main motivators to unite is to form oppositions to external force. Otherwise - why bother uniting when you can live on your own?

 

[n122vu]

Jobs are going overseas as US crisis moves to other developed countries. People from developed countries are less competitive than people in poor countries. US jobs are moving. And as crisis hits Europe, jobs will be moving too.

For example, a French worker has many rights that Costa Ricans do not have, and French are expensive. I know of a company that moved jobs from France to Costa Rica already.

Costa Rica is closer to Miami than Seattle, and it is cheaper.

People from India and China are cheaper.

The problem of that is that less jobs means those who have jobs must work more for less money. It also means less tax collection for the government. It means commerce in the country will have less customers with less money

Just wanted to mention, some reports (others don't agree) indicate that this trend is reversing, at least for the US anyway. It seems that the rising fuel prices globally, along with increased tariffs, are offsetting the money saved by exploiting cheaper labor to such an extent that it is actually more expensive to manufacture items overseas and ship them into the US. As a result, many companies are moving operations back to the US.

Great discussion everyone. Really good stuff here. ar81 - I see and understand your frustration. My hope is that conditions in Costa Rica will improve, both with government and infrastructure.

@Xantcha - IMO, laughing at one's own country is not only permissible, it is everyone's human right.

If we do not keep our governments in check, who will? The U.N.? NATO? Other nations? Nations do what they want, and when they recieve military and economic reprimand from other parts of the world, they comply, unwillingly, until they can afford to rebel again, and the cycle continues.

 

[ar81]

Many managers, who have no clue how a product is produced, love process designs and think, they are the answer to anything. But strange... they usually fail. Guess why.

Lack of understanding of people and their cultures...
Jobs from Europe are likely to go to Albany and Greece, for they are cheaper.

 

[simonpro]

Greece is in Europe.

 

[Urwumpe]

Jobs from Europe are likely to go to Albany and Greece, for they are cheaper.

Wrong. Albania has only limited infrastructure and is not very attractive for companies owners and Greece is not much cheaper as other European countries. Even more important: In Greece they like to be on strike pretty often.

The jobs first went to Poland, later to Romania, now they plan to go even further east. That does not account China - China is also attractive for European companies because they actually sell stuff there. Most companies who are still successful there, produce in China for selling in China and have only very limited transport back.

If there wouldn't be such an annoying embargo, the US industry would like to go to Cuba - the people there are pretty well skilled and have low salaries.

 

[ar81]

Just wanted to mention, some reports (others don't agree) indicate that this trend is reversing, at least for the US anyway. It seems that the rising fuel prices globally, along with increased tariffs, are offsetting the money saved by exploiting cheaper labor to such an extent that it is actually more expensive to manufacture items overseas and ship them into the US. As a result, many companies are moving operations back to the US.

Europe is absorbing the shock of US crisis with inflation.
Raising prices, expensive workers pose a good incentive to go to cheaper countries.

After the last earthquake in Kobe, Japan, Sanyo had severe losses. But Japanese culture is different. Instead of firing people, they calculated the loss and said "Ok, we need each employee to sell this amount of products... ($ put a figure here)". If more profit is needed, increasing revenue is the Japanese approach, western approach is to have less people who will have to produce the same amount of revenue.

Unlike western companies, Japanese do not love firing people. For them a company is like a family. In western countries, companies like downsizing.

I compare that to the captain of a sumbarine:
-Ok people, the last torpedo impact left us a few rations of food, we need to lower consumption by executing some crewmen.


-----Posted Added-----

If there wouldn't be such an annoying embargo, the US industry would like to go to Cuba - the people there are pretty well skilled and have low salaries.

That day Costa Rican tourism would be ruined.
Costa Rica would have recession the day that happens.
Jobs would go from Costa Rica to Cuba.

 

[Urwumpe]

Unlike western companies, Japanese do not love firing people. For them a company is like a family. In western countries, companies like downsizing.

Are we talking about the same Japan which not only invented Kaizen, but also Muda? Japanese do not love BEING fired. But they have little concerns firing people if this serves the company.

 

[Belisarius]

CCSS: Confortado Con los Santos Sacramentos
CCSS: Casi Casi Se Salva

Muy buenos

What I don't understand is whether it's a public or private institution. I work with cajas and they're a mix of both. Is it funded by the state?

 

[cjp]

Are we talking about the same Japan which not only invented Kaizen, but also Muda? Japanese do not love BEING fired. But they have little concerns firing people if this serves the company.

I heard different stories, which are consistent with this small Wikipedia article. In fact, I understand that when the Asian economic bubble collapsed, and Japanese companies really had to fire people, you got these typically Japanese dramas like managers and CEOs crying on television (and committing suicide afterwards).

And I've seen lots of people in Japan who basically seem to do nothing, but they get paid for it. Made me wonder how such a country can be so incredibly productive.

Edit: this Wikipedia article is a lot more complete, and seems to be consistent with what I know about the subject.

 

[Xantcha]

@Xantcha - IMO, laughing at one's own country is not only permissible, it is everyone's human right.

If we do not keep our governments in check, who will? The U.N.? NATO? Other nations? Nations do what they want, and when they recieve military and economic reprimand from other parts of the world, they comply, unwillingly, until they can afford to rebel again, and the cycle continues.

IMO, laughing at anything is permissible.
Yet, if we won't be proud of our country , who will? The U.N.? NATO? Other nations?

 

[Istochnikov]

Muy buenos

What I don't understand is whether it's a public or private institution. I work with cajas and they're a mix of both. Is it funded by the state?

Yep. It was founded in 1949 by the Joint for Foudation of the Second Republic, headed by Figueres-Ferrer (who :suicide:d in the interior of his tomb due to the scandal that ar81 mentions).

In this country, robbery is legal, if it does not exceed a certain amount. So if you are a tourist and you want justice, you must lie so thief goes to jail... or you could say the truth and let injustice to go on.
Criminals here use your name before the judges, so you could suddenly appear like a convicted criminal without notice. No one verifies their identity. Many citizens have that problem here.

And now congressmen got rid of a chapter of a law that punishes money laundering because it is "too complex" to analyze.

Pablo, i share the same feelings about the severity of the laws in our country. Recently i was assaulted at 500 meters from my home, i was about to be killed (not joke) by 3 guys and i'm sure that when these will be arrested, if noboby has dennunced (Pablo, help, how is translated the word "denunciado") them (i did it), it's SURE that they will be freed almost inmediately after the capture, 'cos they robbed only my (clean) wallet (i only lost my id documents and two overdrawn credit cards -LOL-... what if they robbed my cell phone or my lap? or worst, if they killed me?)

But now, it's not time for bla bla bla... the only thing one can do for forcing a change of mind in general on this country is changing our own minds first... Maybe, if this change of mind becomes massive, the retrograde heads of our governors could turn in the correct side

One example? The case of waste management... in my home i had to clean a bath that had been used as a cellar/giant garbage cannister and before my father burned the 120 kg of paper, 40 kg of plastics and 70 kg of other stuff, i prefered sending them to a recycling center... now, i separed the garbage of my home (though my parents don't like it)... these are the little things that can change the world if they're done massively

 

[ar81]

More surreal facts...
In countries like India, drinkable water is bottled.
In Costa Rica, drinkable water comes from the pipes, while in a bottled water inside corporate building you can see this...
Something is very wrong in this country.

 

[simonpro]

Ar81, I really would count yourself as fairly lucky. I've just got back from 2.5 weeks in Africa, in some of the worst places on the planet. There they have no clean drinking water, no electricity for most of the day, very little food, hardly any opportunities for employment and absolutely no chances for healthcare or retirement help (assuming they ever reach retirement age).
To top it all off they have a fairly high chance of being killed simply by walking down the street, seeing as how the majority of their country is in civil war. It's impossible to go anywhere without seeing at least someone who has been killed in the fighting.

So, before you complain that a bottle of water has a fly in it perhaps you should count yourself at least slightly lucky that you have drinking water, and that you have an internet connection with which to complain over. I certainally do.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Ar81, I really would count yourself as fairly lucky. I've just got back from 2.5 weeks in Africa, in some of the worst places on the planet.

Simon, are you still planning to make a trip somewhere else?

 

[simonpro]

I am planning, and sorry I haven't been in contact, but because of my workload I've had to put it off until sometime next year.

 

[ar81]

So, before you complain that a bottle of water has a fly in it perhaps you should count yourself at least slightly lucky that you have drinking water, and that you have an internet connection with which to complain over. I certainally do.

It is not a fly, it is a cockroach.
But yes. Probably it is that I have high standards and therefore I have become very demanding. I dislike cockroaches as they give me the creeps.

In terms of health, we have one of the most advanced health systems in the world. So I must thank God. I would like that Americans could have such a system.

In terms of security, the risk does not come from civil war, but from criminals. Last night someone was mugged near home, and last week a friend of my wife was mugged too.

In South Africa, people used to have public water service and water was free. Now it is private and poor can't afford water, so some drink river water and get cholerae and other diseases. In Toulouse, France, an activist found that private water is 20% more expensive and fought to make water public service, and company tried to burn his home, and he won the lawsuit in 2000.

This is what happens when we have water in private hands. We get cockroaches for free, free proteins.

 

[ar81]

Car was trapped in a crater.
Crater was not formed by meteorite, but by poor road engineering.
Asphalt was broken there.
What would happen to an engineer who does such a work in a developed country?

See complete news coverage http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/octubre/28/pais1753502.html

 

[blane]

A very good friend of mine is from Costa Rica. I will be visiting her next year. Although I have not been there yet, I know that there are also very different views and pictures in Costa Rica, like Puerto Viejo.

As for accidents in "developed countries": I remember a few years ago a public transit bus fell into a huge gap in the road -- it turned out that the sewerage was broken and an entire intersection eroded to finally give up under the weight of the bus...