Saturday, June 24, 2006

Welcome to Central America!

I've been away from land but, have been listening some mainstream media this past week. One of the stories that caught my ear was this one about the decline of middle class communities in the United States. This is a sad development because it is another sign of the decline of the United States and does not present a good vision for the future. Unless this turns around the U.S. will be heading down the road and become more like Mexico and other Central and South American countries where their are rich and poor and very little middle class.
A few years ago we visited a couple in Ecuador who took my gal and I to a night club in Quito. As we parked the car on the street my Ecuadorian friend walked over and paid some money to guy standing nearby. I asked why he did that? He said it was so his tires would not be taken off the car while we were inside the club. It was protection money which he seemed to regard as rather normal. After our club visit we went back to there home where we were greeted by a guard and a gate he had to flash an id to enter his neighborhood. Even living in such a gated and guarded community in Ecuador they still had bars on there windows to prevent burglaries. Is this the future of our U.S. suburban communities as the middle class continues to decline?

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