Why Communism Doesn't Work In The 21st Century

Disclaimer: I am not an econominst. Well, an educated at one. We are all economists at heart, or in doth, thy brain, and in thy brain hath not heart and not heart a hath. Brain.*

A few days ago as I was walking through Montevideo and saw, graffitied on a wall, "100 años de Rodney Arismendi / Somos Antiimperialistas / Somos Comunistas". And, while I know nothing of Uruguayan government, I don't think they're communists...

While I found the graffiti amusing, it got me thinking. Perplexing. Analyzing. Doth. Over the course of my trip, I have been thinking about/considering the Argentine fiscal/economic policy of, and allow me to quote the law here properly, "taxing the everliving SHIT out of imports"** and how much I disagree with it. I think it's very stupid. You just hurt yourself. Your citizens can't buy the goods they want at a reasonable price of any sane amount of ease and you make it more difficult to build reasonable trade relationships because foreign companies can't easily import goods into your country. Additionally, when companies inside your country build versions of goods that can't be imported, they, or at least I imagine, won't be as good as the imported versions. Everybody loses because of volume.***

I then began comparing this idea to communism. But first, another disclaimer:

I AM IN NO WAY SAYING THE ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT IS A COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT. My comparison is merely to say, in a world of global trade, not trading with other countries is foolish.

Disclaimer over

Here we go.

Again, I'm not a highly educated economist, or a highly educated anything, but communism, economically speaking****, relies on an entire country to produce everything it needs. It treats everyone equally, so the guy who wants to be a doctor and would be good at it is a railway worker. It destroys motivation and morale. As much as you can say this doesn't work for so, so many reasons, mainly the other bad communist reasons, like censoring people, it REALLY doesn't work in a world (cue voiceover) with global trade and communications.

In a world of global trade, everyone country should develop a set of competitive advantages. Then everyone trades the excesses of the goods they make for the goods they need. Basic economics, right? Russia makes guns, trades them for butter from Switzerland. The US makes pop culture, trades with South Korea for Psy, gives Psy back for free with an unkind, handwritten note written in Mandarin about how what a dirty trick South Korea "played on us". John Kerry resigns. China grows and exports rice, trades with Japan for Playstations. Argentina trades cows with Guatemala for coffee. You get the picture.

In a world with global trade, if you try to do everything yourself, whether in a communist fashion or like Argentina by heavily restricting trade, you're fucking yourself, your government, and your own people. They don't get as good of options of choice, basically, the best choice, the best options, or simply enough options (i.e., variety), you don't make as much tax revenue, and then you lose even more money for your country by not exporting as much as you could.

So when I say communism doesn't work in the 21st century, what I mean to say is, not being part of global trade in a world with global trade doesn't work. You just fuck yourself. This is a square-is-a-rectangle moment.

I just hate communism. So, fuck communism.*****

*I'm really into Shakespeare for some reason this morning. I blame The Newsroom. Although I think they quote Don Quixote more often.

**I translated this myself. Pretty sure it's accurate.

***That is to say, you will sell more imports at a 10% sales tax than a 100% import tax. Hence, by volume, you could make more tax revenue with the 10% sales tax than with the 100% import tax.

 ****And this is the only way I'm speaking about communism in this post: economically.

*****One of the biggest reasons I love America: I can say "I hate communism" and not get thrown in jail for it. Fuck yeah.

Let Them Eat Cake Or Put Them On A Diet

I was considering my post The Great American Variety, about the amount of variety Americans are exposed to in grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, etc. It's enormous. As I've been walking through the streets of South America (Buenos Aires, Perrito Moreno, and Montevideo specifically) I have also been considering not only the variety in these places but also the ease (or difficulty) with which people in these places can spend money.

In the United States, we make it relatively (ok, VERY) easy for people to spend money. Credit cards typically aren't difficult to aquire and you can use them ANYWHERE. Seriously, tell me the next time you can't use a credit card. Even without credit cards, there are debit cards, which, too, are accepted everywhere. Then there's cash and I see no short supply of ATMs. There are checks, but who uses those at retail outlets anymore? I think even now at Home Depot you can pay with PayPal. And payments are getting easier. Look at the Square payment system, PayPal competing with it. You can transfer money in all sorts of ways. Google Wallet. The new ISIS payment system backed by the big mobile providers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) and credit card companies (AmEx, for example). It is very easy to spend your money in the US.

It is not quite the same situation outside the US. Granted I haven't visited everywhere, but I've found nowhere where it's quite so easy to spend money. In Europe, for example, they take card everywhere. It's fantastic and it's safer than carrying tons of cash around with you. But from what I can tell, it's more difficult to aquire a credit card in these places. Even in Canada, debit cards are very popular, credit cards less so. In India, outside of some restaurants and hotels, it was all cash. And ATMs were scarce. I don't know how people bought or sold anything over there. In Buenos Aires, plenty of places take card, but as I discuss in my post More on currency, arbitrage, and XOOM, you get the shitty bank rate when you use your credit card so it's foolish to use a credit card rather than use cash. But I was able to use my credit card at a grocery store in Montevideo yesterday! It was magical.


So I've been thinking this: if you make it very easy for people to spend money (to both get credit or at least make their cash readily available and easy to spend) and give them a wide variety of things to spend their money on, they would, probably, spend more money. In contrast, if you don't make it as easy for people to spend money (and if they haven't seen the US, they don't know the difference) and give them less variety (which, again, if they haven't seen the US they don't know better), they most likely won't spend as much of their money.

So which is better? Should the government be like protective parents, not letting their kid play on the jungle gym lest they hurt themselves, depriving them of an opportunity for fun? Or should the government give the people freedom, the freedom to play on the jungle gym but also potentially fall off and break their arm?

It's a difficult question. I'll address two of them here: limiting the upside and freedom.

Limiting The Upside

When I say limiting the upside, I mean, limiting the potential for positive outcomes. When you keep the child off the jungle gym, you ensure his safety (lest a meteor hit the earth right then, but, well, let's get into the finite nature of life at the moment). But you also "limt his upside". First, you are inhibiting his chance to have fun and enjoy that experience; to make himself happy. But you may also be blocking something you aren't thinking about, maybe like playing with someone on the jungle gym and making a friend. You are not only stopping the child's fun, you are also impeding his social growth and possibly making a longtime friend. That doesn't seem fair. I think in this case the upside far outweighs the downside the child should be allowed to play.

Let's put some scale to this: let's consider the economy.

If everyone can get easy access to credit and spend their money easily: In the short term, people will overspend and not be able to, for example, buy school supplies for their children. Or pay their mortgage and get behind for a month. Or in the long term they won't save enough for retirement.

If people have less access to credit and can't spend their money quite so easily: people save more but the economy suffers and doesn't grow as fast because people aren't the consumers they could be. Less tax revenue is generated for social programs. But at the same time, there isn't a catastrophic bubble that leads to economic crash and financial ruin for millions of people. Oh, and people save enough money to buy their kids broccolini and for their retirement. Hm.

Freedom

I'm not gonna beat the flag over this. I simply think people should be allowed to make their own choices, not have the government make them for you (in a lot of things, not all things). When it comes to spending money, people should be able to if they want to. This is a very, VERY broad subject and I know I'm wide open for attack here, but I'll just leave it there.

My Solution

As is always the right answer in these cases, it's freedom with controls. Put controls so the banks can't endanger themselves by extending so much credit they can't cover the bills if consumers don't make their credit card payments every month.* Make sure the playground is a safe environment. Put the helmet on the kid if you want to. But let him go play. Don't cut your nose off despite your face.

Note: This is not an "everything in moderation" approach because I don't think everything in moderation is a good idea. For example, I don't think cancer in moderation is a good idea.

*Also, monitor and update the controls as you go/periodically. People will always try to game the system. Be vigilant in accordance with how much is at stake. So when it comes to the economy and the health of our financial system, it's EVERYTHING. If the money supply stops, so does our food supply. So watch that shit.

Food & Me

There's a lot I could say about food. But I'll stick to two facets of the relationship food and I share:

1.) I'm terrible at remembering the names of food and especially different ingredients of food. I am also terrible at describing food.

2.) I'm terrible at identifying, and thus describing, taste.

Of course, I'm going to have a hard time remembering any examples right now. But I shall try.

Part One - Names and Descriptions of Foods and Ingredients

Some foods and/or ingredients, no matter how often I eat them, I don't remember what they are. Worse yet, I sure as hell can't describe them. It's just disastrous. For example, if you asked me what a compote was, I couldn't tell you, though I'd imagine I've eaten (insert type of compote here) compote before, but I don't know what that means. I now know cuz I wikipedia'd it. Custard? I could identify it but as for ingredients? I think egg white is part of it? Tiramisu is a good one because I've actually MADE tiramisu so I could probably tell you some of the ingredients (if I made it correctly, that is) but I'd have a hard time describing it to you.

I need to just go look at the menu of a fancy restaurant to give you some good examples. I'm the opposite of foodie; I think that is a called "a terrible person".

My biggest fault as a man is not being able to properly identify cuts of beef/cow. I can identify a filet, for example, and probably  New York strip, but the different between a ribeye, porterhouse, and T-Bone (ok, that one should be pretty obvious) I couldn't tell you. It's embarassing.

I also certainly can't do this at a Tex Mex restaurant because so much of the food involves rice, meat, and tortillas. However, in a Tex Mex restaurant, I don't think non-differentiation is all that surprising. Those menus have at least 67 different combinations and it's all almost the exact same. So I feel less bad about this one.

This was especially prevalent when I visited India for nearly 3 months earlier in 2013. I had a hard time remembering the names of anything because, well, the names just sounded very different than what I'm used to hearing. Add in my pre-existing condition I would like to call "food idiocy" and I could hardly remember any names of food I was eating. I actually took a photo of the menu a couple of times. And if you wanted a description of the food, you're better of with Google.

This last paragraph should at least give you a clue as to why I'm writing about this on a travel blog: I'm even worse at identifying what really goes into a food on a menu because, even if I know the translation for something, I may not know what that food is even in English or at least know the taste. It also happens that when people ask me to describe some foods in the US, I can't do it. I'll be like "Well, even if I knew the translation of that, it wouldn't help me."

Part Two - I Can't Describe Taste

Sure, I can tell you if something is sweet, salty, or sour. But bitter? I'm terrible at saying something is bitter. I've even forgotten the Spanish word for bitter at this point. Let me look it up...amargo. Bitter is amargo.

As bad as I am at describing the composition of a food, I'm worse at describing an actual flavor or taste. This in part stems from the fact I have an extremely limited range of adjectives for all things in this world, which, compounded, with my food deficiency, leaves me with about 1 total word for food: sweet...or I guess also "not sweet". It is also because I am shitty at identifying taste. I should just say "well, it's not sweet, salty, or sour, therefore it must be bitter". But I have absolutely no propensity to say "oh wow, this has hints of chickory and cinnamon, and is that cumin I taste?" I will never be that guy. I could taste straight cumin right before tasting something with cumin and wouldn't know that cumin was in the second thing.

Really, that's about it. I can't remember, describe, or identify foods, the names of foods, tastes or flavors. I pretty fail all around in this area of life.

The Great American Variety

I am a patriot, but not because I feel obligated to be because I was born in America. I am a patriot because I feel the same way about my home country I imagine anyone feels about their home country when they actually love their home country. That is to say, I love my home country because it is my home. There is no other way to say. I love America not because it's America but because it is both a good country and the country of my origin, my birth.* I also imagine I would not love America so much if it wasn't a good** country.

Beyond that, I love America because, well, it has given me and afforded me so much. Freedom. Freedom of speech and freedom to pretty much do what I want.

But I am not a patriot for no reason. I've seen a little bit of the rest of the world. I've seen countries much worse off with far worse conditions and political policies, domestic and foreign. I love America not blindly but because I am not blind. Because I have seen. Even just a little. I am grateful to our president, Congress, founding fathers, and all other Americans, no matter how stupid some of them may be. My love is not blind. I know a little bit about what else is out there.

But this post is not about why America is good or why I love America. It's about American variety. In the United States, we have a greater choice of our goods, in the things we buy, than I've seen ANYWHERE ELSE. I can go to the Kroger (a supermarket) 1 mile from my house in Atlanta, Georgia, and in it find a pharmacy, a grocery store, shampoo, paper towels, dog food, beer, etc. However, in this I don't mean the number of different types of things in the store. I mean the number of types of beer, bread, shampoo, medicines, etc. IT'S RIDICULOUS.

And wonderful. And incredible. And huggable. I want to hug it. That this exists. Whoever thought of it. The idea.

Think about it. Next time you go into a grocery store or pharmacy, take note of how many different brands for each type of thing exist. Actually, do it for about 3 things. For example, check how many different types of shampoo, Heinz ketchup (bottle size, for example) and types of potato chips. There are sides of entire aisles dedicated to just potato chips. It is a phenomenon in the US. YOU WILL NOT FIND THIS MUCH CHOICE anywhere else in the world.

And this is not just true in grocery stores but pharmacies and gas stations well. Retail outlets that live off of razor-thin margins. They have gotten very good at selling us nonsense, and it's great for the consumer.

It's also not just true in one town or in one city. It's EVERYWHERE. Everywhere consumers have this vast spread of options laid out in front in them. You can find this in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Boston, Massachusetts, Phoenix, Arizona, EVERYWHERE.

Seriously, stop for a minute, take a look around and think about it. You'll realize it very quickly, too.

We have SO MUCH VARIETY in the US. So much option. So much choice. In other countries you can go to different locations of the same store and find the same things. But the choice is limited. In the US we have EVERYTHING at our fingertips. It's wonderful.

It took my good friend Spencer Burness (tired of hearing about him yet? Me too. But he's smart...ish.) to verbalize what I'd been thinking subconsciously for a long time. When you go to plenty of other developed countries (let's just posit for the sake of argument that developing have choice that is less than or equal to developed countries outside of the US) just isn't as great, the selection isn't as large, as in the US.

In the US we have it all!*** No, seriously it's insane the amount of choice we have, the selection we have.

Now as to why.

Why? Why in the US do we have such choice? Is it cultural? Do Americans, i.e., American culture, just demand greater choice? Do we really do that? Maybe. Maybe it's just Americans expectations and market competition. Store A does it so Store B naturally has to do it to keep up and compete?

I'd actually say that's the answer, but I'd also say we can only do this because it's possible. It is possible. We have the supply chain and the demand to do it. We do it because the people selling us stuff know we'll buy the things we want, so they give those things to us rather than limiting us to things we like less and therefore buy less of it. This is probably fueled by a very fluid money supply and credit. I'll hit on this more in a blog post in the future on: is it better to restrict choice and credit and protect people from themselves so they don't overspend OR give them the option and credit to spend like crazy and let the economy boom? Protect people from themselves, like parents restrict their children only to protect them OR give the children freedom because they just might surprise you and not only take care of themselves but do good things they couldn't if they were otherwise restricted.****

Point being, in the US, we have unparalleled selection and options when it comes to goods we buy at retail compared to basically any other country (that I've visited) on the planet. The only exceptions might be China and Japan as I haven't visited those yet. Maybe I need to look at other places I've visited more closely. Or, you know, find some economic numbers and statistics.*****

*Note to self: I need an origin story, like Spiderman or Underdog.

**Yes, yes, the definition of good is subjective, but fuck off, you know I mean. You can't argue with me about this. It's a good country, end of story. Don't bring up drone strikes or the percentage of our own population we lock up. I get it. Shut your mouth, you cynical bastard, and go back to enjoying this country that has given you so much and not "disappeared" you for literally no reason.

***We don't have it all in the US. But we sure as hell have a lot of choice.

****Brennan, go back and link this post to the other post when you write it in the future.

*****Fuck that. You really think I'm gonna do that? It reeks of work and you know how I feel about work.

18 Wheelers in Buenos Aires

First, let me start with this question: is there a difference in 18 wheelers and transfer trucks? What's the official name for an 18 wheeler? That can't be the official name, right? The official name for a truck can't be based on the number of wheels the truck has, right? We're not that lazy in America, tell me that much. Trevor, help me out here.

To the real point of this post: I was noticing that in the city of Buenos Aires (BA), I had seen basically no 18 wheelers. Like none. Which makes sense and doesn't at the same time. It makes sense because Buenos Aires is a big city but with streets that really aren't quite adequate. In fact, it would make sense for at least the city to make an ordinance saying "No 18 wheelers in the city of Buenos Aires. Traffic is shitty enough as it is and the sidestreets, as well as even the main streets, aren't wide enough for you and can't handle you due to the volume of traffic and width of the streets. Seriously, you'd just make everything worse. Don't do it. I'm serious, young man. Don't...don't make me...put that down."

So, but then what to do with the 18 wheelers? Buenos Aires is a huge city with what I assume is a huge port. Okay, it can't be that huge cuz where the hell is BA gonna send stuff? Why import there? Besides, the Argentine hates the word "import". It's a four letter word for them. But still, you gotta do something with the goods once their imported, either by rail or truck, and we know BA isn't going to do things exclusively by rail. Cuz no city can/would. So where the hell are all the 18 wheelers???

It would further make sense that the city of BA would say, in addition to no 18 wheelers in the city, that all trucks had to use the highways and go around the city and all delivers into the city have to be made by smaller trucks. We aren't quite the same in the US, but we do have shipping lanes/routes and bypass routes for shipping/trucks around cities. Which makes perfectly wonderful, logical sense.

So what's going on?? Where's the beef? Er, the 18 wheelers? They must be somewhere? Those goods have to get to their destinations!

Well I'll tell you.

I was going to write a post I hadn't seen any...until LITERALLY my last day in Buenos Aires. On my last day, November 15, 2013, I was walking from my hostel in San Telmo to the south port Puerto Madero to catch a ferry to Uruguay when I saw, well, several 18 wheelers. There were doing EXACTLY what is described above. The trucks were coming directly from the port and hopping on the elevated highway that goes over and around Buenos Aires. But not through the city streets. God, if you put transfer trucks on 9 de Julio, traffic would never move again in the city.

So, why didn't I see any 18 wheelers in Buenos Aires until the day I left? A) Because I'm oblivious to things and have little natural common sense. and B) I hadn't hung out by the port much and studied shipping patterns or laws.

It makes sense. I'd probably seen 18 wheelers in BA and just not noticed them. And there's probably more to this story than I know. It's super-simplified, right? But it does make you wonder about supply chain in BA and if they've got it figured out.*

*Hint: doubtful

On Why Spencer Burness Is The Greatest Human Being Ever

Brennan: "Holy shit, that place was ridiculous."
Spencer: "(in Matthew McConaughey accent) I know, man, I know."
Brennan: "How'd you find that place?"
Spencer: "Remember when we were cabbing through town earlier? I saw that place and went 'food truck!!' and dropped a pin on my phone."
Brennan: "You're a fucking genius."
Spencer: "Goddamn right."*

First, a disclaimer: No, Spencer Burness is not the greatest human being ever, probably. But bros, don't be offended. You're all awesome. Just, in this particular moment, Spencer displayed a kind of genius normally only found in baby dolphins and feral cats. It was quite impressive.

DISCLAIMER OVER

I had to tell this story. A very specific story, a sea change from my normal vague rants. Spencer visited me in South America, specifically Buenos Aires, at the beginning of November 2013. On Wednesday of that week, we went over to Colonia, Uruguay. There we discovered the Uruguayans have a food called *pause for angelic chorus* chivitos. What is a chivito? A chivito is a food served over fries or in sandwich form. It is beef (some kind of sirloin steak deal) and on top ham, cheese, and a fried egg, and possibly a little lettuce, tomato, and onions mixed it. Throw in some salt, some peppers, tabasco, and some other sauces, mostly mayonaisse based, serve it over fries or on bread, and you have about the greatest food ever known. It's insanely good. It's a billion calories but it'll change your religion (pssst you're looking in the wrong direction). Is a chivito distinctly Uruguayan? I don't know and I don't care. The food is insane. I just met some Americans like an hour ago and they told me you can find them in Chile but they suck there.

Anyways, Spencer looked these up before/on the way to/in Uruguay so we tried them. We ended up eating 3 of them, one of fries and 2 in sandwich form. The first time we had the sandwich form, he called it the greatest late night food he'd ever had. He was more than right.

Spencer's genius of both recognizing the food truck, having the good sense, mental fortitude, and technological awareness to drop a pin at that location, and then remembering it later when we were drunkhungry was impressive. Make him CEO, I say.

Look, that's really all I care to say on this story. There's a lot more I will eventually say about Colonia and Uruguay, but for now I hope you have devoured this story as rampantly as Spencer and I devoured our chivitos. Dee-lish.

*Conversation has been altered liberally to fit how I want it to have gone. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Have No Fear

You ever verbally agreed with someone on something but mentally you disagreed? Why? Obviously this can have serious consequences, say, in a business meeting: "I think we SHOULDN'T make our customers have passwords!" "Oh yeah, great idea, sir!"

No, but really. Let's say someone says "Oh man, that new taco place is THA BOOOOMMMBBB", you know, cuz they're stuck in 1997. And you just go "Oh yeah, man, it's the best. I didn't know what life was until I'd had a taco from that place," even though in reality you're thinking "No, that place was terrible. Pretty sure I ordered a barbacoa taco and got a dog poop taco. It was terrible. I can't believe I'm thinking this, but I can't wait for that place to go out of business and a McDonald's to go up in its place." I'm sure you can think of a million instances.

Why do we do this? I posit two reasons:

1.) Acceptance. We don't want to insult or upset our "friend" by disagreeing with them. It'd make them look bad/feel stupid and we love our friend. Or at least we don't want to lose them as our friend. And besides, negativity is unattractive. However, a seasoned mind, someone with their own, original, fresh ideas and attitudes is attractive.

2.) Laziness. We don't want to argue with our friend because we feel tired or lazy and just let it go. We agree so we can move on or they'll at least shut up.

Why am I talking about all this? Because until recently I was afraid to say bad things about other cultures. I don't want to be downright mean about them, but I want to be honest about how I feel. I'm talking about my post "Argentina: Another Side". I'm not all that kind to Argentina in this post. But I'm trying to be fair, or at least honest, about what I really think of the culture. In my defense, there are lots of things I like about Argentina, but the culture of laziness is not one of them. In fact, I have multiple posts on the things I like in Argentina. This is an exception.

At first, I didn't say bad things about Argentina for three reasons:

1.) I didn´t want to offend the people here. They're nice enough and seem like decent people. This is where I would say they work hard, but...they're mothers and daughters, sisters and sons. Why knock them down a peg?

2.) I'm a stupid white boy, what do I know about culture?

3.) I´m American, what do I know?

But I've been given the courage to get over it. To actually be honest. Thanks to the people who did that, you know who you are and I don't want to mention you by name on the internet since there might be* arrest warrants out for you.

So even though I'm a stupid white boy without much perspective, sometimes even a blind man can see the truth. Don't be afraid to speak your mind, to have an opinion. I will caveat this with two things:

1.) Pick your battles. You don't have to have an opinion about everything.

2.) Don't be a dick about it.

*probably are**

**definitely are

"Fight Club" & "Into The Wild": A Comparison

Let me answer your first question: why am I talking about "Fight Club" and "Into The Wild" on what is an inner thought blog wrapped in the guise of a travel blog? Well, there's your answer. Because I can talk about whatever the hell I feel like and it's so well written, you'll read it. I'm...* has realization*... I'm the Aaron Sorkin of blogs.*

No, but seriously, part of my trip has been an escape, an escape from American culture, from the school-work-family culture, of always moving, of always working, and not stopping to think enough about life until it's too late. It's about not necessarily a counterculture, because I think countercultures are for pussies who can't handle real culture. It's about doing things a different way. I was watching "Into The Wild" (ITW), the movie with Emile Hirsch and Vince Vaughn, among others, while in Buenos Aires. It got me thinking and somehow I ended up comparing to "Fight Club" (FC)***. But first...

*A DISCLAIMER*

I have read FC the book and seen the movie FC. I have not read ITW the book and seen only part of ITW the movie but know the main gist of the story. For the record, FC the book and movie are different as the movie needs a plot that moves forward occasionally to make it watchable. I actually like the movie better, and not just cuz of Brad Pitt's abs.

*DISCLAIMER OVER*

So, as I was watching ITW, I was reminded of my own journey. As I was saying before, doing something different than what the typical American culture expects. The protagonist in ITW rejects worldly things, all of his identification documents, standard means of communication at the time (telephone for example) and sets on a journey of exploration and self-discovery. I clearly have not done this (I'm writing on a blog right now) but I am doing something that is not typical in American culure. The protagonist in ITW rejects not only American culure, but culture itself. Civilization. Worldly things. Identification. He decides to live off the land, hunting with a .22 caliber rifle, living where he can, earning only the money he needs in only the ways he can. It's beautiful. But it's also desperate in that, it's full of despair. It's depressing, sad, lonely, and maddening. I'll leave it to you, dear reader, as I address you here, to learn what the protagonist learns by reading the book or watching the movie.**** The protagonist is not angry; he's desperate. Desperate for escape. Desperate to escape the surly bonds of civilization. He feels bound and seeks freedom. Freedom from culture, of a time before culture, a land before time.*****

In contrast to ITW, FC seeks not to escape culture, this time a culture of greed, debt, and a "generation of men raised by women." Project Mayhem seeks to fight, fight back against, this culture. The culture is destructive, even self-destructive. So they fight fire with fire. They fight each other to become men, and then become men who fight for freedom, albeit, and there's no way around it, in terrorist fashion.

Aside: Project Mayhem was NOT a group of freedom fighters; they were terrorists. Yes, sis, my "corporate is showing" but it is because capitalism is the best system. It works. We should not replace it. However, this is not to condone debt or say that American greed and unbridled capitalism are right; it is to say you can't go around kidnapping people and blowing up buildings and calling it "right". The ends don't justify the means, especially in this case, as the ends are to break the systematic cycle of debt. Debt won't stop, you fools. But hey, and I mean this seriously, nice try. Pretty inventive/genius to blow up a bunch of credit card/bank buildings trying to reset the clock to 0. Not bad. I agree we should improve capitalism because pure capitalism leads to the destruction of the 99%. It cannot stand. But capitalism with inherent controls (the most difficult type of control to create) can, and does, work.

The people in FC seek not to remove themselves from or reject culture; they want a different culture. One where the working class aren't enslaved by debt and taken advantage of. Just as Ed Norton is weak and Brad Pitt fights and become strong (which, ultimately, makes Ed Norton strong, both since they are the same person and Ed Norton's personality becomes his own man), so, too, are opposite the culture that exists in FC (rampant consumerism fueled by debt) and the culure that Project Mayhem seeks to create (one full of self-confidence, in what a man can be by himself removed of possessions and, thus, debt).

ITW seeks to escape culture and civilization. FC seeks to change culure. Neither want anything to do with the culture we have now. Which is right is up to you. But ITW, while filled with despair and loneliness, is also filled with hope.

*Receives cease and desist letter from AS.*

**I retract that last statement.

***Which, now, the acronym FC, which usually stands for futbol club in the real world, makes me think of fight club. So now, FCB = Fight Club Barcelona.

****Watch the movie anyway. It's very good. Directed by Sean Penn. It'll make you lose your breath, maybe even cry.

*****God, would Morgan Freeman PLEASE narrate this.

Argentina: Another Side

This will be the post for which Argentinians hate me and the post for which the Argentine government ever bans me from returning.

If you've read my posts "La Cultura Aqui" or the similar "Jumanji: The Demons Within"*, you know I've talked about how the culture here is "for today". People care about the money in their pocket today and not for tomorrow. You will find 30 year old men who still live with their parents. The people lack motivation. And, as I will discuss in yet another post, it can really suck you in. You can lose yourself here. Like Odysseus did on the isle of Circe. Five years felt like five days.****

Let me just say this in a much harsher way: the people here don't give a shit. I say the people, like, la gente. This is certainly not true of every single person. I've met some very dedicated, hardworking people. But it doesn't seem to be indicative of everyone. I don't take this from talking with/interviewing/examining lots of people, just with a few opinionated people. But I haven't heard much denial of this attitude, either. Let me give you some examples. Allow me to reiterate: this information is not firsthand. It comes from other people I've simply spoken with and I am not recording it here verbatim. It's what I remember.

La Policia (Police)

So, from what I've gotten of the police here, they're pretty lazy. The make I think 600 pesos a day, or week, or month, or something. From what I understand, it's not much more than minimum wage. And now they get a gun. Hooray. Murder cases here aren't solved; people just go missing. I'm sure if the police or mayor of Buenos Aires or Cristina Kirschner cared who I was and read this, there would be a huge denial of this. And maybe it's not true. Just what I heard. I have seen the police take some action here. But I understand typically they aren't going to care much. They may just be looking for a bribe.***** Maybe one day a year, 1 out of every 365 they give a damn and will go to the effort of doing all the paperwork just to screw you over. But typically not. So if someone steals your purse and you yell for the police to help, don't bet on it.

Taxis (Taxis)

My review of taxis here is pretty good. They're hugely abundant, easy to flag, easy to discern if they're open or not. But, sometimes if you find one to take you the airport for $200-250 pesos and he lives out near the airport, he might just pack it in then, call it a day and go home. The fuck?

El Subte (The Subway)

I've heard, but again don't know, the subway workers will just close lines because they don't want to work. They make good money for being subway workers but complain about wanting more. Or if they don't close a line entirely, they'll close it early. Why? They just don't care.

Dog Poop

The guidebooks will all warn you about the "ubiquitous" dog piles on the sidewalks. And it's true. There's lot of dog shit on the sidewalks. Why? People with dogs don't give a damn to clean up after them (though I have seen some people do it, I've seen even more not do it) AND the government doesn't care to have people clean it up, or enforce a "clean up after your dog" law. *Sigh*

This attitude amazes and fascinates me and...sadly...sucks me in. It would be easy to live here and not give a damn. I see why people have this attitude. It's very relaxed. But, no, I can't. I will get back to my world of money and offices and stock markets. I want to do something. I can do nothing in this world or in another  world, but there is no option to do something in this world, in the world of caring about nothing. If I want to do something, something substantial, I must leave. I can do something outside of the world of stocks and bonds. But not in the world of not caring.

*Semi-biographical post on the quirky Robin Williams and how his various versions of facial hair cycle with the phases of the moon**

**Mr. Williams, Patch, sir, I am only kidding. Please don't sue for my libel. Or slander. Or whatever the written version of that is. If only you knew the things I've said aloud!***

***SERIOUSLY I'M KIDDING

****No idea if this is actually accurate. I just remember this from a pretty decent made-for-television movie version of The Odyssey.

*****Given that I heard nothing about bribes before coming here and heard a lot about them in India before going there, I imagine bribes are a much worse situation in India. Ipso facto, I'm not/haven't been that worried about them here.

Fighting Our First Loves

We all have those things. Those restaurants, those shampoos, those brands that are better than every other type of restaurant, shampoo, or brand out there. Ever. Ever made or that ever will be made. That taco place in Lilburn has THE BEST OMG TACOS on the planet and there aren´t any better tacos anywhere on the planet PERIOD. They are delicious. And scrumptous. And every time you get a taco, you mentally, or even verbally, compare the taco from whatever rundown hellhole you are at to that shining beacon, that city on a hill, that place where the angel Gabriel came to Abraham and said, "I give thee: TACOS. And you will know my name is THE LORD when you taste the tacos the Lord has laid upon thee!"

I get it, you get it, we all get it. We will defend these things until we get bored.

We can't help it. I literally don't think we can. That first taco, that first shampoo (Herbal Essences, baby), that first whateverohitdoesn'tmatter, set the impression in your head. It set, in your head, what a taco should be. And, as I said, every taco henceforth shall be compared to the original. Even if the original was, in reality, shitty, you still think it is the best. It took you to a new place. And other tacos, afterward, still won't measure up.

We all know, logically, that it's highly unlikely, highly improbable, that the first of anything we try will be the best. But that's a tough battle to fight psychologically.

Part of the reason they feel the best is because they remind us of home. We most likely tried them when we were young, at our most vulnerable, only seeking security. They may be good, but tie them such a deep feeling as the need and want to be feel safe and secure at home and it becomes very difficult to replace that thing with something new. It only makes sense. Who wants to disrupt their sense of security, of home? Our psyche is only protecting us.

Why is this going on my travel blog? Two reasons: brands here, in Buenos Aires. I'll allow this to be my comparison for now since I haven't gone many other places. Of course in Buenos Aires you'll find plenty of brands from the US: McDonalds, Burger King, Dove Shampoo/Body Wash/Whathaveyou, Axe Body Spray (we coulda left that at home, America). But there are other brands, other brands that either I haven't seen in the US or that don't exist there. In fact, I'm using a shampoo right now made by Unilever that I haven't seen in the US. But we all know my penchant for Bath & Body Works shampoo and conditioner. Good bang for your buck. Not too pricey and just look at my hair. Look at it. No, you haven't seen better hair, shut up. But the shampoo I'm using now. I wasn't used to it. So I took "a chance". I say that because most shampoo I imagine, especially since I was buying it in a big pharmacy chain in BA, is going to clean my hair reasonably well. And, as it turns out, the shampoo (actually shampoo/conditioner, it´s a 2 in 1. You learn to consolidate when you're traveling) does a damn good job.

So now I have to reconsider my whole life. I found a brand I'd never used before, never even heard of, though it was bolstered by the big pharmacy chain brands and of course by Unilever, and it worked!

My fellow humans, my point in all of this is to say, fight your first loves. Question them, and often. Are those really the best? They feel the best. But they are not your masters. Good loves want you to move on, to get better, to grow. So, go, try. And be honest. Is whatever you just tried good or bad in absence of what you consider "the best"? Sometimes, yes, that taco will just be shitty. But sometimes it will surprise you.

The Human Urge/Desire/Need to Dominate

I was talking about Argentine culture the other day with 2 or 3 friends and how, well, stupid some Argentine policies are (you know, the big national/political policies that countries make). This post is not here to discuss Argentine culture or political policies. It is here to discuss my internal reaction to them.

And it was not just to Argentine political policy. It was also to some of Argentine culture and how people do things here. I saw it playing out in 3 steps in my head:

1.) Offer to help the Argentinians and/or Argentine government
2.) The Argentinians react lazily, passively, or otherwise nonchalantly and I become indignant/outraged/frustrated
3.) I take over their shit and make it better on my own

The question now shifts from "How can I make Argentina better AND make a dollar for myself?" but to "Why was this my reaction?" The rest of the conversation was lost to me as I thought about this.

Why? Why did I suddenly feel the urge to take something from someone else, something that wasn't mine, or rightfully mine, and make it better on my own? Better yet, once I've taken this thing from its owners, they aren't going to want it back. I've done it for no one except myself, to make myself feel better (which isn't always the worst answer).

I was quickly reminded of this post I saw featured several times on social media on Columbus Day: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day

I'm paraphrasing here, but basically Columbus says in it "We could conquer the lot of these people with 50 of our own men. It'd be so easy!" more or less glossing over the immorality of genocide and theft, you know, cuz, those were the times. As my father once said (again, paraphrasing), "I see no evidence civilization has become any more civilized over the last thousand years."*

The reason Colubmus felt this way is perhaps a little clearer: he wanted/was obsessed with gold and whatever else and wanted glory for the kingdom, whatever kingdom he came from. He wanted to dominate because it was his job. You think his expidition was of the humanitarian variety? Or was there gold in them thar hills and it's yours for the taking, even if you gotta leave a few bodies behind you on the way?

Back to my desire to dominate...I think it is complicated. I think for one, every needs victory in their lives, wins in their lives. We need to win. For self-esteem, for morale, so we have that inner confidence to keep going, and, as everything ultimately leads to, for sex. It's competition, really? But that's the answer to everything so that's the last time I'll mention it.

The second reason I felt the desire to dominate was because I wanted to fix something. I like fixing things when I know how to fix them and it's a bit of a challenge. Fixing Argentina (not that it's broken, per se, but everything can be improved and Argentina has more low-hanging fruit than your average country) wouldn't be easy, but it'd be fun and challenging.

Third, I want to dominate because, well, it's a darker side of humanity that I have and that we all have. I wanted to win. I was Walter White in the moment. No matter the cost, I want to win. I want to take from the other person and stand on their neck. Morbid and awful, yes, but it is an impulse, hopefully one that stays an impulse.

But at the end of the day, to what end? Once it's fixed, now what? I don't want to fix. I want to do something meaningful. Create. Not fix what already exists. This feeling counterbalances my feelings of conquest, along with other more benevolent feelings, like not wanting to kill people, and so I move on. If a country doesn't want my help, won't use my help, nor does it want to be helped by anyone, it doesn't want much of anything for that matter, let it be. I can make money here, but I don't have to stress out about it.

*Pops, you'll be happy to know that as I write this in the hostel, The Beatles' "Yesterday" is playing.