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The Haves and the Have-NotsLarry LaBorde Once again the lovely Miss Puddy and I headed out of the country for another adventure. Last month we visited the Dominican Republic. For those of you who are not quite sure where it is located, the DR is on the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola. (Haiti is on the western half of the same island.) We were attending a conference in Punta Cana on the eastern shore of the DR. Punta Cana is fast becoming a resort destination where you land at the special airport and are then wisked off in an air-conditioned motor coach to the all-inclusive resort. While the hotel is the typical open-air lobby with wide verandas and a nice coastal breeze the compound is walled off and has moderate security to make sure no one enters unauthorized. In an effort to see a little more of the DR we elected to fly into Santo Domingo, rent a car, and drive across the island. Santo Domingo is the capital of the DR and is a busy city of about 3 million residents. While the rate on our rental was reasonable, I was stunned at the insurance rate for our rental car (3 times the rental rate). However, after about one hour of driving I couldn’t believe how anyone would insure a car on these roads for any amount of money. The roads were not too bad except for the occasional gigantic pot hole (do not try to drive the countryside at night). The driving was something else. Traffic laws only seemed to be traffic suggestions there. They made drivers in Rome seem like careful, rational motorists. Traffic consisted of a few large trucks, several small cars (ourselves included) and more small motorcycles than I could count buzzing around the cars like mosquitoes. It was quite common to see 4 people on a small 90cc motorcycle. Santo Domingo was quite beautiful and boasts the oldest church in the Western hemisphere. We visited the famous cave in town and were surprised last night - when viewing the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie - to see those same caves filmed as the legendary fountain of youth in the movie. Most of the capital city was old and poor. There were a few magnificent bridges and infrastructure occasionally but for the most part the city looked tired. Striking out across the island we opted to cross over the mountains and see some of the local scenery including numerous small villages. The general population was clean and very friendly but quite poor by US standards. On the coastal road the poverty was broken by the occasional private resort; each one with its magnificent signage, flowers and security gates with guards protecting the walled enclave. Upon arriving at Punta Cana we found no less than a dozen of these private resorts that catered to every need WITHIN the resort gates. Many of the employees made the 5-hour trip from Santo Domingo every 10 days for a long shift at the resort. Most were very happy to do so as the resort was one of the better jobs on the island. While we did notice a struggling lower-middle class on the island it was apparent that there were mostly “have-nots” that populated the DR. There were a very few big nice cars that drove as though they owned the roads (they probably did), but mostly beat up small cars, cross country buses and very old small motorcycles seemed to be the popular mode of transportation for most people there. On the trip home I reflected about the current economic tragedy in the 1st world. The middle class has not had any real increase in their standard of living in decades. They have been slowly strangled and forced into debt to maintain their standard of living. Make no mistake, the middle class has been squeezed in the US for decades. The “haves”, on the other hand seem to be getting richer and richer with obscene bonuses from public corporations. I do not mean to incite class warfare or even class envy as many upper class families have made their fortune through hard work and thrift. I just could not help but wonder about our struggling middle class in the United States. Has the middle class in the US indebted its soul for a few trinkets at Wal-Mart? Is the 3rd world the future of the United States? Perhaps our middle class would be stronger with a slightly lower standard of living and little or no debt? I would venture to say that even though the average home is larger and there are more cars in the driveway in the average middle class home than in the 1950’s their net worth is much worse when adjusted for inflation. Behind all those nice facades I am afraid you will find little or no net worth today due to a big pile of debt (college, house, cars, credit cards, etc). I do, however, seem to be seeing more and more of those gated communities with guards here in the good old United States. None of us will be safe until the country as a whole is prosperous and this will not happen until the crushing debt on the middle class is cast off. Until the debt is washed out this economic depression will not be over. The ultimate security of the “haves” depends on a strong middle class. When the “have-nots” storm the gates because of hunger it is game over. Just watch the MENA (middle east & north Africa) dictators run for cover in the next few months. ### Larry LaBorde 321gold Ltd |
