Causes of Prosperity
I enrolled in a class called Introduction to Business Workshop as one of six options that I could choose between after trying them out for a week. The first day of that class was something else. This old fat professor with suspenders and thick glasses and a handlebar mustache waddles in after we had all sat down, drones in a monotone voice “This is Introduction to Business Workshop. If you are not in this class, please step out now.” He waits a minute (nobody leaves) and then proceeds to take an impressive leap on top of his desk and starts yelling and waving his hands “Welcome to business at UAI, fools! Time to throw out all your private prep-school bullcrap, and all your parent’s money, cause none of you are ready for this class! You have homework. You must go to Puerto Baron, tomorrow. Do you actually have to go to Puerto Baron?” class; “yes.” “DO YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO GO TO PUERTO BARON??” class; “Yes!” “You! In the back! MUST YOU GO TO PUERTO BARON?!” dude; “YES PROFESSOR!” prof; “WHAT?!” And so it went.
Finally we moved on to the lecture. The opening slide had a quote; “The underlying moral causes of prosperity have long been known”. The prof started pointing out students and asking what exactly that meant. One kid finally nailed it – prosperity in society comes not from resources or technology or power and might but in the morals of its citizens. I’ve never heard that before, but it began to make sense. If all people were honest, there would be no need for police and security. If all people were generous, there would be almost no need for government. If people could control anger, there would be no need for military. All of that money could be spent on other things, like lifting the poor out of poverty. Although all of that is extremely idealistic, it holds true that the more moral societies in the world simply do better. The US became what it is because the government gave power and trust to the people, and in turn the people worked harder than anyone else in the world, together, to build the country. Iraq became what it is because the government can just sit back and pump oil, and it didn’t matter if it abused its citizens or created an intolerant society.
Today, the prof pointed out that the Chinese and Indians work harder and save more than anyone else. In contrast, he continued, Chile and most of South America is full of crime and dishonesty and the US is becoming a lazy nation that is better at complaining, blaming and spending rather than working and saving. China is vulnerable to censorship, paranoia, and corruption, but for now its work ethic is pulling through. India, he said, is a better investment until China fixes those things. It has the potential to be a kind of Soviet-like ‘seeds of its own demise’ situation, if reform isn’t eased in over the next few decades.
This was all echoed in The World is Flat, which I wrote about a few weeks ago. Look briefly at three cases presented in the book. First, Taiwan, a tiny island with virtually no resources, yet manages to be a financial and industrial horse because of its people and superior governance. Compare that with most European nations, blessed with beautiful land and resources, who struggle because their extraordinary work laws promote laziness and do not reward innovation. Germany, for example, was rated one of the worst countries in the entire world to do business in because it is nearly impossible to fire a worker and even harder to start a new business. The Germans complained and contested when the study was published. Finally, look at any number of dictatorships and you’ll generally see that they are propped up by hogging resources. Hosni Mubarak is estimated to be one of the wealthiest men alive; Ben Ali and colonel Gaddafi aren’t far behind. Yet when the resources run out, the society has a chance to open up to become prosperous and moral (kind of ironic really).
The professor’s point was that good business is moral business. Point well taken. Suppose I should scoot over to Puerto Baron now, eh?
Classes – Final Listing
Finance 1
Industrial Organization
Business Leadership
Marketing and Trends in Latin America (English)
Intro to Business Workshop didn’t make the cut – it might have been interesting, but also intimidating as heck for a clueless and wimpy gringo. The other cut was Intro Accounting. Oddly enough, the intro classes I should be taking ended up being far and away the hardest, as in, probably would have failed both. The language of Industrial Organization and Finance 1 isn’t Spanish but mathematics – that, I understand. Never seen partial differential functions or Lagrange multipliers applied to markets and consumers, but hey, there’s a first time for everything. I’ll also have outside help in both.
Donde la Pili
I have to take a minute here to sing some praises about my host mom whom everybody calls Pili (her real name is Liliana). She has a remarkable ability to deal with a lot of work and a lot of people all at once with basically no breaks, no vacations. Here is her average weekday:
5:30 – Wake up, prepare and set breakfast for 12
6:15 – Start the laundry, equivalent to a full hamper every day
6:45 – Wake Tomas up and get him ready for school
7:15 – Start cooking for the bakery/cafe she runs. This means a whole platter of empanadas, a daily lunch special, cupcakes, pancakes, alfajores, desserts and sometimes catering orders as well
10:30 – Open the bakery, continue cooking
12:00 – Husband Hernan takes over at the bakery. Pili prepares lunch for 10 of us
2:30 – Finish laundry, yell at me for washing my dishes, begin washing everybody’s dishes from the day
3:30 – Cleaning time
5:00 – Prepare dinner and onces for the house
6:30 – Family and friends living nearby invite themselves in for onces and tea
8:00 – Clean up kitchen and table. Begin cleaning bakery
9:00 – Bakery closes
9:30 – Grocery shopping and planning for tomorrow
Rinse and repeat, weekends too. Everybody feels a bit lazy and antisocial compared to Pili, master of her domain.
Speak Chilean - Words of the Week
Completo (comb-play-toe): noun, the national dish of Chile. A footlong hot dog topped with avocado, melted cheese, tomatoes, and a heavy dose of mayonnaise.
Po (poe): [unknown part of speech], the word has little or no meaning whatsoever, yet is put into almost every spoken sentence. Shortened version of the word pues, which means 'well' when used as a temporizer, except po is clearly not a temporizer as it is often put at the end of a sentence. Most frequently used in responses to a question.
Traveler's Map
I've been meaning to do this for a while now - during Argentina I compiled a list of where everyone I would meet was originally from. Here, finally, is the map.
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