Free your mind

The funny thing about Buenos Aires is that is seems so international, chic, cosmopolitan, but it's still a South American city. It's less organized than Bolivia, a country that seems to be mocked here for being poor or uncivilized or something. And yet Buenos Aires is more frequently subject to gas strikes, train and subway strikes, closed borders, things ceasing to function. On Friday, you couldn't get a cab because there was no gas for the city. The hostel was also freezing...again, no gas for heat. So while it may seem like Western Europe, the reality is that it's South America. And please, world, cosmos, God, let my Aerolineas Argentinas flight make it out on Tuesday.

While there may be great shopping, wonderful steak, great wine and vibes, it seems like the people aren't taken care of. Last night I was talking to two guys, one from Spain, one Argentine. The Argentine is an engineer who would love to live in the US. An engineer here can't buy an apartment, from what he said, or upgrade to a better automobile. There is no system of credit for professionals here. If you're really wealthy, you're set. But if living check to check, more or less, there are no options. So Carlos (the Argentine) wants to go to the US because he'll be able to buy a house, a car, take care of his family. Then the Spaniard chimed in, "Come to Spain. We'll lend you the money." The Argentine responded, "Sure, I'd like to visit Spain, but I want to live in the US." The Spaniard, apparently agitated by this comment, yelled, "Viva, Fidel!" and walked away. He came back, of course, and spouted, "I hate America!" Great. Here we go again. It's especially ironic, given that the individual who "discovered" the Americas was Spanish (or Italian, apparently there's some dispute) but was paid by the Spanish crown to seek out new colonies. The Spaniard continued to talk about how he would never go to the US because he'd be locked up for looking like a terrorist. That capitalism is the devil. But Spanish colonization was so innocent, right? He talked about the 6 million Vietnamese killed in the Vietnam war, versus a US 50,000. Not sure the point there. My point: any life lost is tragic. Then he called the States Yankee-landia. Eww. Not a fan of this man. So the longer I'm traveling, the more it seems that anti-Americanism exists among the richer, well-educated populations. The educated elite of the world seem to dislike the US more than the less wealthy people I've met. I guess those struggling to live and be happy don't get their kicks hating another country and its people. And more so, Carlos is an educated elite in Argentina and still struggles. I just don't know anymore. What's the solution?

I just hope that one day the whole world can afford to have a free mind.

As I write this, the man next to me is online shopping for assault rifles.