This piece was in our local paper yesterday, and it's been bothering me since. Now today it's in the Sun-Times and it still bothers me, help me figure out why...I think it's because of his description of a prosperous economy in South America (as he sees it) compared to what we see on the news and read, is what they (the non-workers)want our America to look like, a very robust (stock and investment)economy, while the workers live in poverty - without much of a way out...
http://www.suntimes.com/output/otherviews/cst-edt-ref04x.html<snip>
Latin America has been enjoying good times, with stock markets hitting record highs. But there have been severe problems as well. Democratic reformers are struggling, and Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, a Castro with oil, has been making trouble.
As Roger Noriega, former assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, points out, ''Differences over President Bush's foreign policy -- exploited by Chavez's aggressive international campaign -- have damaged the U.S. image in a region that has traditionally liked and admired the United States.''
But Brazil is the key. It is Latin America's powerhouse, the largest country in the region by far, with a population of 186 million (the size of Mexico, Argentina and Colombia combined) and a gross domestic product ranked 11th in the world.
While much of Brazil is desperately poor, the country has many characteristics of a thriving, modern society, including low birthrates, a relatively small agricultural sector, strong economic growth and burgeoning high technology. Brazil's Embraer is a top global producer of regional jets, with shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange<snip>