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Not chillin' in Chile. Another failed neoliberalism experiment.
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2019 Oct 26, 10:53am 458 views 10 comments
Comments 1 - 10 of 10 Search these comments
1
RWSGFY
2019 Oct 26, 11:30am
RWSGFY
2019 Oct 26, 11:30am
willywonka says
One-way BART ticket from Pleasanton to SF costs $6.10. Meaning that somebody earning $45K per year will be in the same position as a Chilean earning $700 per month.
I bet you $5 if you ask these rioting Chileans whether they would like to move to Pleasanton 99% would answer "si".
Yet, per capita income in California as a whole is $32K. Per capita income in Alameda county is $36K.
Tell me again how horrible $1.15 subway ticket in Chile is.
In a country where the minimum wage of 70% of the population barely reaches $700 USD per month, the news from Chilean president Piñera last week that the fare for a metro ticket in Santiago would rise from 800 Chilean Pesos to 830 ($1.15 USD) hit hard.
One-way BART ticket from Pleasanton to SF costs $6.10. Meaning that somebody earning $45K per year will be in the same position as a Chilean earning $700 per month.
I bet you $5 if you ask these rioting Chileans whether they would like to move to Pleasanton 99% would answer "si".
Yet, per capita income in California as a whole is $32K. Per capita income in Alameda county is $36K.
Tell me again how horrible $1.15 subway ticket in Chile is.
2
MisdemeanorRebel
2019 Oct 26, 11:33am
MisdemeanorRebel
2019 Oct 26, 11:33am
Shit, the minimum wage here is $350, and the bus tickets are 40 cents, and the buses are ones let go from Brazil and Chile after 40 years of service. Not uncommon to see some 1960s Buses. Many have plywood floors and benches because the original metal rusted away. No A/C, either.
Open Democracy is Soros.
Open Democracy is Soros.
3
Ceffer
2019 Oct 26, 12:05pm
Ceffer
2019 Oct 26, 12:05pm
Are the 14 year old girls protesting Iwog's lashing them to radiators in chains yet?
5
Al_Sharpton_for_President
2019 Oct 27, 4:28pm
Al_Sharpton_for_President
2019 Oct 27, 4:28pm
The protests were originally sparked by a now-suspended increase in metro fares, but grew to take in wider grievances over living costs and inequality.
Chile is one of Latin America's wealthiest countries but also one of its most unequal - it has the worst levels of income equality among the 36 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50197673
Chile is one of Latin America's wealthiest countries but also one of its most unequal - it has the worst levels of income equality among the 36 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50197673
6
MisdemeanorRebel
2019 Oct 27, 4:36pm
MisdemeanorRebel
2019 Oct 27, 4:36pm
willywonka says
Funny, isn't that kinda what's happening with the near total Media blackout of the Yellow Vests...
Expelled from Paris, where more and more business is now concentrated, due to high prices and what little affordable housing goes to criminal NAFRAs... then a huge tax imposed on public transportation and private cars, and no rate adjustment for truckers, cab drivers, and commuters.
Socialists in France cheer when their dirty White working class gets beaten by police... the same people who scream bloody murder if US cops arrest a man convicted dozens of times for various crimes dies in an ambulance after resisting another arrest for illegal cig sales ... for almost one year on now.
The protests were originally sparked by a now-suspended increase in metro fares, but grew to take in wider grievances over living costs and inequality.
Funny, isn't that kinda what's happening with the near total Media blackout of the Yellow Vests...
Expelled from Paris, where more and more business is now concentrated, due to high prices and what little affordable housing goes to criminal NAFRAs... then a huge tax imposed on public transportation and private cars, and no rate adjustment for truckers, cab drivers, and commuters.
Socialists in France cheer when their dirty White working class gets beaten by police... the same people who scream bloody murder if US cops arrest a man convicted dozens of times for various crimes dies in an ambulance after resisting another arrest for illegal cig sales ... for almost one year on now.
7
RWSGFY
2019 Oct 27, 8:54pm
RWSGFY
2019 Oct 27, 8:54pm
willywonka says
"Income inequality" is a red herring: as long as the floor is high enough who gives a fuck about the ceiling? If everybody is fed, clothed and clutches a fucking iPhone in his hand, who the fuck cares how much zeros are in Bill-fucking-Gates "number"? You can eat, drink and fuck only so much, so anything beyond $3-4 million is a fucking vapor.
Chile is one of Latin America's wealthiest countries but also one of its most unequal - it has the worst levels of income equality among the 36 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
"Income inequality" is a red herring: as long as the floor is high enough who gives a fuck about the ceiling? If everybody is fed, clothed and clutches a fucking iPhone in his hand, who the fuck cares how much zeros are in Bill-fucking-Gates "number"? You can eat, drink and fuck only so much, so anything beyond $3-4 million is a fucking vapor.
8
steverbeaver
2019 Oct 27, 9:29pm
steverbeaver
2019 Oct 27, 9:29pm
I thought one of the reasons for Chile's decline was socialist creep from what Pinochet had set up. Not that I spend time going though it myself to sort out the lies. The "open democracy" to me points at a lefty slant in your quoted source.
9
Al_Sharpton_for_President
2019 Oct 28, 3:22am
Al_Sharpton_for_President
2019 Oct 28, 3:22am
Collapse of the Neoliberal Consensus
Despite its reputation as a relatively wealthy Latin American country, Chilean society is deeply divided between the rich and poor. Income inequality is worse in Chile than in any other OECD nation. Meanwhile, public services ranging from the pension system to water remain privatized — as much a legacy of the Pinochet years as the 1980 constitution and the state of emergency.
“Economically, Chile continues to do the same thing it’s been doing for twenty years, namely following an extractivist model, which relies heavily on copper but also has to do with forestry, fisheries, etc.,” explains Emilia Ríos Saavedra, a Revolución Democrática (a member party of Frente Amplio) militant and city councilor in Ñuñoa, a suburb of Santiago. “This creates a tension and a feeling of helplessness where the political system cannot respond. There is no capacity on the one hand, and on the other hand, the political and economic elites, above all, are not capable of thinking about the larger needs of the country.”
As the center-left coalition that led Chile through the transition to democracy failed to address the growing crisis caused by the economic policies of the Chicago Boys who collaborated with Pinochet in the 1980s to dismantle Chile’s social democratic legacy, their popular support has collapsed. In the 2017 presidential election, the right-wing billionaire who introduced consumer debt to Chile, Sebastián Piñera, was elected.
“Piñera’s government was the result of both the erosion and contradictions of the Nueva Mayoría (the center-left coalition) and the promises of better times he made during the campaign,” says Francisca Perales, a member of the national directive of Convergencia Social in the Valparaíso region, another of Frente Amplio’s constituent parties. “However, currently, unemployment has increased, cases of nepotism and corruption have not disappeared, and its reforms have been recognized as favorable to large business.”
The extent to which Piñera’s government of elites is out of touch with the economic realities of everyday Chileans helped ignite his government’s current crisis. In response to long wait times at hospitals, his assistant secretary of health care networks Luis Castillo suggested people show up early to health centers to socialize while waiting to be seen, and his economic minister Juan Andrés Fontaine suggested workers get up before dawn to avoid rush hour fares in response to the recent price increase.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/10/chile-protests-sebastian-pinera-frente-amplio
Despite its reputation as a relatively wealthy Latin American country, Chilean society is deeply divided between the rich and poor. Income inequality is worse in Chile than in any other OECD nation. Meanwhile, public services ranging from the pension system to water remain privatized — as much a legacy of the Pinochet years as the 1980 constitution and the state of emergency.
“Economically, Chile continues to do the same thing it’s been doing for twenty years, namely following an extractivist model, which relies heavily on copper but also has to do with forestry, fisheries, etc.,” explains Emilia Ríos Saavedra, a Revolución Democrática (a member party of Frente Amplio) militant and city councilor in Ñuñoa, a suburb of Santiago. “This creates a tension and a feeling of helplessness where the political system cannot respond. There is no capacity on the one hand, and on the other hand, the political and economic elites, above all, are not capable of thinking about the larger needs of the country.”
As the center-left coalition that led Chile through the transition to democracy failed to address the growing crisis caused by the economic policies of the Chicago Boys who collaborated with Pinochet in the 1980s to dismantle Chile’s social democratic legacy, their popular support has collapsed. In the 2017 presidential election, the right-wing billionaire who introduced consumer debt to Chile, Sebastián Piñera, was elected.
“Piñera’s government was the result of both the erosion and contradictions of the Nueva Mayoría (the center-left coalition) and the promises of better times he made during the campaign,” says Francisca Perales, a member of the national directive of Convergencia Social in the Valparaíso region, another of Frente Amplio’s constituent parties. “However, currently, unemployment has increased, cases of nepotism and corruption have not disappeared, and its reforms have been recognized as favorable to large business.”
The extent to which Piñera’s government of elites is out of touch with the economic realities of everyday Chileans helped ignite his government’s current crisis. In response to long wait times at hospitals, his assistant secretary of health care networks Luis Castillo suggested people show up early to health centers to socialize while waiting to be seen, and his economic minister Juan Andrés Fontaine suggested workers get up before dawn to avoid rush hour fares in response to the recent price increase.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/10/chile-protests-sebastian-pinera-frente-amplio
10
NuttBoxer
2019 Oct 28, 10:21am
NuttBoxer
2019 Oct 28, 10:21am
People are always unhappy in crowded cities with not enough resources, which is what drives up prices. Instead of protesting, they should just move.
One million protesters took to the streets of Chile in the biggest demonstrations since violence broke out
At least 18 people have been killed, hundreds wounded and millions of dollars of damage has been caused
Protests that started over a hike in public transport fares have boiled into riots, arson and looting
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7616093/One-MILLION-march-Chile-Furious-activists-occupy-streets-protest-against-government.html
Chile in flames: the neoliberal model in crisis throughout the region
In a country where the minimum wage of 70% of the population barely reaches $700 USD per month, the news from Chilean president Piñera last week that the fare for a metro ticket in Santiago would rise from 800 Chilean Pesos to 830 ($1.15 USD) hit hard.
The supposed “economic miracle” of Chile, which received its name from American economist Milton Friedman, was a set of liberalising economic measures put in place during the dictatorship of Pinochet, that imposed a free market in the country with the support from the United States. This economic system, that continues to be implemented today in Chile, has benefitted the economic elites whilst creating inequality and suffering for the majority. It’s hardly surprising that thanks to these neoliberal reforms promoted by Friedman, the 90s became the lost decade of Latin America.
Tired of the economic policies of the government, students and citizens took to the streets of Chile to protest against the rise in price of the metro ticket, but in reality this was just the tip of the iceberg. They are in fact protesting against many other social issues such as high tariffs for electricity and gas, low pensions, and a completely unaffordable health and education system. Protesters burnt metro stations and public busses, and they looted supermarkets and public buildings.
When Piñera spoke to the nation on Saturday evening to declare the suspension of the increase in metro fare, it was already too late to contain the fury that had been unleashed. Students and young people kept marching and demanding justice, whilst the government declared a State of Emergency and sent the army to the streets.
That’s why we explain to you everything you need to know about the current protests in Chile and why this explosion of violence is so important in the region.
Police violence and democracy in Chile
It’s not the first time that police use violence against their own citizens in Chile, a country which has a long history of repression of the mapuche indigenous communities when they rise up against the lack of government recognition of their territorial rights.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/chile-en-llamas-el-modelo-neoliberal-en-crisis-en-toda-la-región-en/