- 02 Oct 2022 16:31
#15249406
Developing World Problems in the USA
I was once on a snorkeling excursion in Aruba. On the boat, I heard an older couple speaking Spanish with a very distinctive Argentine accent. They were the only Spanish speakers on the boat and seemed a bit confused with the captain’s English snorkeling instructions.
I introduced myself in Spanish and translated the captain’s instruction for the couple. We began chatting in Spanish. They told me they lived in Bariloche, Argentina, but were trying to get residency in the United States. Bariloche is a beautiful, high dollar ski resort town. I had visited the city on past trips to South America.
The couple wanted to move to inland Florida. I was kind of confused. I asked them why they would leave their beautiful home to live in a Florida swamp. The woman replied “Because everything works in America.”
She went on to describe how in Argentina, none of the utilities worked reliably, food supplies were inconsistent, the roads were bad, and government corruption was rampant. She said that as the couple aged they learned to appreciate the boring reliability of an American existence.
The woman had a good point, but things have changed significantly in the five years since I had that conversation.
I’ve been traveling quite a bit all over the United States. So far this year I’ve taught or taken 37 days of out-of-state classes. I was in eight different states last month. In addition to my busy teaching schedule, I’ve taken two short vacations in Florida and one in California. I’m starting to think that the United Sates is rapidly becoming a third world country. The things that once “worked” don’t work the same way anymore. The decline is stunningly similar to what I’ve experienced in my travels in the developing world.
Here are a few things I’ve noticed in the last couple months of my domestic travel.
Airline issues– Up until about five years ago, when taking a flight in South America or Africa, one had to call the airline the day before the flight to ensure that the flight was still scheduled. The flights were notoriously unreliable and the airlines wanted to avoid dealing with irate customers at the airports.
I’ve flown 46 flights this calendar year. Twenty-nine of them were delayed or cancelled. American airline reliability is now no better than some of the worst airlines in rural Africa.
Police uniforms- In the developing world, cops have very inconsistent uniforms. They often wear jeans with a uniform shirt. They lack equipment that American cops would consider mandatory. Seeing a cop with only a handgun and no ancillary gear is really common in third world countries.
Last month I was stopped for speeding in rural Oklahoma. The cop approached my car. He was wearing a polo shirt and khaki pants. No body armor. No camera. He was wearing a leather trouser belt instead of a duty rig. He had a Glock in a thumbreak leather pancake holster and a police radio hanging off his trouser belt. Nothing else. No OC spray. No Taser. No handcuffs. No baton. No flashlight. He looked like a security guard from El Salvador.
The cop was very nice and graciously let me off with a warning. Given the uniform he was wearing I half expected him to solicit a bribe like his third-world counterparts.
Gas station irregularities. I was driving in rural northern Texas and needed to stop for gas. I pulled off the highway and up to a gas pump. The attendant came out of the station to tell me that the station had no gas and wouldn’t be getting anymore for several days.
I went across the street to another station. All the pumps had signs stating that the credit card processors were all broken. It took stopping at a third station to get my gas.
Continues: https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/ ... in-the-usa
I was once on a snorkeling excursion in Aruba. On the boat, I heard an older couple speaking Spanish with a very distinctive Argentine accent. They were the only Spanish speakers on the boat and seemed a bit confused with the captain’s English snorkeling instructions.
I introduced myself in Spanish and translated the captain’s instruction for the couple. We began chatting in Spanish. They told me they lived in Bariloche, Argentina, but were trying to get residency in the United States. Bariloche is a beautiful, high dollar ski resort town. I had visited the city on past trips to South America.
The couple wanted to move to inland Florida. I was kind of confused. I asked them why they would leave their beautiful home to live in a Florida swamp. The woman replied “Because everything works in America.”
She went on to describe how in Argentina, none of the utilities worked reliably, food supplies were inconsistent, the roads were bad, and government corruption was rampant. She said that as the couple aged they learned to appreciate the boring reliability of an American existence.
The woman had a good point, but things have changed significantly in the five years since I had that conversation.
I’ve been traveling quite a bit all over the United States. So far this year I’ve taught or taken 37 days of out-of-state classes. I was in eight different states last month. In addition to my busy teaching schedule, I’ve taken two short vacations in Florida and one in California. I’m starting to think that the United Sates is rapidly becoming a third world country. The things that once “worked” don’t work the same way anymore. The decline is stunningly similar to what I’ve experienced in my travels in the developing world.
Here are a few things I’ve noticed in the last couple months of my domestic travel.
Airline issues– Up until about five years ago, when taking a flight in South America or Africa, one had to call the airline the day before the flight to ensure that the flight was still scheduled. The flights were notoriously unreliable and the airlines wanted to avoid dealing with irate customers at the airports.
I’ve flown 46 flights this calendar year. Twenty-nine of them were delayed or cancelled. American airline reliability is now no better than some of the worst airlines in rural Africa.
Police uniforms- In the developing world, cops have very inconsistent uniforms. They often wear jeans with a uniform shirt. They lack equipment that American cops would consider mandatory. Seeing a cop with only a handgun and no ancillary gear is really common in third world countries.
Last month I was stopped for speeding in rural Oklahoma. The cop approached my car. He was wearing a polo shirt and khaki pants. No body armor. No camera. He was wearing a leather trouser belt instead of a duty rig. He had a Glock in a thumbreak leather pancake holster and a police radio hanging off his trouser belt. Nothing else. No OC spray. No Taser. No handcuffs. No baton. No flashlight. He looked like a security guard from El Salvador.
The cop was very nice and graciously let me off with a warning. Given the uniform he was wearing I half expected him to solicit a bribe like his third-world counterparts.
Gas station irregularities. I was driving in rural northern Texas and needed to stop for gas. I pulled off the highway and up to a gas pump. The attendant came out of the station to tell me that the station had no gas and wouldn’t be getting anymore for several days.
I went across the street to another station. All the pumps had signs stating that the credit card processors were all broken. It took stopping at a third station to get my gas.
Continues: https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/ ... in-the-usa
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