Quote: (09-02-2014 01:53 AM)OBJ Snakebite Wrote:
Quote: (09-01-2014 03:11 PM)MidWest Wrote:
Latin America is considered be very conservative still, where macho culture still prevails
In what world? Entire Latin America is full of communists and socialists, where Che Guevarra, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, etc. were born and risen to power. Nearly every country is lorded over by leftists.
Machismo? Maybe, but not Brazil is seems--the other day I was at a Brazilian churrascaria, and I thought "damn that is one ugly woman behind the bar." Turned out it was a Brazilian guy.
That's only like two or three countries though. Cuba, Venezuela, maybe Bolivia, and Nicaragua the rest are really not all that socialist like you think. The fact that people know names like Hugo Chavez, and Castro speaks volumes, because really those are the only socialist leaders in Latin America and then Americans paint every country in LA with the same communist/socialist brush. Many countries in Latin America are still quite conservative and very right leaning even though there are many left leaning presidents.
Take Mexico for example, our neighbor. Mexico is an example of an American conservative utopia. Mexico has little to no social programs whatsoever, they rely heavily on the free market, and monopolize all big corporations (one or 2 major banks, one major gas company, one major telephone company, etc...) Some are state owned but the majority of corporations rule in Mexico, the environment allowed Carlos Slim to become the world's richest man in the world, which is quite sad honestly, especially coming from a developing country like Mexico.
Contrast that to the U.S. where you have a huge welfare program, social security, Obamacare, Medicaid, Medicare, financial aid grants, TANF, SCHIP, free lunch at school, etc... If the Mexican government for one minute tries to implement social programs, guys like Carlos Slim will call socialism and throw fits.
Mexico doesn't have none of this, if you are poor and sick, you basically die, if you are poor and hungry tough luck, you're on your own. Children in school have to buy their own lunch. They really take the meaning of "pick yourself up by your own boot straps" like American conservatives love to say literal.
The USA is way more liberal than many countries in LA.