Latin America
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Are most Upper-middle/UC class latinos freeloaders by American standards?(How are the UC in Spain?)
Hey guys,
I've been thinking a lot about this question. I've noticed that in the United States, everyone from the richest to the poorest person is expected to work. If you don't work, then it means you are a freeloader, and that's stigmatized. For instance, I went to school with a guy whose father was own property, yet his father cut him off when he becomes an adult, and he had to work for himself. He had also had to work to pay for his college. I don't deny the existence of trust fund babies. However, that practice seems to be more stigmatized. American society expects people to go out there and make a life for themselves without anyone's help.
In contrast, I noticed that many upper-middle-class or upper-class Latinos do not follow this paradigm. Instead, it seems that the higher you are on the social ladder, the more emphasis is on making connections and maintaining the status quo instead of working or creating a business. For example, I met some upper-class Latino whose father was a businessman, and he studied business administration. He inherited the wealth and delegated it to other subordinates and dedicated himself to traveling around Europe, fine dining, yacht parties, and appearing in magazines. Even if he had less wealth than Americans, he lived a much higher quality of life because of how society is structured.
It seems that America is a much more open society, but its also easy to fall down the cracks and become lost. While in Latin America, these social structures are much more fixed. This thread might not continue. We are seeing how California is adopting a more Latin American-like society where the rich have gated communities, and most of the poor live outside where there are more crime, less safety, and more chaotic organizations.
It'll be interesting how the upper-middle classes and upper classes of Spain lived. It would answer many questions. For instance, is it the influence of Catholicism, which leads to a different emphasis on life? Or Southern Europeans have more emphasis on being more cultured, being more educated, and being more worldly than focusing solely on making money(I saw some intellectual talking about this topic once).
Or is it merely a unique elite culture that developed in the New world? And foreign to Spain. That whites who moved to the new world(regardless of European background) change their life priorities and adopt a more aristocratic character?
Moreover, I read the novel, "Ramona" where these cultures clash and found a neat quote,
"Many American migrants had looked down on California's Hispanic occupants when they arrived in the region. The new settlers from northern and midwestern states disparaged what they saw as a decadent culture of leisure and recreation among the elite Latinos, who had huge tracts of land, lived in a region with prevailing mild weather and unusually fertile soil, and relied heavily on Native American laborers. The new settlers favored the Protestant work ethic."
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Originally Posted by Cristiano viejo
I wish 
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