Is the person or group criticising a country just as revealing as the country being criticised?

[Andullero]

Plus, DR economically at least is doing better than the majority of the continent if we exclude the U.S and Canada. Heck, if things continue like this which I don't see it changing since most Latam countries love to flirt with Chavez style governments DR will likely be the 2nd most prosperous country in Latam by 2030:



I hope the best for Haiti and its people but the economic, political stability, and social disparity between both countries has widened significantly in the past decade, and I don't see that stopping anytime soon.

One of our chief economists here, Miguel Ceara Hatton (notwithstanding being the prog that he is) even measured that the economic and social disparity affecting DR vs Haiti is greater than the one between the US and Mexico. Let that sink in...

[Andullero]

I agree that the Haitian situation makes things worse, but even were Haiti not to exist I still doubt the DR would even be at Barbados or Bahamas levels for the things I just mentioned.

I'd say it would give them a run for their money at least, specially since now we are even receiving health tourists here coming from the US (as unbelievable as it may sound) due to the exhorbitant costs of said service there vs here (Cranberry here may know some, as he used to be an expat himself).

[Cranberryjuice]

I agree that the Haitian situation makes things worse, but even were Haiti not to exist I still doubt the DR would even be at Barbados or Bahamas levels for the things I just mentioned.

Give it a couple of years bro. It's DR's manifest destiny to become the top dog in the Caribbean sea in all areas. I can only see that being challenged if Cubans ever overthrow the comies, and even then, it will take them years to catch up.

[Tooting Carmen]

I'd say it would give them a run for their money at least, specially since now we are even receiving health tourists here coming from the US (as unbelievable as it may sound) due to the exhorbitant costs of said service there vs here (Cranberry here may know some, as he used to be an expat himself).

My point is that the DR, much more than the likes of Bahamas and Barbados, is well within Third World norms (for want of a better term) when it comes to corruption, government malfeasance, illiteracy and limited access to healthcare, and that would most likely still be the case with or without the presence of Haiti. As even axel aleman has said, it is political systems and policies, not demographics, that are the main decider for how prosperous a country is, and it is quite clear that the DR since at least the days of Trujillo, if not earlier, has had policies that overwhelmingly benefit a small elite while only at most paying lip service to the welfare of the majority.

[Tooting Carmen]

Give it a couple of years bro. It's DR's manifest destiny to become the top dog in the Caribbean sea in all areas. I can only see that being challenged if Cubans ever overthrow the comies, and even then, it will take them years to catch up.

See where the DR appears in these measurements compared to Cuba (and lots of other Latin American and Caribbean countries too):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...elopment_Index
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrup...ceptions_Index

[axel.aleman]

Tooting Carmen las islas que mencionas del caribe anglo superando a República Dominicana son mucho más prósperas que República Dominicana. Republica Dominicana supera por mucho en renta per capital a Cuba y si EEUU sueltas puerto rico este último se vuelve otro Haití. Así que del Caribe Hispano República Dominicana es el país mejor posicionado. A las islas del caribe anglo deben ser comparadas con Portugal, países exsovieticos de similar renta per capita y territorios como el estado de missipi

[Tooting Carmen]

Tooting Carmen las islas que mencionas del caribe anglo superando a República Dominicana son mucho más prósperas que República Dominicana. Republica Dominicana supera por mucho en renta per capital a Cuba y si EEUU sueltas puerto rico este último se vuelve otro Haití. Así que del Caribe Hispano República Dominicana es el país mejor posicionado. A las islas del caribe anglo deben ser comparadas con Portugal, países exsovieticos de similar renta per capita y territorios como el estado de missipi

Well that is my point. Even without the Haitian issue, the DR would still be substantially poorer and misgoverned compared to most Anglophone Caribbean countries.

[Cranberryjuice]

See where the DR appears in these measurements compared to Cuba (and lots of other Latin American and Caribbean countries too):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...elopment_Index
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrup...ceptions_Index

Hey, if you wish to take the human development index as the holy grail for measuring development, go fot it, but I personally think it's BS. Both Venezuela and Cuba are above DR, but good luck convincing the thousands of Venezuelans and the Cubans in DR (numbers way less than Venezuelans) to go back to their respective countries since their HDI is higher than ours.

I live in DR and know my country very well. Corruption is relatively high. Could it be less, and should it be less? Yes, but I am also not stupid and know that having high or low corruption is not the one factor that will determine our prosperity. Corruption won't disappear. It's part of our culture and society. It's also part of our culture and society to be highly entrepreneurial and hard-working. Combine that with the fact that Dominican love stability, heck, it took 16 years of crappy government for Dominicans to go out and peacefully protest. Some might see the above as a submissive population, but I see it as stability.

Combine political and social stability with a highly motivated population that wants to be left alone and make money, and you have the perfect receipt for a prosperous country. Is it perfect, and will our HDI ever surpass the likes of Cuba? No, will corruption disappear? I highly doubt it. Will we soon be economically above all those tourist-dependent tiny islands and most of our neighbors? Most certainly.

[axel.aleman]

Well that is my point. Even without the Haitian issue, the DR would still be substantially poorer and misgoverned compared to most Anglophone Caribbean countries.

Bueno si la comparas con Cuba y Haití es Suiza y lo sabes. Y la angloesfera tampoco es perfecta y lo debes sabes también.

[Tooting Carmen]

Bueno si la comparas con Cuba y Haití es Suiza y lo sabes.

Haiti, yes. Cuba only on some measurements (like it or not, Cuba still outperforms DR when it comes to literacy, healthcare and most surprisingly, non-corrupt governance).

Y la angloesfera tampoco es perfecta y lo debes sabes también.

Of course.