Rules v. People, Part 1

Some philosophical thoughts:

Latin Americans complain that there is never going to be positive change in the southern hemishphere because there is too much "corruption." It´s true, there is corruption and it´s true that that corruption makes it difficult to get construction projects done, legislation passed, etc. But the problem is bigger than that.

I interpret it as a question of rules v. people. In North America and Europe (gringoland), we have rules. In South America, they have people.

When I was at the teleferico in Cochabamba, there were about half a dozen boys, about 10 to 12, fooling around it, trying to sneak onto the cable car without paying. The man in charge of the cable car first mildly warned them to take off while he was busily collecting tickets from the paying passengers. Then just before we took off, he hustled all of them into a cable car and sent it off.

When taking the little bus from Coroico to La Paz, about 3 or 4 young men about 20 got on board with the usual plastic bags of belongings. The driver collected tickets from everyone. These guys didn´t have a ticket. Each of them pulled out some small change, but it was very insufficient. All of them had families seeing them off. They opened the windows and the women outside made a show of looking through all their pockets for money and came up with a few more pennies. The driver made a token show of wanting more money and then, just shrugged his shoulders and the bus took off.

From the Latin American perspective, these young men needed to get to La Paz, no doubt to work and earn money. Their families would be deprived if the driver didn´t take them. Under all the circumstances, the driver was not going to inflict further misey on them. Imagine a culture where young boys learn early on that if you persist you´ll get what you want without paying for it. How many of you would climb on a bus, knowing you didn´t have enough money to pay for the ticket, and nevertheless expect to get a ride?

A Spanish language teacher once asked me: "Which is more important, time or people?" We were talking about showing up for work, an appointment, a meeting, etc., on time. It´s a typical gringo attitude that you should be on time. From the Latin American point of view, if you´re having a good conversation with some one, it´s considered rude to cut it off just because you´re supposed to be somewhere else.

I can see where this attitude would carry over to the workplace. You´re in charge of a construction project. You also know one of your best workers has a wife and kids and lives in a house with a leaky roof. So, every day, a dozen or more roofing tiles leave the job site with your best worker. Which is more important: people or rules?

And so it goes up the ladder. The thinking is: this guy who works for me does a real good job. What a shame I can´t pay him more. So, if he takes a little on the side, what the heck, he deserves it. Bottom line: corruption is never going to end in Latin America until there´s a huge cultural change with regard to how people think re-rules v. people.