Recently by Simon Black: Having the Courage to Look Overseas
Yesterday evening I was walking around the beautiful tree lined streets of Providencia, one of Santiago’s central upscale districts.
I might as well have been walking around Berlin or Strasbourg Providencia is a clean, highly civilized area with plenty of parks, cafes, and boutique shops that adjoin the neighborhoods of manicured homes and quiet mid-rise condominium buildings.
On the streets its common to see a host of walkers, runners and bikers Santiago is a very ‘outdoors’ city, much like Austin or Vancouver, and with such beautiful mountain vistas and great weather, it’s easy to understand why.
What’s interesting is the number of languages that you can hear being spoken while walking around town the varied nationalities that have made Santiago their home is staggering for a country of this size (17 million).
It’s common to see the token French, German, British, and American expats… but in addition you come across people from all over the world Africans, Taiwanese, Thai, Russians, and even Iraqis.
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Chile has become one of the countries in a growing list that welcomes foreigners with open arms people who are willing to work hard, add value, or bring in capital are respected and treated well.
This is the same approach that has worked in places like Hong Kong and Singapore; these are two countries where just about every nationality on the planet can enter without a visa.
Propping the door wide open for foreigners provides significant economic benefits; people are more likely to visit (and spend their money) in a place where they are treated well, and they’re more likely to do business in a place where they feel comfortable.
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The exact opposite end of the spectrum is the United States… and to a growing degree, the UK. Foreigners who arrive to the US are subjected to discourteous, disrespectful measures and made to feel like lowlife criminal terrorists.
For many, it’s an absolutely horrific experience. Maria C., the Chilean lady who owns the apartment I’m renting in Providencia told me yesterday about her most recent and last trip to the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security decided that, instead of being a well-respected Chilean national attending her Harvard reunion, she was a suspected Colombian drug trafficker. DHS detained her for over 12 hours, confiscating her purse, her passport… even her shoes.
She was continually interrogated by DHS officials who played good cop/bad cop mind games, and when she was given ‘permission’ to use the bathroom, it was under close-up video surveillance. They finally released her without so much as an explanation, let alone an apology.
Maria’s story is unfortunately common; Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Patrol division takes itself way too seriously, and its uniformed chimpanzees are convinced of their own righteousness… that their actions are actually defending the homeland.
