Colombia on the fringes

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

Colombian tax reform. Many have tried it — or at least given helpful suggestions — but few have had much lasting success. The mere utterance of the phrase sends some folk into a paroxysm.

In 2021, planned revenue reforms were a chief reason behind what resulted in months of public unrest. Over a year on and with a new president in place, finding ways to boost Colombia's coffers is back on the agenda.

Colombia on the fringes: Not a bad place to be in many aspects.

Fat tax
To be honest, and for reasons that will become clearer, I haven't paid too much attention to President Gustavo Petro's plans in this regard.

From what I do know, the somewhat controversial proposal to tax certain sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods is something that I largely agree with.

Ditto with disposable plastic products. Many Colombians seem incapable of shopping without putting practically every item into a separate plastic bag. Charging them for such a practice might just make them think twice.

That those earning more than ten million pesos (currently just over 2,255 euros) per month — only about two per cent of the population, apparently — will have to pay income tax is also welcome. I'm not, unsurprisingly, currently in that bracket.

Increased fuel taxes will most likely see travel become a little more expensive but I can shoulder that.

'It's not that the devil will be in the detail of proposals to come — Colombians tend to be byzantine in terms of details on paper.'

Looking at the other changes mentioned, I can't see much that will directly affect me adversely — unless I become ridiculously rich in the coming months. 

This would appear to be the same for ninety-eight per cent of Colombians, the mooted reforms mentioned above excepted. They do certainly love their gaseosas (fizzy drinks) here (for more on that see https://wwcorrigan.blogspot.com/2016/01/waging-sweet-war-for-healths-sake.html and https://blogs.eltiempo.com/wrong-way-corrigan/2014/01/31/colombias-battle-with-the-bulge/).

Of course, the Petro presidency may affect that ninety-eight per cent and me in other ways, not just financially, and for both good and bad. 

It's not that the devil will be in the detail of proposals to come — Colombians tend to be byzantine in terms of details on paper. It's how they're actually implemented for real. That'll be the key.

Pay to stay
Whatever the case, despite almost eleven years in the country, I feel somewhat outside the state's structures. Again, many Colombians — for better or for worse — could say the same but for very different reasons.

In my case, having a temporary visa status as a visitor (V type) is one reason for this "isolation". Yes, it allows me to engage in independent paid employment here but it doesn't put me on 'the road to residency', as the phrase goes.

It does, though, ensure I make an annual contribution to the state in the region of one million pesos. I won't have it said that I don't pay my way here. 

(Coming from a Nanny State pay-as-you-earn [PAYE] tradition, I find the idea of filing tax returns odd. Apparently, I'm a bit away from the threshold for payment anyway. In any case, pretty much all of my expenditure goes back into the Colombian economy. There are certainly no peso remittances being sent back to Ireland.)

In general, I'm largely indifferent to the country's politics. A presidential or Bogotá mayor election piques my interest but that's pretty much the height of it.

I cursorily check Colombian news but I rarely feel enthused to delve deeper into the comings and goings of events here. Most of my engagements with current affairs media these days are from UK sources.

So, outside of the perennial visa headache and bank dealings, my relationship with official Colombia is along the lines of, 'If you don't mingle much in my life, I won't mingle much in yours.'

Akin, it could be said, to the parting words Don Corleone gave to the Turkish drug dealer, Sollozzo, in The Godfather movie: 'Good luck to you, especially as your interests don't conflict with mine.' A risky analogy that, perhaps.

For the most part, I'd like to maintain this relative independence from the Colombian state. Let's not make each other any offers that we can't refuse. Well, we won't say "never" on that one.

But let's try not to over-complicate things, whatever might happen in the future.
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'Cry me a river?' 'Eh, no thanks'

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

In the 1972 classic, Godfather, there's an early scene where Don Corleone berates his godson, Johnny Fontaine, for crying because 
he didn't get a part in a movie. 'Godfather, I don't know what to do', a sobbing Fontaine mutters.

Cue a slap in the face and a violent retort, 'You can act like a man', followed by a gentle mocking of his behaviour from the Don.

'Let it all out, good lad.' (Image from emojipedia.org.)

Crying times

That scene is set in the late 1940s, a quite different world from that which we inhabit today, to state the obvious. 

These days, it's all about being in touch with one's emotions. It's OK to cry, whether you're a man, woman, child or however else you define yourself. Don't suppress your feelings, let it all out.

I don't completely disagree with that approach. For one, for the most part, it's good to be honest about how you feel — at least if you're asked that is.

What I don't like, what irritates me, is when the waterworks start, especially — although not exclusively — when it's men who are shedding the tears. This is where I side with Don Corleone.

It's not that it makes me uncomfortable, it's more a case that I find it hard to take seriously men who cry with regularity.

As for women, whether the tears are genuine or not, they often, um, precipitate a granting, justified or not, of whatever they may be looking for.

I generally make an exception for death, but even in that there seem to be people who let flow more than really appears "necessary". (Perhaps we could introduce a tear scale. 'Careful now, you're close to your limit.')

Bidding adieu to loved ones for an indefinite period of time is another "acceptable" tear-jerker. Alcohol-induced crying is also excepted, meaningless as it often is.

'When the tears in others come they invoke a negative, cold reaction in me. Rather than wanting to help, I have a desire to walk away.'

This aversion towards, bordering on utter contempt for crying has something to do with, it's safe to assume, my childhood. I was, after all, a serial crier into my mid-teens.

Then, from about 15 onwards, I started to develop a strong dislike when seeing others well up for reasons that I would have considered rather inconsequential.

During that time, no doubt having to deal with me, her last born, I recall my mother crying for what seemed like the merest of reasons. It used to get my blood up.

Even if I'd been told it was all largely down to the menopause, it's unlikely I would have been sympathetic to her plight. Selfish teens, eh.

Dry your eyes, mate

This clearly left its mark. For in my current abode, the landlady, a nice woman I hasten to add, cries on an almost-daily basis.

It's not only, as has happened a fair few times, a headache when she does it speaking directly to me about some grievance or another (these grievances have nothing to do with me, by the way!). It also irks me simply when I can just hear her sobbing away in her room.

I know I should probably be a little more empathetic considering she suffers from depression, it's just when the tears in others come they invoke a negative, somewhat cold reaction in me. Rather than wanting to help I have a desire to walk away.

It's not that I lack understanding. In fact, I'd wager I take the time to listen to and empathise with other people's gripes as much if not more so than the next person. I just wish they'd leave the crying out of it.

The British-Irish band The Pogues sang in Streams of Whiskey, 'there's nothing ever gained by a wet thing called a tear'. That's not fully true, but I wish it was.
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No and behold

[Listen to an audio blog of this entry here.]
'Say "yes" and think of a way to do it after.' That was the advice of an Israeli acquaintance a few years back as doubts about my suitability held me back from committing to a project on which I'd been asked to collaborate.

A rare 'no' in Colombia. Do they mean it?

Years later, I can't even remember what the work was and whether I got involved or not — it clearly wasn't that life-changing — but it was the advice from my friend that stuck.

Know your limits

You see, at times I have — or certainly had, in any case — this tendency to think about all that could go wrong, to focus on my unsuitability for new tasks, rather than look to my existing skill set and see how I could adapt it to meet new challenges.

Other, perhaps even less-qualified people would just jump in without hesitation.

Both approaches do have their downsides. It is prudent to give some proper thought before committing. Yet the overly defensive, negative if you will, reaction is probably, in the majority of cases, the most damaging for the responder. Nothing ventured and all that.

Of course, there are times when you just know that what's on offer isn't for you. It might be a case that it's not the right time — 'not now, but not never' — or you're simply not interested. 

In these instances, a swift 'no' is the best course of action. All parties involved can then move on with no harm done (as long as, to paraphrase Don Corleone in The Godfather, the other's interests don't conflict with yours).

Saying no, however, appears to be a very hard word for many to utter (eh, sorry Sir Elton, but I wager it's even harder to say than 'sorry'!).

'The Dutch generally have no problem in giving a blunt "no" when needs be.'

Now, the natural course to take here for a foreigner living in Colombia is to highlight that the inability to say no is particularly acute in these parts. That might be so — I've frustratingly experienced it many times over — but I'm not sure if folk in my home country, Ireland, are much better on this, to name just one other nationality.

As I've written about oft-times before, I do notice some cultural similarities between Colombia and Ireland. Perhaps we can add to this the practice of saying yes when we really mean no. (In fairness, my own "weakness" on this is being non-committal, giving neither a yes nor a no.)

Yes means no

Others, such as the Dutch, generally have no problem in giving a blunt no when needs be. For those of us used to a more softly-softly approach, hearing such a response might seem rude. 

For the most part, however, it's the best way forward, clear and unequivocal. What's more, it doesn't need to be followed up by a raft of excuses or mitigating factors. As the old drug slogan went, 'just say no'. Full stop.

I must mention another aspect to this equivocalness: when somebody wants to keep all options open. It's understandable. 

Again, though, it's best to be upfront with those awaiting a response. For example, 'I can't commit right now, but in a month's time I may be in a position to do it.' At least it gives some clarity.

This is where Colombians — yes, I am generalising — tend to score badly. Many will give what seems like a definitive yes when their subsequent actions clearly show that this wasn't exactly what they had in mind. Time, energy and, at times, money is wasted in finally reaching this conclusion.

That Colombian yes is quite distinct from my Israeli friend's suggestion. His referred to a situation where there was an interest and an honest intention to do something, it just came with some doubts and fears. A case of 'give it a lash and see how it goes'.

If that's not where your mind is at, it's best to give a Dutch no — qualified if needs be — allowing us to get on with our respective businesses with little harm done or time wasted.
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