Growing up and taking responsibility

@wwaycorrigan

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

'Until 30 or 40 years ago what I did was totally normal. People are radical in their youth and then they stop. That was the pattern of life until the 1960s. Then it changed. In the 1960s people stopped growing up when they reached their 20s and continued to be teenagers all their lives ... Why should they grow up? ... The world was revolutionised in the 1960s to suit them ... Everything was made fantastically easy ... I preferred to grow up ... I felt it was time.'

The abridged version of words from the at times divisive English journalist, Peter Hitchens, expressed in an interview with me in January this year.

With rights come responsibilities. (Photo by Nicole Shelby.)

Forever young?

At the time of recording, those exact comments didn't really resonate with me. Erroneously, perhaps, I was more focused on moving the conversation to our common position of being coronavirus-lockdown sceptics. Things that go viral do tend to dominate the discourse after all, for better or for worse.

Shortly afterwards, however, I began to reflect more deeply on that particular Hitchens observation.

In some respects, as a 36-year-old single, childless, relatively free man who reaped some benefits from Celtic Tiger Ireland, it could be argued that, on the surface anyway, I'm ripe to be in that not-growing-up brigade.

Compared to my parents and with a lot of thanks owed to them — although I didn't think it at the time — everything was made fairly 'fantastically easy', at least until my mid-20s.

I went from secondary school straight to university. While not exactly stress-free, it was far from a chastening experience either.

After obtaining a BA degree followed by a higher diploma, I only had a few months' wait before landing a full-time broadcast journalist job. For sure, working in a busy newsroom comes with many pressures, but I couldn't say that I was learning life the hard way. It is, of course, all relative, that much is true.

Whatever the case, my decision to go travelling solo around the world after a switch of radio stations didn't go the way I thought it would, led to, arguably, the first time I really had to be fully responsible for myself. I was 23.

'People have become comfortable with Big Nanny State controlling practically every aspect of their lives.'

Brendan versus the big bad world. And first up it was the big bad world of South America. A baptism of fire you might say.

I certainly learnt much from that experience. It's open to debate whether I became more responsible but I think it's fair to say I became more streetwise. Either that or I was downright lucky on umpteen occasions.

An 18-month working interlude back in the relative comfort of Ireland followed that nine-month global adventure. After that, in 2011, came the return to South America.

Adolescents in adults' bodies

Fast forward ten years later and with Hitchens' opening salvo in mind, can I define myself as responsible and grown-up?

It depends on how one views it, really.

Money-wise, I'm independent, living within rather restricted means as I must. There's no Nanny State to speak of in Colombia to help those in need, in any case.

Even if there was, it would be rather impertinent of me to be looking for help considering I come from a higher-income country. Any foreigner from a First World economy based here who's looking for government handouts, well that surely is a sign that one lacks responsibility.

In some ways, Colombia is a capitalist country in its rawest form. It's every man, woman and child for him/herself. OK, there are those few in the upper classes who have had everything pretty much handed to them. You'll find such types the world over.

I like to think I have a fair appreciation of the balance between my rights and responsibilities. As a traditional conservative, I believe this is what Hitchens was getting at in terms of people not growing up, although he didn't explicitly say this in our interview.

In a UK and Republic of Ireland context, it comes back to the Nanny State. People have become comfortable with it controlling practically every aspect of their lives. As needy and selfish "grandchildren", they cry and throw the toys out of the pram each time they feel wronged. Rather than becoming more independent, more responsible, they confer upon Big Nanny State ever-greater powers of control.

For some, this is blissful. It means virtually nothing is ever their fault anymore. Everything is in the hands of Big Nanny State. And as long as she hands out the occasional sweet treat, all is fine.

For others, the realisation that their own lives have practically been outsourced to 'those who know best' in return for an 'easy existence' is slowly dawning. However, what was easily surrendered is proving much more difficult to take back.

What it requires is the radical spirit of the immature, irresponsible youth, but one not anchored to the extremes. The centre ground must find its bite before it's too late.

The responsible, grown-up adults in the room need to start behaving as such. The question is, have we enough of such types around to do this?
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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

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Dealing with a sexed-up society

@wwaycorrigan

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

In a country with an alarmingly high official femicide rate, that the fair treatment of women is never too far off Colombia's news agenda isn't surprising.

Sexual objects ...

Catholic virtues

Of course, there's one thing having grand debates about it in media and politics, quite another effecting meaningful change on the ground. This is particularly so in a region where misogyny appears commonplace.

The UK, on the other hand, superficially at least, appears worlds apart from most of Latin America when it comes to women's rights. Every now and again, however, a high-profile and/or disturbing case sees the issue become headline news, as has happened recently after the abduction and killing of 32-year-old Sarah Everard.

With that particular ongoing case as the backdrop, the broader subject was discussed on a BBC Radio 4 programme by a panel of politicians and experts.

One of the guests was former UK Supreme Court judge, Lord Sumption — a man whose stance on lockdowns I very much support. He commented that in European Catholic countries — he specifically mentioned Poland, Spain, Italy and the Republic of Ireland — incidences of abuse against women are lower compared to others.

I'm not sure where he's getting his figures from on this one, but speaking from an Irish perspective, to say that our strong Catholic heritage has contributed to our supposed "better" treatment of women is absurd, to say the least. On what is a long list of arguments against that, I'll just mention mother and baby homes for one. Abuses simply going unreported must also be taken into account.

That aside, where Lord Sumption may have a point is in terms of our traditional attitudes towards sex, generalising as I am and something that certainly doesn't appear to apply to the newer generations.

What I'm referring to here, with my own Irish Catholic-influenced upbringing in mind, is the way sex was not really something to be discussed openly. Sexy wasn't cool.

'It's this sexual-object idea that in many ways is the thin end of the wedge.'

If a girl or a woman dressed, let's say rather liberally, she was not a good sort. 'Leave that type of thing to the promiscuous English.' (Contrast this with Colombia, another traditionally Catholic country but one that in many ways has been more open about matters of sex, something I addressed in a previous post.)

Linked to this — and I agree that this is probably more a reflection of me rather than Irishmen in general — the idea of wolf-whistling or shouting sexual "obscenities" at women was something I never even considered. After almost ten years living in Colombia, it still unsettles me the way many men here are very forward with women. I'm more in the 'blessed are the meek' camp in this regard.

Objects of desire

So while Catholic Ireland's — not just the church but the state, too — historic treatment of women leaves an awful lot to be desired, viewing them as mere sexual objects hasn't been chief among its sins.

And it's this sexual-object idea that in many ways is the thin end of the wedge. It's also very complex.

From the male perspective, when one is bombarded with very suggestive images/videos of women on a regular basis, well how is one to view them?

OK, you might say just simply don't seek out such material. The thing is, I for one don't. But we have various social media, particularly Instagram from my experiences, that promote what I regard as at least mild porn. (A female friend of mine, one who isn't averse to uploading what could be viewed as suggestive content, agreed with me on this.)

What's more, many of these posts aren't by paid models or virtual sex workers, they are from everyday women voluntarily uploading sexed-up content to public forums.

For sure, if this stays in the virtual world, you could say it's harmless. That is to ignore multifaceted and potentially damaging cyber abuse, though.

You might also argue that women have the right to post whatever they want on social media — free expression and all that. It's not their fault if some men view them in a perverted way. Fair enough.

Nonetheless, men are generally physically stronger and sexually more aggressive than women. Thus, that some cross what can be at times a thin line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour towards women isn't altogether shocking, especially if they feel they have been "enticed" to do so (just to be clear, there's no thin part of the line when it comes to murdering an innocent victim).

So when trying to combat a serious problem, such publicly available content has the potential to set, nay perpetuate, a narrative in the real world.

On balance, we could do well to actively promote a more sexed-down society, difficult as that may now be.
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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan — The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

 

Colombia's not-so-magical realism

Back in the heady days of the Republic of Ireland's "glorious" run at Italia '90 — fair enough, the team reached the last eight but did so without winning a single game in 90 minutes — it practically amounted to treason to question the side's approach or not to be fully supportive of the boys in green.

Relax, la Selección is winning, everything's fine! (Image from fcf.com.co.)

The one pundit who did go against the national zeitgeist, Eamon Dunphy, was temporarily banished from his role with the state broadcaster RTÉ. He dared to criticise the Irish performance after a drab 0-0 draw with Egypt.

He wasn't really wrong with what he said but the country didn’t want to hear such harsh truths in the flood of bonhomie and giddy excitement that a first-ever World Cup appearance swept in.

Don't rock the boat, baby!

This was pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland. Much poorer and, it could be said, more innocent times. The nation badly needed a pick-me-up and Jack Charlton's heroes delivered that (some people have even attributed it to playing an important part in the economic boom that was to follow). Clear-headed, unbiased analysis wasn't wanted.

Nowadays, however, it's pretty much a national pastime to be critical of the Republic of Ireland soccer team. It could even be said that some of it is over the top.

Nonetheless, as a nation matures, its people, in most cases, are better equipped to carry out some introspection, as difficult as it may be.

Looking at Colombia from a self-governing perspective, it is older than the Republic of Ireland. Yet, in many aspects, it hasn't quite mastered the art of self-criticism.

This can be seen clearly enough in the soccer (or football, if you will) world, for the beloved Selección.

Now, I've never really believed in the impartial reporter malarkey, especially when it comes to sports commentary, but you'd like to think that such professionals could at least try to bring a semblance of balance to proceedings. Not here in Colombia.

The lads and lassies commentating and analysing on Colombian games see things solely through yellow-coloured (or blue or red when the side is playing in its alternative strip) glasses. Their heavily biased approach only adds further fuel to the fire of an already highly strung watching public. Win, lose or draw, all sense of realism is lost.

"It was the euphoria that led me to stab you. Que pena!"

Take the opening, and fully merited, Copa América win over Argentina. Yes, the Argies have a number of individuals of truly world-class standard. Yet, the reality is, the collective has been much less than the sum of its parts for a couple of years now.

Their form of late against fellow South American teams, for one, has been patchy to say the least. That should be factored into any proper analysis of Colombia's victory. However, on the whole here, it's not.

This isn't to say that it was a "nothing win" for Colombia, not at all. You can make a case for them to go far. Colombia's performance was as solid as what we've seen thus far. But let's just take it game by game for now, keep things in perspective.

Going backwards, at speed

Of course, a country losing the run of itself over football "success" is harmless really, save for the odd violent incident that happens post-match. ("Oops, it was the euphoria that led me to stab you. ¡Que pena!").

In politics and the general running of the country, on the other hand, overlooking facts, ignoring certain obvious signs that things may not be as you're saying they are, that's a recipe for disaster. 

For more balanced commentators on Colombia, there's a feeling that the country's on the slide (two years ago, in Colombia's comedown?, I touched on some of these challenges).

The right-leaning president, Iván Duque, not quite a year in the post, hasn't done much to steady the ship. On the contrary, for many observers, things are in reverse.

There is a theory that keeping the country on the precipice suits certain powerful interests. One wouldn't want to unlock Colombia's great potential for the masses or those of a different ilk. A jobs-for-the-boys kind of approach. Considering this land's history, you'd have to say there might be something to that.

But hey, as long as La Selección keeps on winning, everything's wonderful, isn’t it?
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Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan – The Blog & IQuiz “The Bogotá Pub Quiz”.
Listen to The Colombia Cast podcast here. 

Left misérables

We tend not to get too caught up in the left/right political tabs. It can be a bit simplistic to label somebody as purely leftist or rightist. 

Very often people display traits and have beliefs that come from both sides, regardless of how they may view themselves. Put it all together and a lot of the time they're closer to the centre than anything else. And we tend to find that's not a bad place to be.

At a national level, Ireland as a whole is generally seen as being slightly more left than right in the political spectrum whereas it's the opposite with Colombia. 

Of course, internally, for all countries, it's more complex and contested, but this overall perception is usually a good guide to a nation's psyche.

Chairman Mao: A barrel of laughs (from Wikipedia).

Nonetheless, and obviously enough, we do have those who not only see themselves as being 'hard left' or 'hard right' but they also conduct themselves in such a manner, contrived as it sometimes is albeit.

While we pretty much dislike fundamentalists of any type — they tend to be impossible to reason with, close-minded — extreme leftists are a particular case in point. The 'left misérables' (not to be confused with the more enjoyable Les Misérables) let's call them. And miserable in the English sense that is.

Now it would be fine, in theory anyway, if they went about their miserable existence on their own, yet they tend to try to want everyone to be miserable with them — or so it seems in any case. 'Happiness is a sin and the world must be rid of it', kind of thing.

We could look at it along the old Catholic versus Protestant lines. The traditional misery that the Catholic Church brought upon its flock contrasted with the Protestant individual 'freedom' to work and accumulate wealth; it's OK to smile (as long as you're working and making money).

The extreme leftist types are like those pious Catholics from times past: hardship and pain, the cornerstones of life. 

A big difference, though, is that this belief system is accompanied by an amount of aggression — in a verbal and virtual (keyboard warrior) way if not always physical. Plus, these types come across as quite mean-spirited.

For sure the world is far from perfect. We've terrible inequality, rampant corruption, senseless violence and so on. 

The majority wish it wasn't so and some of us try to make it better in whatever way we can. Doing that with a positive attitude, a happier disposition even in the face of adversity, generally garners better results.

Why not give it a go, left misérables? Who knows, you might even start to enjoy life. Perish the thought, eh?
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2021: An Irish fiscal space odyssey

What heady times they are experiencing back in the homeland. Excitement is almost at an unprecedented level as the electorate in the Republic of Ireland gets ready to go to the polls on 26 February to vote for a new parliament.

If we've any left after we appease international creditors. (From Facebook.)

In the relatively short campaign — the election was only called earlier this month — one of the headline issues, going by national media anyway, has been that massive thorn in every Irish person's side: the fiscal space.

No, it's not some new Hollywood blockbuster that depicts us Paddies in a shady light. Rather, in the language that we 'ordinary folk' use, it's basically that sexy issue of how much money the new government will have to play around with during its five-year term in office — should it last that long that is. Who needs a Donald Trump to glam things up when you've got fiscal space to concern yourself with?

OK, OK, being serious for a moment, every country, in theory anyway, should be doing its best to balance the financial books, so it is an important issue. 

What's more, promises are ten a penny at election time, so by knowing the financial restraints the electorate and media can call the bluff on politicians who have overly fantastical manifestos.

Yet, coming back to Donald Trump and the ostentatious, populous, superficial type of campaigning we've seen in the US, the idea of talking about financial constraints doesn't seem part of the (Hollywood-style) script. 

Sure the United States has a massive national debt, but it's just numbers on a page. And this is the United States we're referring to: a country that has been practically built on bankruptcy.

It's only small, insignificant states, such as Ireland and others in worse conditions, that concern themselves about such tedious matters. And the piper's fee is relatively large. Some of us not only have to stick to the mantra but actually practise it as well so that it at least appears that all this borrowed money will be paid back some day; the system would, of course, fail without it.

As ever with such things, it's not those preaching the need to be financially prudent who tend to suffer the reality of meeting imposed monetary targets. 

No, it's the hard-pressed working classes who usually bear the brunt of state-enforced austerity — a state lying prostrate and feeble in front of the globe's all-powerful financial markets. The politicians who bow to every condition enforced by these untouchable forces live in a different, sheltered world to the rest of us little people.

But hey, who are we to pass judgement? In the Irish context, our 'leaders' are boldly and selflessly crunching numbers (but not their salaries) in a bid to find a formula to conquer the dark fiscal space — in the national interest that is.

Never mind the day-to-day, real issues blighting the masses, this space stuff is way more exciting.
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2015: finding the positives from a difficult year

2015. Best summed up as a year I'd largely like to scrap from the memory bank. Any time you lose a loved one is never easy; this is made even more difficult when it's someone who left this earth way before her time, someone who had so much more to give.

Yet, in some small tribute to my sister Lynda, a person who could find the good in the bad and who displayed great mental strength and positivity where others would have wilted, here I'll go through the personal and not-so-personal plus points of the year as we prepare to bring it to a close:

Happier times ...

Family first

We weren't to know the hammer blow that was coming, but a family reunion in February to celebrate our parents 40th wedding anniversary provided the opportunity to get all of us together.

 

It also coincided with a belated 30th birthday for yours truly. Considering what transpired a few months later, this happy get-together has taken on an even greater significance. We'll always have the memories.

IQuiz holders going into 2016.

IQuiz Bogotá is born

The seeds of the idea to get this going actually came from the February trip home. A night at a pub quiz during my two weeks in Ireland reminded me of how much I enjoy them — even if I seldom win. 

So on return to Bogotá, in partnership with my Dutch mate Pieter, we set about creating our own quiz night in the Colombian capital. So far it's been eight down and not out.

OK, Pieter may have departed the Bogotá scene, but the hopes are that IQuiz will return in 2016 in some shape or form — minus the promotional videos that is.

Extending the extended 'family', Venezuelan style

It was with much curiosity and a touch of apprehension that I took up a friend's invite to visit her and her family in Caracas. Yes, I've been to Venezuela before, but not to the 'bloody' and 'dangerous' capital city with a heated election taking place.

What I found there was what pretty much felt like a home from home. My hosts were extremely accommodating and great fun, representing in a way all that's good about Venezuela and its people.

The country may be in a bad state politically and economically — the latter making it cheap to visit when entering with foreign currency — but if you are willing to take the security risks there are decent rewards.

The Venezuelan family!

Come on you boys in green

Europe's big international summer football (soccer) fest returns next year and Ireland, for the first time ever, will be represented on the double. Both Northern Ireland and the Republic, in varying degrees of impressiveness, booked their places at Euro 2016, so what could be seen as a D-Day-esque invasion of green-clad supporters awaits France in June. 

Now, while the Republic really only made up the numbers at the previous renewal in 2012, and did so very badly at that, it's nice to have the chance to mix it with the 'big boys', times two as it is, all the same. Just ask the Dutch (or Scottish).

There you go. There's not much else to do with 2015 now but to move on from it. Of all the uncertainties there are, what we do know is that time will continue to tick on, however we measure it. Happy New Year to all.
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Colombia: Here come the good times?

So the World Cup party rolls on and, thankfully, Colombia is very much still in the mix. These heady times that the country is going through, something mentioned on this blog a few weeks back, are not only continuing but also appear to be increasing in magnitude.

Colombia, World Cup champions? Why not?

Of course, having got to the last eight, should La Selección now fail to go further, the excitement and gushing pride and joy being experienced across the land will take a significant dent.

However, wherever the team finishes – here's hoping that's lifting the trophy – Colombians both near and far should, and no doubt will, be immensely proud of the efforts. They ought to be, especially so considering the lads went to Brazil minus their talisman Radamel Falcao, a loss that certainly dampened expectations ahead of the tournament.

In a number of ways, looking at events both on and off the field, this World Cup represents for Colombia what the World Cups of both 1990 and 1994 did for my homeland, the Republic of Ireland.

Granted, unlike the Republic in 1990, this is not Colombia's debut, but the country was a much different place back in the '90s when they last qualified. 

This time, like Ireland in the early '90s, there's a feeling that a bright new dawn is about to break. The football team could be seen not only as a manifestation of that, but also as an important part of it.

For one, José Pékerman's side is, with merit, filling Colombians with an enormous amount of pride and a sense that they are finally being talked about seriously, in a positive manner, on the world stage. (Incidentally, Pékerman is an 'outsider', an Argentinian, who is now very much seen as Colombian – à la the Englishman Jack Charlton who managed Ireland in '90 and '94.)

Then you have the enormous support the team is getting at the tournament, mirrored by the outpouring of emotion following each victory back home. Colombians, as the Irish did for Italia '90 and USA '94, have made their way in droves to Brazil, getting there by any means necessary, sourcing money however they can. Some would even sell their grannies.

Heck, in a further similarity, for two peoples who like to have a beer or two, Dublin's barmen went on strike for Ireland's opener in '94, the victory over Italy, forcing inhabitants of the capital to booze up at home. 

Here in Bogotá, we have to put up with ley seca (alcohol prohibition) for each game – it hasn't stopped the drinking or revelling though. Let's just hope La Selección doesn't suffer the same fate that befell the Republic in 1990 and lose to the hosts in the last eight.

This is all happening alongside a more general mood of optimism that seems to be sweeping over Colombia. There are green, or yellow if you like, shoots emerging signalling much better times ahead – economically, politically and socially. 

For sure, not everyone is sharing in that positivity and there are solid reasons for that, but there is a scent of peace in the air, that a solution to the more than 50 years of internal conflict can be found.

President Santos: Leading Colombia to a bright new dawn? (Photo: Facebook.)

Linked to this, in a financial and social context, things are improving for many Colombians – although, tackling the huge inequality that still exists must be one of the chief priorities for re-elected president Juan Manuel Santos.

This is all quite similar to the Republic of Ireland in the early '90s, just before the Celtic Tiger started to roar (remember that?) and politics largely took over from the gun in the Northern Ireland conflict. The island of Ireland was about to experience the good times for a change. Yes, they didn't last, but you can argue it was better to have them than not.

Thus, for what it's worth, the advice for Colombia right now from an Irish perspective, both at the World Cup and in general, is carpe diem.

In football terms, you're doing that pretty good so far. The other things might prove much trickier.
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For more Colombia-Ireland 'links', check out Colombia & Ireland – a tale of two old Catholic countries.

Reeling in the Years: 1994 gives a nice snapshot of Ireland entering the 'good times'.

Soccer, some sun and samba; it's over to you, Brazil

'If you can't beat them, join them.' So considering our own crowd, that is to say the Republic of Ireland, couldn't beat them, the choice for most Irish, even those with just a token interest in soccer (football, if you will), is to join them and get roused up in this year's World Cup.

Who's it going to be this time around? (Pic: Fifa World Cup Facebook page.)

This is made much easier, too, when you're in a country that is taking part – one that's not England that is. 

Plus, from this perspective, it's not just any country, it's Colombia. That rather odd but at the same time enjoyable game of tejo may be seen as the more authentic, national 'sport' for some, but there's no disputing what the real passion is.

Indeed, such is the importance of the game to the masses, had La Selección's (the national team) luckless superstar, Radamel Falcao, known a few months ago that he wouldn't make the finals, he could have ran for president where he would, without much doubt, have been elected at a canter. 

There'd be no need for this upcoming second round of voting, and with it Ley Seca, which we now have to 'suffer' through on the World Cup's opening weekend.

President Falcao? (La Selección Col.)

Of course, it could be argued that without Falcao leading Colombia's line in Brazil, fans could be set for more suffering watching events on the pitch. Time will tell on that one. For now, hope springs eternal.

So as we ready ourselves for four weeks of what will hopefully be a memorable football feast, here's the Wrong Way 'sideways' take on things.

'This World Cup, I'll be mostly supporting ...'

I'd probably be doing Colombia a service by not supporting them, given how most teams I want to see win never actually do. But it is my second home these days, so one must do one's patriotic duty.

Outside of Colombia, I've always had a soft spot for Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica – oddly enough these three teams happen to be in the same group as England.

Put your money where your mouth is

If you are going to bet thinking about how much you're going to win rather than what you might lose, then lumping, significantly, on the winner coming from South America, at odds of about 10/11, looks a nice option. 

That's going by the fact that European teams have never won the tournament when it's been held in the Americas.

Looks familiar... (featurepics.com.)

More specifically, for many this is Brazil's tournament to lose, so you could just cut to the chase and take the 3/1 on the Samba Boys lifting the trophy on 13 July.

All those might seem a little boring, aimed more at the professional, heavy punting gamblers. 

So for a fun bet, where a small stake could win big, an each-way dabble on Ivory Coast at 150/1 might give you a run for your money; there's something about the national flag that resonates. The 40/1 about Colombia is also interesting. Yes they must face Ivory Coast, but both teams can emerge from the group. Plus it gives an added incentive to feverishly support my adopted country.

'Very good.' (futbolwallpapers.com.)

Battle of the anthems

While football/soccer national teams rarely sing their respective anthems with the same gusto as their rugby equivalents, it's still nonetheless very much part of the build-up to kick-off. 

When it comes to this side of things, I'm very much a traditionalist and stick with the tried and trusted. So in the absence of the Celtic nations, it's hard to beat either France's La Marseillaise or Il Canto degli Italiani for the Italians

Whisper it, but due to constant exposure over the last couple of years, even the Colombian anthem is beginning to sound semi-decent these days.

Brazilian babes

World Cup cameramen are usually pretty adept at picking out the attractive ladies watching in the stands. Down through the years the majority of these have tended to be Brazilian. So what a tough assignment those working behind the lenses will have this year. Who do you leave in, who do you leave out? 

If any TV company needs assistance in this area, I'm willing to lend a hand – on the ground, in person, of course, it's the best way. Wrong Way – always here to help.

Right, time to let the football do the talking.

Colombia: A banker's paradise

For the second time in a number of months here in Colombia we found ourselves snookered as to what to do with our cash. 

OK, it could be seen as a pleasant headache to have – better looking at it than for it, in a sense. The issue, though, on both occasions was that without a bank account, where do we put the cash we’ve (finally) built up over our time freelance English teaching in the country when we go travelling?

Safe haven: cash under the bed.

You see, it’s not a problem when we stay in Bogotá. We just keep it tucked away in safekeeping, accessing it when we need to. 

But going on the road with a relatively nice bit of "real money" – enough, in any case, that we certainly don’t want to lose – is not the brightest idea around these parts, or anywhere for that matter. It would be bringing ‘dar papaya’ to new levels of stupidity (see http://bit.ly/XLDyLg for an explanation of that).

Due to our visa situation and a lack of the foreigners’ version of the national identity card (a cédula extranjería as it’s known – it took Colombia immigration almost six months to get us one of those issued, getting it just six days before it actually expired) we couldn’t open a bank account back in January.

Our three-pronged cash solution for our travels back then was thus: we brought more than maybe advisable with us; we left some behind and; in an extremely generous gesture, a friend of ours gave us her bank card to use for the duration of the trip (cheers, Melissa) – so we put the remainder of our cash into that account as cover.

Now, all that worked out quite well in the end, but we didn’t feel fully in control of the situation. So for our latest voyage, one where we had to pop into neighbouring Venezuela for visa purposes,* we tried again to open a Colombian bank account. 

The game changer this time was that we had our cédula – the lack of it beforehand was the only obstacle preventing us doing business with Davivienda (the other banks, for the record, needed written proof of income, something Davivienda did not).

So cash and national identity card in hand, we go to open what they call a savings account – after all, all we wanted was somewhere to "securely" store our money while also having the ability to access it at some stage if needs be.

Standing tall('ish') - Davivienda.

‘Right, what kind of benefits do we get?’ ‘Benefits? Well, you can use the debit card to withdraw your cash at any Davivienda ATM in the country (but use another bank’s machine and you’ll be nicely charged) – get this, free of charge!’ 

‘Wow! Tell us more.’ 

‘You can also make point-of-sale and internet transactions with your card without incurring a charge from us.’ 

‘Great. What about the interest rate?’ 

‘Well that’s minimal, less than one per cent.’ 

‘Ah, that’s OK, it’s better than zero – at least our money will make something.’ 

‘Well, you are, of course, charged $9,300 Colombian pesos (COP officially – roughly US$5) per month to have this account.’ 

‘Hold on, what? We leave our money with you, money you use to invest to make more and you charge us for our "generosity"? How can you do that?’ 

‘Bienvenidos to the banking world of Colombia.’

Yep, we get charged for letting the bank play around with our money. Indeed, if the interest rate was one per cent (it’s less) we’d need to leave a minimum of ten million pesos (about US$5,000) just to break even – that's if the interest was calculated monthly, which it’s not. 

This isn’t just Davivienda (a company where we, incidentally, teach many of its high-rolling staff) we must add – it applies to all the banks; Colombian law apparently.

In fact, it seems to be a cosy cartel between the banks and the country’s lawmakers – nobody seems willing or, more importantly, legally allowed to break ranks. From what we’ve been told, even the international banks play the same game. The likes of HSBC and Citi must love things here – easy money and all that.

We don’t make any secret of the fact that we’ve never been big fans of banks, wherever in the world, but the above practices are just plain wrong. 

How the ordinary Colombian can accept it is beyond us. And, of course, it is the working- and lower-middle-class Colombians that are most affected by it. The lower classes tend not to have bank accounts – they’ve enough problems without them – while the upper-middle and upper classes either don’t really care about such charges or, perhaps more likely, have their wealth elsewhere.

A popular protest, just not about the banks, though.

At least in the other two countries we’ve banked in – namely the Republic of Ireland and the UK – we don’t get charged just for leaving our money with them. The balance we’ve left in our UK bank account – the current account that is – hasn’t budged since we departed, only for the small sums of cash we’ve taken out.

What’s more, our instant-access savings account, where we can transfer funds from this to our current account in seconds via the internet, is making money for us – not a lot, but at least it’s moving in a positive direction. It’s more or less the same in the Republic of Ireland.

Yes, "proper" savings accounts do exist in Colombia, but from what we can gather they are highly restrictive and not very practical for the average worker. So with seemingly little or no public or political pressure to change their ways, why would the banks do so?

They are on a nice little winner here. After all, it is a banker's paradise.
___________________________
*We’ll have more on what turned out to be a very positive, highly enjoyable trip to Venezuela in the coming days.

An Irish lament

One of the most common of the many Irish laments of the last few years has been the steady decline of the pub. 

From being at the very heart of the social fabric in its heyday, many of the once vibrant tithe tábhairne now resemble funeral parlours before the evening rush – and that’s on a supposedly busy Saturday night. 

So how did it come to this? Well, the worst recession the country has ever experienced has certainly played its part. 

As a BBC Radio 4 reporter smugly put it – as only the British can – when the true extent of independent Ireland’s financial woes were coming to light, “even the pubs in city centre Dublin are suffering. Now for the Irish that’s really saying something.” Indeed. 

Some people say the seeds of the public-house recession were sown well before the economic downturn – they point to the arrival of the smoking ban as the beginning of the end. It’s an easy scapegoat but similar restrictions in other countries have not led to a massive slump in the number of people heading out socialising.

Bringing the pub home.

Of course, the fact that the most ‘hedonistic’ age group – those in their late teens and 20s – are departing the forlorn state in search of much greener pastures is also a big contributing factor to the Irish pub’s sad and painful death. 

But what of those who remain, are they drinking less? The short answer is no. Most studies into alcohol consumption in the Ireland find that we’re drinking as much as ever. The crucial difference is that the venue has changed. 

The reclining sofa in front of the flat screen TV has replaced the high stool at the bar. For a nation renowned for its affability, that’s quite a sad turn of events. 

Instead of hitting for the ‘local’, having a few drinks and a chat in the company of others, many Irish are deciding to stay in and crack open a few cans in front of a rectangular box in their living room – where there is absolutely no monitoring of alcohol intake. 

So, it appears, the main reason why the humble Irish pub has witnessed a mass exodus in recent years is a matter of cost, pure and simple. 

At the very least, the price of a regular pint at a bar is three-times more expensive compared to what you will pay at a supermarket or off-licence. In such straitened financial times, people feel that there is no longer value in going to a pub, whatever the negative social consequences. 

In fairness, you can’t really blame them. Why there is such a mark-up between what you pay in a shop and the price for the same product – more or less – at your local hostelry is a mystery, especially when you see how things are done in other countries.

Take Colombia, for example. It’s possible to head out to a little bar here – or tienda, as the locals call them – and pay less (and that price is very small too) to consume a beer on the premises than you would if you wanted to bring it home. 

So, unsurprisingly, these places get hefty crowds daily – a sociable environment where you are drinking and chatting with others, with at least a modicum of supervision to boot. 

This is much better than drinking at home in front of the kids, right? Irish law-makers, backed up by the anti-drink, anti-pub campaigners think not, it seems. ‘Let’s make socialising in a pub so expensive that nobody can afford to go anymore’ is their mantra. The suck-the-life-out-of-the country policy has fully taken root.

Thumbs up to cheap beer in a sociable environment.

Now, from a rural Ireland point of view we can’t write about the decline of the pub without referring to the far stricter drink-driving laws that have been introduced in recent years. It’s a difficult, emotive subject that will rumble on. 

There is still an out-of-sight-out-of-mind approach taken by some country Gardaí to breaches of the law, especially towards older citizens. It might not be right, but it works most of the time. 

One thing, though, our Government could do, if it truly cared about rural Ireland, is to put some decent thought into providing proper public transport outside of the bigger urban areas. 

However, the chances of that happening are about as high as Brian Cowen becoming the next president or a Colombian sticking to his word. 

So, is the Irish pub as we once knew it, particularly the rural one, now just a blurry distant memory, never to be revived? 

Well, if the powers that be continue to pursue their current line of attack, then the answer is yes. Plus, with very few people left to stand up for life in the Irish countryside, who’s going to stop the rout? 

The sad thing right now is that it’s all happening under the watchful but seemingly indifferent eye of a west of Ireland prime minister. The west – along with other rural parts of the country – is falling asleep once more. 

This time, though, it might not wake up again.

Wrong Way's Year in Review

When it comes to politics, we’re quite an opinionated, argumentative bunch us Irish, eh? Pop into a public house any night of the week and you’re sure to find at least two lads having a heated debate about the latest political crisis afflicting our country — and we’ve had plenty of those to get our teeth into over the last few weeks, never mind months. 

It could be argued that we’re the most politically astute nation in Europe, if not the globe. Bearing that in mind, together with all the strife we poor citizens have had to suffer over the last few years, you think we would have taken to the streets en masse, attacking the very heart of our incompetent political establishment. But no, we haven’t. 

Apart from a few, by international standards, very tame student protests, oh, and yes the ‘grey vote’ movement a few years back — now it’s not right that a millionaire pensioner should have his/her entitlements means tested, is it? — we as a nation have been pretty reticent when it comes to rocking the system. 

Now, you can cast an eye to Greece and ask do mass protests make any real difference — the evidence would suggest they don't. 

So maybe it’s just about letting your frustrations out — good for the body and mind, that. And the Irish have found less taxing ways to do that other than violent protests. 

There’s the aforementioned pub rant, a moan to the sadistic Joe Duffy, emigration and, of course, the good old letters page of our daily and Sunday newspapers. 

It’s the latter two that I’ve found solace in over the last few years — the odd printed letter the last resort for a struggling journeyman journalist. 

So as politics — along with religion — is always a good topic to discuss during the festive period, here’s a selection of some of those published letters for you to mull over. 

A sort of ‘Reeling in the Year 2011’ in words, if you will.

On the Irish General Election:

“So after all the subterfuge we finally have a date for the long overdue General Election. The attention now turns to every Irish citizen with the right to vote to have their say. With every right, though, as we all should know, comes responsibility. 

This is not, to spell out the obvious, a local council election but a national one. More so now than ever the government returned on 11 March will be our chief negotiators on the international stage, people we must entrust to get the best deals for this beleaguered nation. The candidate who can get your local road tarmacadamed has a forum, this election, however, is not it. 

It may be the case that our electoral system prevents us from returning true national politicians — that is something that needs to be urgently addressed. 

For now, though, it is incumbent on every franchised Irish citizen to shun parish-pump politics. There may be a dearth of candidates with the national interest at heart, but where they exist we need them returned. Not to do so would be criminal.”

On Ireland’s financial woes — they’re considerable, so here are two letters:

“So the Republic of Ireland, given the extraordinary financial crisis it finds itself in, would not exist as a functioning entity if it were not for our European colleagues together with the IMF bailing the state out. 

One thus has to ask, if the Republic never joined the EMU, would the mess be as big? One would have to strongly think not. 

Yes, the entry into the EU and then the EMU provided us with enormous benefits — financial, infrastructural and even social. But we are now seeing the true price of joining the EU 'party'. Was the 'high' worth it? If only we had been as wise as some of the Nordic countries or, whisper it, our nearest neighbour to the east.”

“On a recent sojourn to Europe, I had the dubious pleasure of debating about Ireland’s severe financial woes with the numerous Germans I met. After initial coldness to my point that Ireland’s economic problems were not all of the state’s own making – namely that those bondholders who gambled on our prosperity must share the burden — my German friends began to see things differently. 

There was further convergence of opinion when I compared the Irish Republic’s situation now to that of the Weimar Republic in the 1920s and 30s, stressing the point that if outside ‘assistance’ is seen as punitive, who knows what that could lead to. 

Now, maybe these Germans I met were that rare kind — malleable — or maybe they just didn’t care. In any case, is the AWOL Taoiseach or his fiery finance minister stating such facts to their masters in continental Europe? 

After all, the power rests with the politicians elected by the people of Europe, not with the financial markets, doesn’t it?”

The Queen goes green.

On the Queen’s visit:

“I find it absurd, given the perilous state of our economy, that there should be such vociferous opposition in some quarters to the proposed visit here of one of the richest people in the world. Surely it is in our financial interest to ensure Queen Elizabeth II visits these shores? 

If we show her a good time maybe she’ll consider popping over on a more regular basis, thus providing a much-needed boost to our economy. And with a number of high-profile royal weddings on the horizon, we should be pitching ourselves as the ‘ideal’ honeymoon destination for the newlyweds. 

Considering that most of those opposed to the royal visit vigorously support British soccer teams, it is only fair that the Queen is seen to acknowledge such support by calling in person to see her loyal subjects. 

In any case, the British Royals regularly visit the north-east of this island with very little opposition from those who supposedly don’t recognize the border. So whether ‘Lizzie’ visits subordinate administrations in Belfast or Dublin, does it really make any difference?”

On the aftermath of President Obama’s visit:

“After the impressive, yet intangible, rhetoric of President Obama it seems our Taoiseach is keen to continue the ‘more talk, less action’ road to recovery. 

As a recently departed resident of the United Kingdom and now briefly back in my native west of Ireland before I leave for South America in the coming days, I found Enda Kenny’s pep talk to Ireland’s ambassadors laughable. 

While I would love to be able to spread a positive message about the Republic on my travels, the reality on the ground, unfortunately, dictates otherwise. 

For instance, we continue to have a bloated, overpaid public sector — including politicians — a social welfare system that promotes unemployment, a ridiculously high cost of living and a seemingly spineless Government unable to stand up to the unions, the EU and other numerous groups that continue to cripple the country. I could go on, but you get the point. 

South America is rife with examples of men of Irish descent who played a part in overthrowing Spanish rule. Maybe I can draw inspiration and bring back that revolutionary zeal to these shores.” (I’m failing on that front thus far!)

On the Presidential Election result:

“So, finally, it seems, the Irish electorate has made a wise decision. Not only was Michael D. Higgins the least-bad option of the seven candidates, but he should also prove to be the least financial burden on the state as President in the years to come. 

Considering the exorbitant pensions our heads of state are entitled to on retirement, at 70 years of age, President-Elect Higgins should not cost us too much whenever he calls it a day. And when that time comes, maybe we will finally get rid of this surplus-to-requirements office.”

And finally, on overhauling the Junior Cert:

“Further to the Government’s plans to ‘improve’ the education system by abolishing the junior cert, a far more practical move would be the introduction of compulsory French and German in our primary schools. That way our future generations should be better placed to converse with and understand those now running our occupied little state.”

*****

So there you have it. Just to note that while all opinions expressed are Wrong Way’s, they are time/context-dependent and therefore are subject to constant review and possible change!