A Delusional Reality

I personally want to thank Brenda Siles upon her influencing my introduction.

On the way to the old highway to Leon, in the top of an almost glorious and platonic hill, stands a magnificent and meticulously made Christian temple where the deepest sermons and the most beautiful analogies of life are heard. At the foot of the hill lays one of the poorest towns in Managua; corruption, disease, and empty promises had brought that little place into ruins. It is quite horrid to see all these priests, driving their luxurious vehicles, gathering to spread a supposed gospel of humility, reflecting the inequality of income in such a devastated country as Nicaragua above a town where not even the most skilled raconteur could bring happiness to those toddlers begging for a childhood on the streets, waiting for the real world to be changed by some joyful fantasy. These events might even detail a complex web of sociological and psychological fears that make the people indifferent regarding their country, for those who thought it was a good idea to change the status quo and approach the government with a deontological have been silenced in order to keep the people in a straight and untrustworthy line.

There are two basic social classes: Those who have money and those who do not. In most instances, neither class pays any taxes nor holds any respectable job. Those who do pay their taxes are characterized for being foreigners who, unfortunately, earned a citizen status and have a high standard of living. As for the ones who do not pay their taxes, most of them have the vicissitude of holding a public position or knowing somebody in the latter. It might be as simple to say that those who have some money pay all the taxes, whereas the poor are not in the position of doing so and the rest, who have money, do not wish to do so. This bypassing of economic assessments has sparkled some international controversy, Nicaragua being one of countries who lists the bottom of the corruption perception index list and the GINI coefficient, yet it does not seem to awake those revolutionary ideals that the Sandinista government of the 1980's exploited in utter dismay. People are often stricken by the scare of being murdered if said values are tried to be evoked. The teleological approach the government has been using all this time, “everything seems okay to you and to us”, has blindfolded those who could not see the fire in the first place, causing a feeling of conformity upon them.

There are also two major political parties that have controlled that respective sector since the “Democratic Transition” period: The FSLN, which follows a Marxist-Leninist doctrine, and the Liberals, or PLC, which are molded after a combination between the basic principles of Republicanism and Libertarianism. The major flaw between this bureaucratic struggle for power is that they have made people believe that they have freedom of choice; of course, there are other parties as well, but these hold less than the three percent of the total public support. Whereas people should vote for one or for the other, the outcome would most likely be the same; Before favoring private sectors and establishing a libertarian economy, the government has to make an effort trying to increase the rate of public education and college and High School drop-outs due to economic necessity, which is unlikely to happen, or at least in such an abrupt manner, causing the country to be stuck in the same problems. Opting for the current government would not be a good idea either, for the amount of subterfuges within the governmental system could increase, not to mention there is no abiding to the principles of a limited democracy, regardless of what economic system the country leans towards to, but in a world where ignorance and poverty prevails, the public opinion is not going to fall in favor of those anew groups that actually introduce great solutions to the problem, for this groups are short of members; therefore, the people might choose whoever seems to promise prosperity to the country, when, in reality, will only crush that hope into bits.

The media also attributes to the delusional thinking there is freedom of choice. Not only are some of the largest newspapers run by big companies, but these also own several radio and television stations. The curiosity lays in the fact that the government does the exact same thing, opening and publishing several stations and newspapers that tell the people the country is doing fantastic. There seems to be no solution since the private media is busier attending matters they think is are of uttermost importance, such as sensationalist stories and empty publicity. Those who dare to publish their opinion about what is going on are either censored by the government owned newspapers or put in a tiny section called “opinions” or “the people” in the private papers, when, at this circumstances, ought to be in the front page. An average reader finds Sandinista-sponsored stories in one side of the road, or crudely chronicled events in the other. With all this explained, it should be implicit the majority of the Nicaraguans barely have access to a newspaper might believe a fallacious story, or say “why bother” and turn their heads back.

Religion also appears to be a factor that influences how the clock ticks. From the beginning, the country was set to be secular and independent from any church, notoriously the Roman Catholic doctrine, yet several politicians appeal to the fear, rationality, and nationality of the people by saying a good Christian Nicaraguan is someone who votes for John Doe's party. Some go even further by saying they abide to the Christian standards of the constitution. This also reflects in the form of bandwagon, where others convince those who deliberately express unconcern regarding a definite political affiliation, pushing them into voting for the party who “follows the path of God”, which is an euphemism for “has powerful political connections with the Catholic Church”. As long as the sovereignty of the nation is not threaten by this standard and separated its values from a religious doctrine, less problems should arise. The truth is, this is hardly achievable in this society.

Some might say reform is inevitable, and that an enlightenment period shall come for Nicaraguan society. Others say, like the folktale, that the Devil is dead; economic, social, and political stability has already been reached. A few know something is wrong, but expressing that concern beholds impossible. But at the end, why do I need to comment on this? What is my position? Why would I, a foreigner with no expertise on Nicaraguan history argue the need to change? After all, it all comes to denizens taking that position, but would not be that the last piece of the puzzle to make this country a dystopia? To isolate society from the opinion of a world out there? It seems we are getting closer to that reality. It would be convenient to educate people freely on the subject and letting them choose what future they want.