i think i've touched on the struggle of the chilean working man once or twice here, but i deem it a subject worth revisiting, even with my purely superficial knowledge of the subject. unsurprisingly, during my 5 months here i have yet to attain a solid grasp of the goings on in chilean politics or the intricacies of the nation's labor history. what i do know is that there is some serious unrest in this country - strikes, walk-outs, protests, and on occasion, all out cops vs. youth combatants in the streets. there's anger about perceived government neglect - neglect of equal access to education, wages, and opportunity. obviously, i work within the education system and see daily what's f'd up in that village, but it may (or may not) in fact all stem from systemic flaws in the chilean wage scale.
they talk monthly wages up in chile so i will do the same. solid salary in this country is $1,000 every 30 days, but the minimum wage is the equivalent of $300. that is to say that a chilean family with two working adults at said wage is expected to pay for rent, gas, water, electricity, and food with that $600. did i mention that they love their babies in this country? well, they do. abortion is still illegal, the morning after pill just showed up, and there is some serious social stigma associated with condoms. so add a couple of babies to that earlier equation because a fair share of chileans get started on making families in their teens, with or without a wedding band.
now you may think, oh $600 isn't so bad, because of the likely lesser cost of living, but that likeliness seemingly got thrown into a chilean poop paper wastebasket some time ago. nearly everything costs the same here. when i walk through the mall i work next to, i'm frequently shocked at how much shit costs and how much shit people buy anyway. gas, water, electricity, internet, cable tv, shoes, clothes, music, movies, a bag of chips, soda, and a slew of other sundries are pretty much at parity with prices in the states. i'd say groceries cost a little less, but the difference is far from significant. angelica's (my host mom) younger brother gabriel (20 years old) works at mcdonald's in order to support his daughter (2 years old). she lives with her mother in another house but he sends her money monthly. mcdonalds is considered a decent job for a young man here, yet pays bull shit money. my boy alex, who worked in the higher-end hostel we stayed at when we first arrived, worked 9 hours a day for the equivalent of $20. i'm pretty sure that was considered a posh position for a youngin' in this country. it's a sad state of affairs and it isn't exactly apparent to me how the chileans on the lower end of the wage scale (the majority) get by. they do have the "quotas" system here, which allows people to pretty much put anything from a new dvd player to a happy meal on layaway, but if that's the endorsed solution, i wouldn't be suprised if MC hammer was the minister of finance.
they talk monthly wages up in chile so i will do the same. solid salary in this country is $1,000 every 30 days, but the minimum wage is the equivalent of $300. that is to say that a chilean family with two working adults at said wage is expected to pay for rent, gas, water, electricity, and food with that $600. did i mention that they love their babies in this country? well, they do. abortion is still illegal, the morning after pill just showed up, and there is some serious social stigma associated with condoms. so add a couple of babies to that earlier equation because a fair share of chileans get started on making families in their teens, with or without a wedding band.
now you may think, oh $600 isn't so bad, because of the likely lesser cost of living, but that likeliness seemingly got thrown into a chilean poop paper wastebasket some time ago. nearly everything costs the same here. when i walk through the mall i work next to, i'm frequently shocked at how much shit costs and how much shit people buy anyway. gas, water, electricity, internet, cable tv, shoes, clothes, music, movies, a bag of chips, soda, and a slew of other sundries are pretty much at parity with prices in the states. i'd say groceries cost a little less, but the difference is far from significant. angelica's (my host mom) younger brother gabriel (20 years old) works at mcdonald's in order to support his daughter (2 years old). she lives with her mother in another house but he sends her money monthly. mcdonalds is considered a decent job for a young man here, yet pays bull shit money. my boy alex, who worked in the higher-end hostel we stayed at when we first arrived, worked 9 hours a day for the equivalent of $20. i'm pretty sure that was considered a posh position for a youngin' in this country. it's a sad state of affairs and it isn't exactly apparent to me how the chileans on the lower end of the wage scale (the majority) get by. they do have the "quotas" system here, which allows people to pretty much put anything from a new dvd player to a happy meal on layaway, but if that's the endorsed solution, i wouldn't be suprised if MC hammer was the minister of finance.
so when you look at problems like equal access to education, it isn't hard to figure out what the source of contention is. there are jobs in this country that are probably competitive with comparable positions in the united states; however, such jobs are only accessible to those who have and it's seemingly much harder to make the transition to have from have not in this country when compared to the states. wealth distribution is a problem in america, but it's near egregious here. sadder yet, chile is considered to be doing much better on these fronts than its south american neighbors. equal access to the peso moves at a pitiful pace.
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