Democracy and the promise of free stuff

I was on a ski trip to Aspen Colorado recently and had an interesting interaction with two employees from different countries in the local ski rental and repair shop.

I went into the shop to have my skis tuned and noticed a man in his late twenties speaking perfect Spanish, I complimented his art of the language and asked where he came from. The answer from the man was Venezuela and I asked him how long that he had been here and why he left. He stated, "four years and I left because of the people in the government." I said to the man that Venezuela has a democratically elected government and why did those people get voted into office? The answer was quick and short. Without any hesitation, he said, " because we were promised free everything, you people in the United States need to pay attention to this example." I left my skis with him and wished him a good evening.

I started walking though the store to leave and I heard a woman in her late twenties speaking perfect Spanish who was working in the rental department far enough away from the repair department that she had not heard my conversation with the repair person. I complimented her and asked where she was from and she said from Argentina.

She said that she came here to escape the crime and corruption in the government. I reminded her that Argentina is a democratically elected government and asked why she voted the people into office that she has now left her own country because of. She stated, "the people we voted for promised us a lot of free stuff."

Tim O'Neil

Arlington Heights