Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
diseases enervate and kill (think malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever). Large carnivores
and dangerous reptiles lurk in the rivers and forests (think jaguars, crocodiles, pythons,
and boa constrictors). Tropical forests do not nurture grazing animals. And even though
their plant life is thick and abundant, once cleared for farming, the soil of a tropical rain
forest loses its nutrients. Other things being equal (and they rarely are), the more a country
lies within a temperate climate zone, the greater its prospects for both industrialization and
democracy.
High mountain ranges can be an impediment to foreign invasion (think Switzerland).
They can also impede the accumulation of wealth (do not think of Switzerland!). Moun-
tains can sustain goats, sheep, and cattle in upland meadows, but little wealth is achieved
above the tree line. Deep valleys can keep human populations isolated. In South America,
the Andes are visible on Chile's horizon. They lie just beyond the horizon in Peru and Ar-
gentina. Native Americans in those mountain valleys cling to ancestral languages, but it is
Spanish language education that will help pull them into the cash economy and prosperity
of their country.
Several South American countries are rich in mineral wealth: diamonds, emeralds, and
gold in Brazil; silver in Bolivia; emeralds in Colombia; copper and nitrates in Chile; and
gold and nitrates in Peru. But mining is labor intensive, and miners are paid poorly for their
work, while those who own the land and supply capital for mining machinery and transport
capture a large share of mining wealth.
This asymmetrical distribution of wealth can be another impediment to democracy, for
democracy requires fairly widespread agreement on the purposes of government, on the
idea that voters are sufficiently equal in intelligence to carry the responsibility of voting
and that most elected officials can be trusted to carry out the wishes of the majority of those
who vote. These broadly shared ideas are the fabric of a democratic culture, a culture that
rises most readily where wealth is broadly shared and, more important, when most mem-
bers of society believe that they have an opportunity for a better life.
HOW DOES A FEUDAL PAST HAUNT SOUTH AMERICA?
As stated, democracy tends to take root in societies of (more or less) economic equals.
More important, it survives best in societies where those at the bottom of the social and
economic scale believe they have the opportunity to rise upward in wealth and social status.
Societies built on inherited rights and privileges (ascriptive rights) bear the hallmarks of
feudal societies, and Latin America from Mexico southward was settled by Iberians who
conquered in the name of absolute monarchs, rulers who claimed their throne by divine
right. Those who rule by God's grace, accordingly, are supreme in worldly matters. Papal
doctrine and the teachings of St. Thomas (asserting that secular law was an extension of
natural and divine law) also bolstered absolute government in South America. So, those
Search WWH ::
Custom Search