Dennis Philpot

My career before retiring was in global sales and marketing for a large multi-national health care equipment company.  Spent lots of road time in Asia and Latin America, as well as US and Europe.  In China, as an example, the rule of thumb seemed to be "if you're not cheating, you're not trying".  Corruption often exists so deep in the layers of a culture, that it's hard to find whistle blowers, but easy to find folks who know what is going on and how things work.  But at the end of the day, the winning value that allows corruption to exist, is based mainly in the materialist world view.  A corrupt official or decision maker thinks they don't have or make "enough".  So they can be corrupted, since the next level provider (maybe a sales person or distributor or other actor in the chain) needs to make enough (money, or make the plan or the quota or whatever).  Then the next level in the chain, maybe the manufacturer or core provider of the product or service in another country (maybe a place with strong laws against corruption and a more advanced "moral culture"), makes sure they don't want to know how deals get done at the end user level, since they have investors and a financial constituency to answer to, and any hint of corruption being part of the material chain they exist in must remain silent.  So, anyway, there's a long and deep chain of participants involved in any corruption scheme and it always goes back to a materialistic world view.  And unfortunately the really good alternative world views are not well known or understood.  But it could start with anyone trying to figure out for themselves, when is enough stuff enough.  Sorry for spouting off with a long post.  Too long to proof check for errors :-).

For the most part I agree with Hil's assessment and also remain apolitical with regard to parties and candidates; though with definite ideas and preferences about specific issues (and also an appreciation for those folks who truly dedicate themselves to public office for the "greater good" rather than their own enrichment).  In looking at the current campaigns, rather than asking all the relevant questions like Hil did, I reviewed the impact that all the Presidents in my adult voting life (from 1968 when I was drafted and went to Vietnam for 13 months) had on my life.  My only conclusion was that their impact on me was minimal, and the greatest impacts on me were always my own personal decisions and actions.  Over this 48 year period I've voted for both Republicans and Democrats, some of whom won and others of whom lost.  But I always did so from an issues orientation position and who I thought best for the common good.  And of those who won, I think maybe 2-3 really made a positive difference on the whole with the others having a more or less neutral impact.  And so I'm also really amazed and saddened at the anger, vitriol, even hate being bandied about this time around, and hope that once the results are in, folks can forget about their own position and get back to making and taking good decisions and actions in their own lives.  I've only been in Boquete for five months and have made friends who support both sides in this election.  And in general they're all really fine, compassionate and giving folks -- no matter their political beliefs.  So in consequence, I really like living here and look forward to lots of non-election years without "me and them" conversations.  And to remain true to the CL mission, I have to say that many folks here have helped me figure out what I didn't know with regard to lots of topics and I think this is the best on-line resource for me as a Boquete resident.  But I also have to say that before moving here I found my current residence and vehicle through B.ning, so both sites have proven valuable when facts are needed.  Here's hoping that I can someday return all the favors.