Many of you are probably already familiar with Ferfal's stories of life during the economic criss in Argentina. If not, you should read up on his experiences.

Ferfal now has a blog (Surviving in Argentina) where he is continuing to discuss what to expect if the economy crashes. In light of current events you might want to check it out. He warns of a lot of stuff that may catch you by suprise.

-Blast

Madonna walks on stage for the relief concert and starts singing 'We are living in a material world, and I am a material.." as the lights are suddenly switched off and people boo.

Lights come back on to a humble Willie Nelson tuning his guitar to cheers and breaks into a rendition of Foster's hard times,hard times,come again no more.

Madonna reappers, apologises for a stage malfunction and sings Andrew loyd-Weber's Don't dry for me Argentina in a duo with Bono.

I wonder if Ticketron will still be in busines, and if so, accept gold in lieu of plastic ?

The only people being ingnored in theis circus are the ever fewer survivors of the Great Depression.

I've run across his posts and blogs a few different times. They are interesting, have some useful information, and are fun to read. I know there's some sort of drama going on between him and some other guy, I don't know the whole story. However, I do see some inconsistencies, or at least I think the stories might be slightly exaggerated for effect. I'm not saying he's lying, but it doesn't seem to correlate with what I hear from other sources. Either way, it's still a good read, even if it's not 100% accurate.

From reading his blogs and personal writings, he almost describes it like a Mad Max situation down there, with every man for himself fending off hordes of looters in an I Am Legend type of scenario. I know people who have travelled through there recently, and other people with family there, and the situation doesn't sound like what he describes. He's talking about food shortages, car jackings, and bartering with gold, while I'm reading other peoples experiences about going to the starbucks, hanging out in the city center, and shopping. I find it hard to picture people going to starbucks to order a grande decaf latte, while next door they're bartering gold rings for food.

I've recently thought about taking a trip around South America, and one of the first things I check are travel warnings and advisories, there are none for that area. And unless there is total media censorship for that country, there aren't a whole lot of reports of any sort of trouble down there either.

A co-worker recently spent almost two weeks in many parts of Argentina, she did not see anything close to what Ferfal is writing about...

Perhaps the argentines having trouble are members of the old ruling junta?
I have a equestrian friend in Patagonia, served during the Malvinas/falkland war that killed lots of young men for the fortunes of old generals and a failing PM.
The army failed to deliver food supplies and there they sat, starving. He went out, being a GAUCHO and killed his unit a sheep, which do tend to occupy much of the island.

The collapse was in 2001.

-Blast

But by reading his blog (as recently as this week), he makes it sound like it's still happening.

Again, I still think it's a good read with good info, but I have never seen any other supporting evidence. You'd think out of a country of 30+ million people and the widespread influence of the internet, you'd hear at least one other person who would be writing about the situation if it was as bad as he makes it sound

Actually I don't think its so unlikely.

I was just reading in money magazine about how most US mortgage rates are no pegged against the Libor. Yes, the Libor, which is the LONDON bank's determination. Not US treasuries, like it used to be. What we have is a world economy, with individual states having problems.

little steps. thats what it takes.

What people really want is stability, and thoughout history they routinely give up freedom for stability and security. Look at the tread about marial law in arkansas recently.

Yup. All we need is for a vocal minority of people to feel that "for stability and security, we need to band together with another country" and poof, there it is.

Isn't it in the very nature of humankind to come together as a group? Freedom to starve to death individually isn't much of a freedom.

ie, families, clans, communities, neighborhoods, counties, states, countries...

Rugged individualism is great fodder for novels and gun magazines but it's pretty much impossible to achieve in a modern world, or in any world for that matter. We are all part of the world, like it or not.

"as he fights this loneliness that you call freedom..."
Billy Bragg

John E

P.S. there is a documentary called "The Take" about the financial collapse in Argentina. Haven't seen it but it's been highly recommended as a very good look at what took place there.

But why would you hear about it? There are living conditions like this all over the world, it's too common to be reported. Argentina is not unique in this respect. And I think it would be possible for someone to visit Argentina without really knowing how bad things are.

I'll give you an example I'm familiar with. Here's a link to a google map showing a section of Nairobi, Kenya:
google map

You can see a golf course right next to the worst slum in Kenya, called Kibera. Kibera is home to about 1 million people who live without electricity, running water, or even decent sanitation. It's said that most people who live there don't venture outside at night because the danger. Just to the north west of the golf course, if you zoom in, you'll see a place called Prestige Plaza. Here you'll find a Nakumat (like a super walmart), a large movie theater, and some other shops as nice as anything in the US. My point is, that a tourist could visit the shopping center without realizing they were a few hundred yards from unimaginable poverty. There's a huge disparity of wealth there.

I don't doubt the guy's story at all. It's just one person's experience though. Some people probably had it better, some had it worse.