Understanding Latin America.
video description
I'm sorry, as a big fan of yours this video is very disappointing. The fact that you follow your own opinions instead of researching facts and postulating them is very concerning when you're trying to make an info graphic. What do I mean by this? Excluding Latin America from the West is completely unfounded in reality and a very America-centric point of view which just makes it very hard to take you and your points seriously.
If you are describing something about American civilization, I guess you can be as biased towards the US as you want, but guess what, the US is not Western civilization, it's just part of it, it's not even the OG founder, so looking at western civilization through the eyes of the US which has no say over the actual founders of western civilization (Western Europe) is very strange, in the best case scenario, and completely absurd in the worst.
Western civilization, depending on the definition used, either started all the way back from the Greeks, or it started in Italy during the renaissance. Notice how in no definition of the term did it even came close to starting in the US? Again takes me to the point of how strange it is to discuss this in such an America-centrist point of view. At the time of the Renaissance, Britain was not just NOT the focus in the picture, it wasn't EVEN IN the picture. Britain was the backwaters of Europe, an irrelevant island that had nothing going for it in the 1500s. Again, in both definitions of western civilization, the founders or closest to the founders were Latin countries, more specifically Italy, LATIN America being the successors of the empires that the Latin countries created just reinforces the fact that they're indeed part of the West.
There's no reason to include the US but exclude Latin America from the list. Like no offense, but a toddler seems to have a more consistent logic than you. The US is a country whose land was colonized by a Western European nation and because of it's extended period as a colony and mass migration became integrated into the culture of the motherland. Now Latin America on the other hand is, a collection of countries whose land were colonized by Western European nations and because of their extended period as colonies and mass migration became integrated into the culture of the motherland. Crazy right? Who would have thought that pieces of land in the same continent (or two if you're anglo) discovered and colonized at the same time, by essentially the same cultures would have the exact same history.
And I don't doubt some of your knowledge in history, as I'm sure you know, Spain was the nation that kickstarted the colonization of America. Hence, Spanish colonies were founded prior to any colony founded by Britain, and you can still see it to this day. The FIRST city Europeans ever founded in America was Santa Marta in Colombia. Cities in Latin America have older history and older historical buildings than American cities. Guess where they came from. Europe. Architecture is Spanish, culture is Spanish, Language is Spanish, and also. and this might be shocking. race is Spanish (white. Yeah, most Latin Americans are white, and just like the US there's incredible diversity of other races too, and again JUST LIKE the US, those other races were systemically oppressed, and the effect of that oppression can be seen to this day, where the poorest citizens tend to be black or brown. Why is this relevant? because, being the poorest citizens, they're the ones most likely to migrate to other countries looking for opportunities. THAT'S why most Latinos in the US are mixed, it's simple statistics, of course most of the immigrants in the destination country are gonna be brown or black because those are the ones more statistically likely to emigrate. So that means that the pool of immigrants coming from Latin America don't reflect Latin America as a whole, again, it's simple statistics.
I will say however, that to avoid spewing misleading information like you do in this video, I will put a disclaimer and that is that each country in Latin America had a slightly different history from each other and were used by Spain or Portugal in different ways, so their gradient of being a Western country can be higher or lower than others, same with race. There are some countries in Latin America that are mostly black (Haiti, there are some that are mostly mixed (Nicaragua, and there are some that are mostly white (Argentina. So it really depends what country you're talking about as Latin America is not a monolith.
I can keep pointing more facts to state why Latin America is part of the West, such as the fact that even Europeans (the OG westerners) consider Latin America just as part of the West as the US (Spaniards almost unanimously consider this a fact for example. But to wrap this up, I will just use an anecdote as I've used too many facts already. I would say to some extent of confidence that Latin Americans throughout history has always stayed closer in touch with Europeans than Americans. After independence, The US kinda developed too much pride to keep in touch with the old world as they saw it as not worthy of their attention, George Washington even stated that the US should not meddle with European affairs. Latin America on the other hand, never really lost contact, and had kind of an opposite mentality from the US; Latin Americans kept valuing Europe and seeing it as the sophisticated motherland. This is why many rich Latin Americans would send their children to university in Europe instead of sending them to university in their OWN countries! Cause to them, sending their children to Europe was like sending your American child out of state. Europe, to these rich Latin Americans, wasn't this far away land, it was simply the more sophisticated and richer state of the same civilization that they made part of, Western civilization.
Date: 2022-07-15
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Comments and reviews: 9
Pablo
all the part that speaks of the colonial stage is tendentious. it makes the Spanish empire look like demons and the English empire angels. but both had good and bad things. While in Latin America the presence of people with Amerindian blood is very large, in the United States it is not. I think that in itself says a lot about the treatment of the natives. Latin America's reasons for remaining poor are not rooted in the colonial period, but rather after independence. It is true that the problems that brought us to this point were the power of the conservative elites and their links with the English empire, corruption, weak institutions, dictatorships (too much organized by the US, and the arrival of socialist and communist ideas. There is a lot of hate here for the way the United States and the United Kingdom acted throughout history. socialism and communist ideas took advantage of this opportunity to mix the anti-American discourse with their nefarious economic ideas. Now, due to the interventions of the powers, most of the people here do not believe in the ideas of capitalism and freedom, so most of the time we never had the opportunity to enjoy a free market that allows us to grow. it is a victory of the neo-colonial empires. well played
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all the part that speaks of the colonial stage is tendentious. it makes the Spanish empire look like demons and the English empire angels. but both had good and bad things. While in Latin America the presence of people with Amerindian blood is very large, in the United States it is not. I think that in itself says a lot about the treatment of the natives. Latin America's reasons for remaining poor are not rooted in the colonial period, but rather after independence. It is true that the problems that brought us to this point were the power of the conservative elites and their links with the English empire, corruption, weak institutions, dictatorships (too much organized by the US, and the arrival of socialist and communist ideas. There is a lot of hate here for the way the United States and the United Kingdom acted throughout history. socialism and communist ideas took advantage of this opportunity to mix the anti-American discourse with their nefarious economic ideas. Now, due to the interventions of the powers, most of the people here do not believe in the ideas of capitalism and freedom, so most of the time we never had the opportunity to enjoy a free market that allows us to grow. it is a victory of the neo-colonial empires. well played
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andy.
though it comes with its downsides, i think a handful of latin american countries have been smart to turn themselves into basically nature based adventure playgrounds for gringos, euros and canucks, along with encouraging boomer retirees to come set up geriatric enclaves as long as they bring their nest eggs with them, which they cant retire on in the states, but down south can live quote comfortably during their pasture years. this has been a smart move for the places that have been able to pull it off, they just need to ensure the economic. benefit is spread somewhat evenly down the economic ladder or resentful uprising will be a not too far off headache awaiting them. but handled correctly, despite the downsides that indeed come with, its still one model of economic survival for the countries that pull it off for at least the near and medium terms i would think.
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though it comes with its downsides, i think a handful of latin american countries have been smart to turn themselves into basically nature based adventure playgrounds for gringos, euros and canucks, along with encouraging boomer retirees to come set up geriatric enclaves as long as they bring their nest eggs with them, which they cant retire on in the states, but down south can live quote comfortably during their pasture years. this has been a smart move for the places that have been able to pull it off, they just need to ensure the economic. benefit is spread somewhat evenly down the economic ladder or resentful uprising will be a not too far off headache awaiting them. but handled correctly, despite the downsides that indeed come with, its still one model of economic survival for the countries that pull it off for at least the near and medium terms i would think.
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RolexMonger
the four most desirable and prosperous nations on earth. USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEAlAND were colonised by the British. They adopted British protestant liberalism! The ethic of living a life of hard work that you reap on the hearafter. The central and South America were mainly populated by Spain and Portugal. Two southern euro Catholic nations. The result is that here/now hail Mary's forgiveness has led to major corruption and crime. Still central and south America has the highest murder rates in the world. The USA suffered from high murder rates in the 1920's and 30's. Why? Sicilian Catholic immigrants bringing in mafia style crime, into big cities. Again, commenting murder, a few hail Mary's, murder again. Etc. Religion is a BIG part of this
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the four most desirable and prosperous nations on earth. USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEAlAND were colonised by the British. They adopted British protestant liberalism! The ethic of living a life of hard work that you reap on the hearafter. The central and South America were mainly populated by Spain and Portugal. Two southern euro Catholic nations. The result is that here/now hail Mary's forgiveness has led to major corruption and crime. Still central and south America has the highest murder rates in the world. The USA suffered from high murder rates in the 1920's and 30's. Why? Sicilian Catholic immigrants bringing in mafia style crime, into big cities. Again, commenting murder, a few hail Mary's, murder again. Etc. Religion is a BIG part of this
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Dario
The simple answer is that the title can be considered just wrong.
Latin american, despite it tries, it does not fully work as a region.
And i can say, Latin America and Africa are not very different in history.
Colonized, independence, devastation, corruption.
They also have similar presents.
Rescources, poverty, corruption, rebellions, and groups that break the laws.
No matter how much you try to mix Argentina with Mexico.
No matter how much you try to mix Tunisia with Madagascar.
Is just does not at all as a full region.
The thing that unites Latin America is History, Geography and Culture.
And as same as Africa, Latin America could have the potential of become the only place ready for the storm.
reply
The simple answer is that the title can be considered just wrong.
Latin american, despite it tries, it does not fully work as a region.
And i can say, Latin America and Africa are not very different in history.
Colonized, independence, devastation, corruption.
They also have similar presents.
Rescources, poverty, corruption, rebellions, and groups that break the laws.
No matter how much you try to mix Argentina with Mexico.
No matter how much you try to mix Tunisia with Madagascar.
Is just does not at all as a full region.
The thing that unites Latin America is History, Geography and Culture.
And as same as Africa, Latin America could have the potential of become the only place ready for the storm.
reply
Hector
i hate how people always chalk up the Spanish defeating the Aztecs was ONLY because technological superiority. Like there's a reason zombie movies are scary, because no matter the guns and tech differential a wall of human flesh coming at you in sheer numbers will overwhelm any tech superiority and difference. 1000 Spanish cannot defeat 300, 000+ Aztecs because muh steel. They always overlook the tens of thousands of native allies that helped the Spanish by ruling out the overwhelming Aztec numbers by matching it with nearly as many native ally numbers. The Spanish force was basically 99% natives and like a few hundred Spaniards lol. Their canons helped but like without allies they would've been overrun easily.
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i hate how people always chalk up the Spanish defeating the Aztecs was ONLY because technological superiority. Like there's a reason zombie movies are scary, because no matter the guns and tech differential a wall of human flesh coming at you in sheer numbers will overwhelm any tech superiority and difference. 1000 Spanish cannot defeat 300, 000+ Aztecs because muh steel. They always overlook the tens of thousands of native allies that helped the Spanish by ruling out the overwhelming Aztec numbers by matching it with nearly as many native ally numbers. The Spanish force was basically 99% natives and like a few hundred Spaniards lol. Their canons helped but like without allies they would've been overrun easily.
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HipHipJorge
Wow the ignorance here is shocking.
Yes, Latin America has serious problems. Yes, this analysis is pretty on point.
But there are people making the claim that places like India and South Africa are much more developed. not in your wildest dreams.
Countries like Mexico, Brazil and Argentina are only substantially poorer than the Developed world.
Compare them to most of Asia and they actually don't look too bad. Compare them to the Middle East and they look pretty normal if not good. Compare them to most of Africa and they look great.
Stop comparing everyone to the USA as your baseline, the world isn't the United States.
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Wow the ignorance here is shocking.
Yes, Latin America has serious problems. Yes, this analysis is pretty on point.
But there are people making the claim that places like India and South Africa are much more developed. not in your wildest dreams.
Countries like Mexico, Brazil and Argentina are only substantially poorer than the Developed world.
Compare them to most of Asia and they actually don't look too bad. Compare them to the Middle East and they look pretty normal if not good. Compare them to most of Africa and they look great.
Stop comparing everyone to the USA as your baseline, the world isn't the United States.
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Leandro
I'm from Argentina. For some reason you're painting Patagonia (geographical region shared with Chile) as something different? And also insisting on the ridiculous idea that we are not part of The WestTM. Those who believe that probably think that west means rich anglo saxon country + some few exceptions.
We speak a Romance language, we use a legal system derived directly from the Roman Empire, the most important religion is Christianity, we watch the same movies, tv shows, we hear the same music and yet, we are not west. Not to mention. All of Latin America is literally on the western hemisphere! this is just crazy American talk
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I'm from Argentina. For some reason you're painting Patagonia (geographical region shared with Chile) as something different? And also insisting on the ridiculous idea that we are not part of The WestTM. Those who believe that probably think that west means rich anglo saxon country + some few exceptions.
We speak a Romance language, we use a legal system derived directly from the Roman Empire, the most important religion is Christianity, we watch the same movies, tv shows, we hear the same music and yet, we are not west. Not to mention. All of Latin America is literally on the western hemisphere! this is just crazy American talk
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Brian
Being forgotten isn't a bad thing. It means few outsiders will inflict their values upon you, you grow and contract at reasonable rates, if the system outside your area collapses (by 25'-32' my best estimate) Yours isn't as hard hit and your recovery swift comparatively meaning you'll be in prime position to dominate a large swath of the market. Yes it sucks now, yes this is not as good as it could be, but when, not if the outside system implodes your chances to survive are HIGHER than those in nicer places meaning your children could very well be the next American power.
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Being forgotten isn't a bad thing. It means few outsiders will inflict their values upon you, you grow and contract at reasonable rates, if the system outside your area collapses (by 25'-32' my best estimate) Yours isn't as hard hit and your recovery swift comparatively meaning you'll be in prime position to dominate a large swath of the market. Yes it sucks now, yes this is not as good as it could be, but when, not if the outside system implodes your chances to survive are HIGHER than those in nicer places meaning your children could very well be the next American power.
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David
The irony is that Argentina a 100 years ago was one of the wealthiest countires in the world and between the 2 world wars and after WW2 was probably the wealthiest and most advanced place in the Americas right after the USA and in some indicators was equal to Canada. Unfortunatel very bad policies and corruption and political instability ruined it. Argentina should be the most advanced country in Latin America and a global economic and cultural and probably even a military power but it is a great example of where favourable geography was ruined by bad policies.
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The irony is that Argentina a 100 years ago was one of the wealthiest countires in the world and between the 2 world wars and after WW2 was probably the wealthiest and most advanced place in the Americas right after the USA and in some indicators was equal to Canada. Unfortunatel very bad policies and corruption and political instability ruined it. Argentina should be the most advanced country in Latin America and a global economic and cultural and probably even a military power but it is a great example of where favourable geography was ruined by bad policies.
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