Travel Wishes

I don't normally like to post about my wishes, because I am one of those people who believes that people who wish are just too lazy to accomplish their goals. If you want something bad enough in life, you can get it. With that being said, I really want to check out Chile sometime! Here is a map: Notice how the Chilean state claims a big part of Antarctica? When I visit Chile, I am going to make sure that I take a tour of Chilean Antarctica!

Today, Chile is the wealthiest and freest state in Latin America, largely because it is the state with the least amount of government and the least amount of international trade restrictions. Although both Brazil and Argentina have larger GDP's due to their geographical size advantages, Chilean citizens - on average - enjoy a much more comfortable standard of living than either in Brazil or Argentina. In other words, the wealth disparities caused by government intervention (specifically protectionist measures undertaken by Buenos Aires and Brasilia at the behest of powerful domestic labor factions) are negligible in Chile; the Chileans have a much larger, much more dynamic middle class than their larger neighbors, and as a result, their democratic process is much more envied than that of Brazil's or Argentina's (although Brazil's recent attempts to liberalize their economy has led to pretty good democratic institutions, but not-so-good wealth disparity numbers).

The sole exception to the negligible wealth disparities in Chile comes at the horrifying expense of the Native American nations currently residing on reservations. Because of the wars of the past, the Native Americans have been under the occupation of the Chilean state and therefore under its care as well, to very detrimental effect. They should, as should we in the United States, abolish the Indian reservations and Indian bureaucracies and either grant the nations sovereignty or give them full citizenship.

But I really just want to go to Chile for the beautiful women and the Antarctic experience. And the lakes, the rivers, the Andes, etc., etc.