98 CultureShock! Boliviafor a minute fraction of what
those same items would cost
in supermarkets. Meanwhile, a
thriving ‘underground’ economy
allows just about anyone to fi nd
a spot of pavement and make a
subsistence or semisubsistence
income, often with contraband
or pirated items.
Legitimate Bolivian business people are most hurt by the
system, and these are the folks who could be building a new
economy. But expedience has caused authorities to look the
other way rather than confront the informal economy.
No visitor to Bolivia can escape this reality, and sooner
or later choices must be made as a consumer, involving
interaction with quasi-legal pirates and smugglers.Rich Experiences in a Poor Country
One moral advocate asked me how a person with ethical
principles could reconcile living a moderately affl uent life in
a poor country like Bolivia.
Bolivia has no monopoly on destitution. To the east of
downtown Los Angeles, California, pedestrians are required to
step over passed-out bodies of the homeless, with the crunch
of broken glass under their feet. What greater contradiction
than homeless people sleeping on heating grates near
monuments to democracy in Washington, DC?The Importance of the Family
A sociologist friend once travelled to South America to research skid
rows. He came back with a study on why skid rows were absent.
“The extended family acts as a welfare system,” he said. Down-and-
outers usually have a place to go. In many rural areas, the ancient
indigenous community, the ayllu, functions as an extended family,
with its own self government and welfare system.The extended family and rural ayllu security nets are far
from perfect. In Bolivian cities, one encounters abandoned
children living on the streets, many of them glue sniffers,Everyone knows that pirated
Adidas sweatshirts and
smuggled refrigerators do not
represent ethical business,
but everyone also knows that
without this informal economy
and in the absence of a viable
alternative, the social stability of
this country could implode.