http://www.saltshaker.net/20051031/the-godfather-part-i Casting a little flavor (and a few aspersions) on the world of food, drink, and life Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:33:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://www.saltshaker.net/20051031/the-godfather-part-i#comment-57 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Protests - Political and Gustatory Sat, 05 Nov 2005 12:10:35 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20051031/the-godfather-part-i#comment-57 [...] In the two “violent” incidents here in the capitol it was much more targetted. A few protestors broke away from the march and rally and threw molotov cocktails at a couple of fast food outlets and smashed windows and furniture in a Bank Boston branch. Though they were targetting what they perceive as U.S. imperialism, the problem is, these businesses are here, and successful, because locals want them to be. And once again, all they did really is put more locals out of work. Despite whatever mouthings of distaste that I hear from Argentines about fast food outlets, foreign banks, and chain stores like Wal-Mart and Carrefour, they’re the ones shopping in those places. Trust me, you walk into the local Wal-Mart, the aisles aren’t filled with U.S. citizens trying to find goods from back home, they’re filled with locals trying to get “American” goods at a bargain price. The teens hanging out eating burgers at McDonald’s and Burger King aren’t backpackers from Indianapolis, they’re locals spending their parents’ hard-earned pesos on “a real American hamburger.” Every Argentine I know who has any amount of money stashes it in one of those foreign banks, often in an overseas branch. The first thing I heard the other day when I became a padrino was “how do we send our kids to America to be educated?” And despite the occasional complaints I hear about all the U.S. and British ex-pats moving here and buying up homes, nobody’s turning down the influx of currency and investment when it comes time for their share. [...] [...] In the two “violent” incidents here in the capitol it was much more targetted. A few protestors broke away from the march and rally and threw molotov cocktails at a couple of fast food outlets and smashed windows and furniture in a Bank Boston branch. Though they were targetting what they perceive as U.S. imperialism, the problem is, these businesses are here, and successful, because locals want them to be. And once again, all they did really is put more locals out of work. Despite whatever mouthings of distaste that I hear from Argentines about fast food outlets, foreign banks, and chain stores like Wal-Mart and Carrefour, they’re the ones shopping in those places. Trust me, you walk into the local Wal-Mart, the aisles aren’t filled with U.S. citizens trying to find goods from back home, they’re filled with locals trying to get “American” goods at a bargain price. The teens hanging out eating burgers at McDonald’s and Burger King aren’t backpackers from Indianapolis, they’re locals spending their parents’ hard-earned pesos on “a real American hamburger.” Every Argentine I know who has any amount of money stashes it in one of those foreign banks, often in an overseas branch. The first thing I heard the other day when I became a padrino was “how do we send our kids to America to be educated?” And despite the occasional complaints I hear about all the U.S. and British ex-pats moving here and buying up homes, nobody’s turning down the influx of currency and investment when it comes time for their share. [...]

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