Should we be happy about modernity?
Santiago’s buses just made a big step into modernity. From now on, all the passengers will pay with an electronic card, instead of old tickets. The Transsantiago is a great thing, as it should resolve some pollution problems in Santiago, and create a more coherent net of connexions with the subway.
But it threats the existence of thousands people whose job consisted in selling any kind of things (ice creams, cookies, matches…) inside the buses. Until now, the drivers used to let them get in and out for free, but with the new system, no way to get in without a card. All the people who made little money all their life will suddenly be without resources, and I doubt they will be able to adapt and find another job.
This is symptomatic of the way Chile develops its econolmy. It’s spectacular, but it doesn’t benefit to a big part of the population. In that particular case, as many others (the universities’ fees, for instance), it increases inequalities, despite of president Michelle Bachelet’s numerous social measures. Liberalism rules in Chile.
The only good news is that the government agreed that the musicians who use to play in the buses would get a card for free. But I personnaly would agree to pay a little bit more, in order to let the street sellers getting in, so that I could eat an ice cream in the bus.
But it threats the existence of thousands people whose job consisted in selling any kind of things (ice creams, cookies, matches…) inside the buses. Until now, the drivers used to let them get in and out for free, but with the new system, no way to get in without a card. All the people who made little money all their life will suddenly be without resources, and I doubt they will be able to adapt and find another job.
This is symptomatic of the way Chile develops its econolmy. It’s spectacular, but it doesn’t benefit to a big part of the population. In that particular case, as many others (the universities’ fees, for instance), it increases inequalities, despite of president Michelle Bachelet’s numerous social measures. Liberalism rules in Chile.
The only good news is that the government agreed that the musicians who use to play in the buses would get a card for free. But I personnaly would agree to pay a little bit more, in order to let the street sellers getting in, so that I could eat an ice cream in the bus.
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