Government Regulation, How much is enough?

by Bob

 

Background

We are visiting Costa Rica for nine weeks, one month on the beach in El Coco, one month in the Central Valley in Atenas, one week near San Jose in Escazu.

 

Government involvement

Here in Costa Rica, we see evidence of a very low level of Government involvement in the lives of its citizens. On the other hand, at our home in Massachusetts we see a much higher level of involvement.

 

Sidewalks and Storm Drainage

In the streets of El Coco and Atenas we see sidewalks and storm drainage done as a mishmash of creative, cobbled together solutions to very particular problems. It appears that each property owner takes responsibility for the sidewalk that boarders his property. The solutions work, sort of, but leave a treacherous obstacle course for pedestrians.

 

It is obvious that, to date, Costa Rica lacks the standards, the enforcement, the resources, the will to regulate, or the desire for safe and functional systems of storm water control and pedestrian passage on the public way in urban areas.

 

Zoning Regulations

As I briefly discussed in my "Houses of Atenas" post, zoning regulation is nowhere apparent in El Coco or Atenas.

 

I do see some evidence of de facto zoning via developer design. In most cases, the multi-home developments now stand only partially completed with weathered signs offering lots for sale, stranded after the outgoing tide of the last economic wave.

 

Zoning, no surprise here, creates zones. Zones require a transportation system to carry people between the zones so that they may accomplish the functions of their lives. In the end, this means cars. Cars mean highways and parking. This can be expensive, but what the hell, we all love our cars, right?

 

Big Sugar Drinks

On CNN, we see much ado about Mayor Bloomberg's attempt ban super large sugar drinks. The gist of the TV commentary is focused on citizen freedom and government regulation and the national health.

 

Of course, there is much more to government regulation than sidewalks, storm drainage, and sugar drink consumption. The question is this, how much is enough?

 

Pedophilia-phobia

I remember a Rush Limbaugh piece of a couple of years back in which he was railing against pedophiles and calling for Federal legislation to end pedophilia. I found it interesting that a loud mouth proponent of eliminating Federal regulation would express such emphatic interest in dragging the Feds into an area where we already have ample State law.

 

La Pura Vida

Getting back to Costa Rica, Costa Ricans have this National phrase, La Pura Vida, which could mean whatever you want it to mean, I suppose. The phrase is often added as a closing to conversation. Our take-away meaning: live in the moment, don't worry about yesterday or tomorrow, don't fix it if it's not broke, be happy. But La Pura Vida is not the New England way. We are a culture of preparation for the coming winter and a Puritanical preparation for Judgement Day, which is, after all, everyday - the judgement of our peers.

 

Conclusion

My point is this: when we see a problem, we want our all powerful Federal Government to solve that problem. When others see a problem that we don't see, some of us tend think that the Feds should stay out of it.

 

In the US, we are quick to demand that our government, be it local, state, or Federal, fix our problems. It could be anything from a nasty trip point in the sidewalk to a nation of fatties. In Costa Rica not so much.

 

The debate over the scope and role of government will never end. We will continue to need to fine tune our regulations and this will call for establishment, expansion, modification, contraction, and elimination of government programs based on our best analysis. Talk about one political party for small government and one party for big government is just silly.

 

Our observations here in Costa Rica of a nation of low profile government lead us to the personal conclusion that, "La Pura Vida is not for us." This said, we are well aware that looking to government to solve our problems does carry with it the downside that we will miss opportunities to use our own initiative to solve our own problems.

 

For those of us Americans who yearn for a yesteryear of little government, I recommend spending a month or two in lovely Costa Rica. CR is a great opportunity to witness small government first hand. But visitors had best hurry. Costa Rica is frenetically working to create an environment much like our highly regulated environment in the US.

 

After Note

I have been walking around Atenas the past couple of days thinking about my prediction that the town will get converted into an American style bedroom community for San Jose. It seems unlikely to me this evening sitting here in a cafe. This evening I see it as the town it has to be, becoming the town it has to become. This evening I could almost become an expat myself, but expats are such whackos. Could I really be one of them?

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