A Post from Paraguay

A Post from Paraguay

After a series of flights, I finally touched down in Paraguay, the heart of South America.

There's no disguising that it is a gruelling trip to this part of the world, but that's part of the attraction.

Going somewhere different from where most people go is a tale in itself, and I'm thrilled to be here.

One of the best things is that relatively few people speak English, so I have little choice but to bumble along with my mediocre Spanish.

It's clear I know enough to get by, even if a snooty waiter was rather unforgiving when I mixed up the words for dish and silver.

I said Plata instead of Plato when I asked, "What's your best dish?" it came out as "What's your best silver?"(which is also slang for money).

Snooty waiter aside, almost everyone else has been very patient with me, even if they all initially speak too fast for me to understand easily!

This country is clearly divided into the wealthy and the poor.

While there appears to be an emerging middle class, it still has a long way to go before it becomes a significant body of people.

However, there are many signs that the government is doing all it can to foster entrepreneurship and investment to strengthen the country. Taxes are low, the notorious Latin bureaucracy is less invasive than elsewhere, and people seem happy.

That doesn't mean it is easy for them, but there is great comfort in their strong cultural identity maintained throughout the country.

I wish the same could be said of Australia.

Like most of the West, Australia seems to be losing its identity as a result of mass migration and the insistence that 'all cultures are equal'.

Actually, it's worse than that. The West seems to be pursuing a process of 'other cultures are superior' that only undermines the established institutions that inform and guide a nation.

Yesterday, I had lunch with an Italian who has lived in Paraguay for five years.

He came here because he sensed the opportunities in his homeland for young people were no longer available.

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