I am in Managua today.  A week ago 60 men from a small town with no running water or sewer had no jobs.....and those that did were equivalent to $12 per month....
Last week they were hired as labor for a project here on the beach.....they walk 2 miles to be picked up and carried another mile in the back of a pickup truck with 20 others, they sleep in huts of plastic tarp roofs.
Today they got their first pay...$45.....you have never seen such smiles...they don't know a redan, Ben Hogan, triplex but they know this golf stuff and the development in the area is pretty good for them....
And we freak on Merion threads.....

Mike,

Thanks for such a poignant thread relating to the benefits of the sport versus some of the harsh realities (imbalance) of the planet !

Most of us just don't know we're living. Many need the perspective you have thoughtfully illustrated !

Alfie.

I hope the greenfees for either the locals or foreign visitors reflect the wages that still are cheeper than the overhead associated with slave labor.  I have never understood why when I go to Cancun and stay at the Ritz I spend as much money as if I was in Chicago.

JK,
I don't disagree......one project I am doing now has a 310 room JW Marriott being built....there are 1000 workers on site at any given time....and they are glad to be there...
I was once told by a large philanthropist that they have no idea where we came from when we stepped off of the plane and showing them would really confuse them....they are happy and don't consider themselves poor....(not the same as the guys I mentioned in beginning)....

John,
No you could not...not in the US....
The person I speak of has a trust for the children of Costa Rica....he has taken a region that had no jobs, not much education and created an economy that works.....I had many of the same thoughts as you until I saw it evolve....

My father grew up on a dairy farm...I always heard the stories of how my grandfather had to leave school to go work on the farm and how he had to walk to the farm everyday etc...(we have all heard such stories) and then may fahter's generation had to walk 4 miles to school, and then my genration got to ride the bus and maybe a car later and now my kid's generation drives SUV's and BMW;s to school...plays golf after school and some work during the summer....

When I see some of these guys walking to work in these areas today I think they must be youg men like my grandfather's generation...they are glad to have the job....the economy is allowing for better schools..better medical and their children will be the generation compared to my father's generation....
In CR a dentist makes $20,000 a secretary $4000.  
What really has become aparent to me is what can happen when people are given a working economy and want to advance.....I am worried for the genration of my children and their children where many seem to think they are due priviledge and while they are looking down at some of this up and coming workforce the free enterprise system will walk right over them....
Come down here and we can talk some more.....
Mike

Mike--

Your posts put a lot of what goes on in the world in perspective.  I just hope those workman have jobs once the construction project is completed.  

John K--

The locals in any touristy area hate the tourists.  They fill the restaurants, clog the roads, act like they have no clue what's going on, and generally think they own the place.  As I remind some of my local friends here in Cashiers, those tourists are the reason that we are living the good lifestyle that we are, get over it and enjoy the times when they aren't here.  

As an aside, we've had the word "lemmings" and "locusts" both used today on this site.  I never thought we'd get to that point.  

Mike,

And the Indians thuncked Thanksgiving was a great way to network with the new guys..

Michael,

With all due respect I do love the peoples of that part of the world.  They remind me of the Irish from a few years back...My contention is only that settlers seem to always outstay their welcome.  I can't think of another instance in the history of the world where the original people of a region are still happy and in power....Maybe the Swedes...whoever hurt a Swede..

Tu habla espagnol,amigo Mike?,Great people,great culture,sad heritage(exploitation  by yankee corporations)Try thieir ways,it's thier country.I only wish we had illegal or legal latinos here in Western Canada,other than the criminal minoritity which makes headlines.Buenos Noches....felize manyana.....Greg

the domed Vikings have been playing 16 games a year lately!  

Mike--

The high temp here might make it to 71 today.  We need a little bit of rain, I know some courses in the area that are hurting at the moment.