Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 143 posts

Re: Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

#131

Post by typon »

stfu wrote: post #95

I thought the pandering to the underbelly ideology would only be celebrated among the reddit crowd. Sad to see that hn has been increasingly infected with these ideas as well. Sure, I am all for supporting the homeless and needy, but come on, re-purposing the presidential residence as a homeless shelter? That is the epitome of a populist gesture! If he is the president, he should act like a president, dress like a pr…

That's one of most terrible comments I've seen here.

"Let's keep the status quo because...ummm...it's the status quo?"

Re: Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

#132

Post by aortega »

INTPenis wrote: post #98
ilamont wrote: post #7

Pope Francis has also rejected some of the traditional trappings of the Papacy (1): For his unveiling as pope Wednesday to the throng in St. Peter's Square, he shunned a special fur-trimmed red half-cloak and golden cross in favor of plain white vestments and his usual iron cross. To go pray at a church in central Rome on Thursday, he hopped into a regular Vatican sedan, not the papal limousine. He prefers a simple m…

I'll tell you what I told my deeply catholic father when he mentioned this; once they start sending out engineers and doctors instead of missionaries, then I'll be impressed.

Funny you mention it, jesuit formation starts with a university level degree and I met one that's a professional astronomer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuit_formation)

Re: Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

#133

Post by aortega »

geekymartian wrote: post #106

Uruguayan here. About the populist act: the presidential palace itself was not used as a homeless shelter, just the barbecue (has a roof) (that is kind of "luxurious" for the poor standards of living down here) If you're planning to move, please note that we have a state that charges you 23% of taxes on ALL products and services, plus a 20% to 35% of taxes over your earnings. And what you get for free if you're middl…

I was hoping to move there to escape exactly the same problems here in Argentina!

Re: Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

#134

Post by mb_72 »

crdoconnor wrote: post #94
mb_72 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Estonia has a population of 1.3 million, and the head of state certainly has all of those 'trappings' and security etc. It's more about a deliberate choice of how the country's money is spent.

Your parliamentary debate chamber looks like an overgrown classroom though. Quite austere I thought.

I think the 'current' design of the parliamentary chamber is from the '20s - the austerity is probably accidental and a sign of it's age more than anything else.

Some (English) history of the parliamentary building is here, should you be interested: http://www.riigikogu.ee/index.php?id=37659

Re: Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

#135

Post by singold »

Natsu wrote: post #124
singold wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also take into account that it is not the same to be in prison on a democracy that in a dictatorship.

Well yes, it's true that I have no way of knowing that he was actually guilty, that he got a fair trial, etc. But assuming he actually was guilty (a potentially bad assumption), then the prison sentence itself was not objectively unreasonable (it's within striking distance of an average sentence), though the prison conditions very well might have been unreasonable.

I agree that the "sentence" is probably reasonable, but I was thinking more about the prison conditions, isolation, torture, etc.

Re: Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

#136

Post by grecy »

beachwood23 wrote: post #121
grecy wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now you try and fix those two things. You mean with care for the mentally ill, etc. like in developed countries?

So you want to lock up any person who shows the slightest sign of instability?

I said care, not incarceration.

I want to treat them, give them access to professional help - you know, care for them.

Re: Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

#137

Post by grecy »

ggambetta wrote: post #102
grecy wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very beautiful, and people are extremely friendly and happy. I highly recommend a visit, if nothing else.

"Visit and nothing else" is a great idea. Living there isn't.

Have you been? What's your firs hand experience?

I spent over 2 years in Central and South America, many months in a few countries. I didn't get to spend very long in Uruguay, but it seemed great to me.

Re: Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

#138

Post by vasilipupkin »

alan_cx wrote: post #104
vasilipupkin wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not at all - a "socialist" system involves doubling taxes On the middle class - that's really tough to sell to....the middle class, shockingly

1) Are US taxes half EU taxes then? 2) "Middle class", do you mean working classes? 3) Why do so many people think its a choice between the two, socialism and capitalism? What people want is a sensible compromise where both systems work to service all of society's needs, instead of a single system which can only benefit one part of society. No one serious thinks pure, exclusive socialism is the answer to anything? It…

Of course, even the U.S. is not pure capitalist system - we have a multitude of programs that are design to support the poor

Re: Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

#139

Post by vasilipupkin »

pgeorgi wrote: post #96
vasilipupkin wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

healthcare and education in your country aren't free - they are paid for by high taxes on the middle class

Do you even know where the parent poster is living? Since healthcare in _my_ "socialist" (from a USA point of view) country certainly isn't generally paid for by taxes but by insurance fees. (Exception: the unemployed are covered by social security, which is an insurance system partially backed from the tax pool) The only "socialist" part here is that they make it hard to avoid the system (that is, leech off from oth…

Money is fungible. Generally, the higher level of services is paid for by the higher level of overall taxation - you can call it fees or whatever, it doesn't change the fact that on average, you are left with less disposable income. This might be fine as a societal choice, but just don't think it's free.

Re: Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills

#140

Post by NicoFrank »

I live in Uruguay and I can tell that all this Mujica thing has a lot of marketing on top of it. He is just a drunk old man that hasn´t done anything successful in his life. He is really unqualified for the job he is doing and usually uses the slogan "I tell what I think" because he is usually drunk.
Post reply on HN