The State of a Nation

I read an article in the latest issue of The Tico Times regarding the growing inequality between the rich and the poor in Costa Rica.  Highlighted in the piece is the painting to the left by national artist, Héctor Gamboa.  The scene pictures children playing amongst "tugurios" (or tin-roofed shacks that riddle Costa Rica's poorest barrios) by the river, while looming large along the high-grounds are evidences of Costa Rica's surge towards development.  Tico's at the top of the economic scale certainly have more opportunity to benefit from foreign investment spawned development than those on the lowest tier.  That is no surprise.  I would imagine that to be a consequence of any nation rising from third-world to developed status.  Costa Rica does do a fair job of at least trying to give all its citizens the tools to take part in advancement, tools like education and good health.  But it seems this article is leaving out the vast majority of ticos that do not reside in either the uppermost or lowest tiers, the ticos who live in neat little homes located in tranquil communities like San Ramon, Grecia or Sarchi and countless other picturesque pueblos in every corner of the country.  This is the middle class of Costa Rica and as far as I can see, it is thriving fairly well.  To me these are the folks that make Costa Rica what it is, a place where happiness doesn't depend on the size of one's paycheck or how much "stuff" one can accumulate over the course of a lifetime.  These people are happy just to be alive and get to experience for free each waking day the beauty of their homeland and the "pura vida" spirit of family and friends.  That is not to downplay the problem of poverty and the social unrest it engenders.  Costa Rica does have such a problem.  But it is also not true to paint the picture of Costa Rica as a place where there are the "haves" and the "have-nots" and nothing in between, when in reality the vast majority of ticos are squarely "in between."  Let's call them the happy "have-lesses." I probably should not be so presumptive as to speak for them, but I would at least venture a guess to say that they are quite content with having less than those at the top.  The high ranking of Costa Rica on certain "happiness" indices in recent years is no doubt a direct result of that happy have-less crowd.  For the truth is, the more we have to have to be happy, the harder we make it on ourselves to actually experience that coveted emotional state.