EmilyKasky

Debating: Hispanic American-style

In my quest to understand why Latin America is so messed up and what can be learned from the problems there, I have been doing some outside reading on the Internet. My travels have led me to a particular Hispanic American website. I like this site because it’s an online magazine, with articles written about Hispanic American culture, society, politics, economics, etc. The site is in English, however, I still like it because some of the contributors are Americans, and give a variety of American viewpoints on subjects since they have either lived there extensively or currently reside there.

This site offers open, anonymous forums for each article. Lately I’ve been checking out the comments posted (and posting some of my own) and the responses. Most of the people who comment are Hispanics, with some Americans, and a few Europeans. I’ve been checking out these comments (and responses to my own comments), and frankly, I’m pretty shocked (in some ways) at the responses, which usually includes some sort of insult directed at someone on the forum who posted, with words such as: idiot, moron, jerk, etc. These are usually accompanied by some profanity, used as subjects, verbs, nouns, adjectives – Almost every part of English speech. (I’ll tell you, Hispanics might not have great English, but they can sure cuss like born ‘n’ bred Americans.)

This, sadly, is another example of why Hispanic America is so fouled up. I profess that I’m no talented debater, however, I do try to follow some rules of etiquette and decency. Rule #1: Insult the argument, not the person. Rip into somebody’s argument and tear it to shreds, but be respectful of the other person, and walk away as friends not enemies. This “rule” is missed most of the time by Hispanics, most likely due to the old societal “tradition” of “machismo.”

Machismo (which I’ve heard, comes from the Arabs) is not simply chauvinism, which permits Hispanic men to behave like immoral animals in their lust for “conquests,” and relegates women to a subservient status. Machismo is the heart of what being a man is all about. One tenet of this includes that of vengeance. If a man feels his manhood is “insulted” (a term that is broadly defined), then he will seek vengeance to re-establish it. And this conduct isn’t only directed at other men – It’s also directed at women. If a man feels his manhood has been degraded by a woman, she should be very careful, because he won’t get over the “insult” (even if it wasn’t an insult) and will look for an opportunity to get revenge…..What a childish way to conduct business, but that is how it is conducted down there for the most part. Guys always have to have things their way – If they don’t, then they act like spoiled brats, only fully-grown spoiled brats capable of violent acts, which, in my opinion, is pretty scary.

This leads to how politics is conducted in Hispanic America. Basically, people consider themselves personally insulted if someone would have a viewpoint that would oppose their own, so they lash out. No, they can’t attack the argument – They have to attack the person. And that’s where things get really heated and ugly. If you say that you don’t like something about their country, they get on the defensive and start insulting you, in some cases. (Never mind that many of them come here and complain and trash the U.S., however.) I’m surprised that there haven’t been more revolutions in Hispanic America than there have been because people are so polarized. At least here in America there’s some give and take (although things seem to become increasingly polarized). However, even if we Americans heatedly disagree with each other, for the most part, we follow the rules and can accept some give and take as the political pendulum swings back and forth from left to right and vice-versa. However, if you throw machismo into the pot, you get this unrestrained attitude that believes in the end justifying the means. This can lead to a whole lot of problems, and I wouldn’t be surprised if machismo is a major factor in the corruption and violence in Hispanic America. Perhaps if they weren’t so defensive and sensitive to anybody who disagrees with them, they could actually have REAL debates instead the “I-don’t-like-your-views-so-I’m-going-to-put-you-down-to-make-me-feel-better” kindergarten-shouting matches that places such as this online forum have become.