TL;DR: Chile is currently running a convent for a new constitution and there is a proposal to adopt the free software values and privacy into their constitution. It will be proposed to the convent if 15,000 Chilean signatures can be collected.
Does anybody know how Chile compares to the US or Europe regarding the quality of life for its citizens? Would it be worth it to move there?
I have only lived there shortly but I do have some friends there.
Quality of live in Santiago or another big city is quite high, but at least compared to Europe even more privatized, so there are huge social differences especially in education and so on.
Outside of the big cities you can have great outdoor experiences, but services are more comparable to remote places.
Also no train network or such, but great quality and relatively affordable overland busses, but distances are huge.
Overall I would say its history of extreme privatization and social exclusion shows in most aspects of life, but due to the income from copper, lithium and agricultural exports it is a relatively wealthy country and thus lifestyle isn’t that far off that in the US or Europe.
…but at least compared to Europe even more privatized…
Chile underwent a neoliberal transition that wrecked the economy for a while. There is a really good documentary on the whole thing called the Chicago Boys (didn’t mean to bury the lead lol, chicago boys references the economists from the University of Chicago that basically showed Chile the neoliberal way).
- Here is a primer on it: https://youtu.be/y_ecE5SAoK4
- Here is the trailer for a full film which I can’t seem to find: https://youtu.be/oS9lZB6HArk
- Edit: Another really good mini doc by al jazeera’s start here on the matter: https://youtu.be/Y-JKy_9PfBg
The film is available on-demand here: https://vimeo.com/laventanacine/vod_pages
It was recently televised on TVN (Television Nacional de Chile) and someone uploaded it here if you don’t feel like paying: https://ok.ru/video/888949770999 (Spanish, no subtitles)
Awesome! Thanks for this.