Originally Posted by
Eastbay1K
This is a polite reminder that most people when visiting BA have a "first world" experience" and do not realize that the country as a whole has a lot of severe poverty, the likes of which do NOT exist in the first world. What worked in NYC in the 70s will not work in BA in 2008. Further, if a percentage of those folks end up with enough money to eat, it is a "good thing," no matter how annoying or what a nuisance it may be, and I don't disagree with the nuisance aspect.
Honestly, you don't see that much true poverty as a tourist in BA these days (different from, say, 2003, when lots of people were collecting cardboard on the streets). Yes, "the poor" are obviously worse off than the poor in "first world" countries, but as far as int'l poverty goes, Argentina doesn't make it on the list. I think the country's main economic woe is that things are stacked against the middle class: there's no incentive to save, so you spend what you earn. This actually makes BA appear more prosperous than it really is.
If you don't take the subway, avert your glance at some of the shantytowns on the outskirts of town, and ignore the obvious public infrastructure problems like broken pavement and such, Buenos Aires can still pass for a declining but important European city.