Opponents of Socialism seem to delight in dissecting the ongoing disaster that is Venezuela. Unfortunately, however, young supporters of Corbynism are not listening – their eyes glaze over when Venezuela is mentioned; they fail to see the relevance.
Perhaps we should instead shift our attention to a country further round the Caribbean coast clockwise from Caracas, namely Costa Rica, a country that puts a high priority on education, healthcare, welfare and environmental protection, is relatively egalitarian, and what is more doesn’t have a standing army: what is there for a typical millenial leftist not to like?
Costa Rica is nearly two and and half times the size of Wales, with a population density of about two-thirds that of Wales. Over a quarter of the country is protected, being dedicated to national parks and other wildlife reserves and refuges. Only a tiny proportion of the protected area — 0.003% — is accessible by tourists.
In terms of its politics, I had been vaguely aware that Costa Rica was different to its neighbours for a number of years, but what really brought it home to me was, perhaps oddly, its national team’s approach to the game of football. During the last football World Cup in Brazil, Costa Rica was in the same group as England; they played with such a sense of joy made such an impact on me that I did not begrudge the fact that their victories over Uruguay and Italy knocked England out before the final group game.
Costa Rica is supposed by many to be one of the happiest countries on the planet. Having recently visited it, and having also visited other reputedly happy countries such as Australia, Canada and Switzerland, I can quite believe that to be true.
So why is Costa Rica so happy? Is it happy because it is a stable liberal democracy? Or is it a stable liberal democracy because it is happy?
I have seen some theories that its happiness is helped by its weather, with some parts of the country enjoying plenty of sunshine. But much of the country has large amounts of rainfall, with uncomfortably high humidity, and plenty of nasty biting insects. That does not therefore seem to account for it.
Other theories indicate that it is related to the importance placed upon family and community. Each small town of any significance almost invariably has 4 things: a church, a school, a bar and a football pitch, perhaps ideal ingredients for social cohesion.
The most cogent explanation I have seen is that, at the time of colonisation, it lacked both mineral resources and an indigenous population to exploit. Indeed, in 1719, a governor pronounced it “the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in all America”. The early Costa Rican settlers therefore had to work the land themselves, discouraging the establishment of large plantations, thus avoiding the import of slaves, and leading to it becoming a far more egalitarian nation than its neighbours.
Its society should therefore appeal to not just those attracted to leftist philosophies but also to classical liberals and libertarians.
Costa Rica has been changing in recent times, however. It is now a mainstream (if not mass) tourist destination, there being direct flights not only from the USA and Canada but also now from European cities (BA flies to San Jose twice a week from Gatwick, for example).
Costa Rica has also set out to attract foreign investment, in the shape of free trade zones, with investment and tax incentives. As a result it has become substantially more prosperous, with GDP increasing by nearly 50% between 2011 and 2017.
This increase in prosperity is giving rise to some issues: coffee plantation owners are finding that they can’t recruit Ticos (as the Costa Ricans call themselves) for the harvest, and are having to import labour from Nicaragua and Colombia instead. Indeed, Nicaraguans and Colombians now make up more than 10% of the population.
It will be interesting to see whether, as Costa Rica becomes more prosperous, it remains as happy. So why is it that hardly anyone else is writing about Costa Rica?
