We have been buying groceries at the Mega Super. This is not a tourist-oriented grocery chain. There is no signage in English and you won’t find items like peanut butter. At the Mega Super a dozen beer costs $20. The final tally for my groceries, much of which was produce, was $80. This is not far from what I would pay for the same in Vancouver. And these are the prices that Ticos pay. Ray tells me people in the Orosi Valley region – an agricultural area – earn about $5000 a year. So the cost of living here is high. But then, so is the standard of living.
On the roads, many of which are rough, the vehicles are all fairly recent models and in pretty good shape. Even the trucks hauling farm produce. This is one big point of difference from Mexico. Another is the state of the dogs you see along the roadside. They all look cared-for and healthy. For that matter, the Ticos all seem healthy, relatively well off and content. The relaxed Tico attitude even extends to the touts in the touristy areas with their roadside souvenir shops – nobody badgers you to buy what they’re selling.
There is no military in Costa Rica. So no taxes are spent in that area, which translates into better funding for other services. The army was disbanded in the late 1940s by a politician who laid the foundation for the socialist democracy that Costa Rica is today. Another hallmark of that shift – from exploited banana republic to full-functioning, democratic and equitable society – is that for the past 65 years Costa Rica has been the most stable democratic nation in all Latin America.
At the risk of oversimplifying, it would seem the model of democratic socialism here – comparable to what we have in Canada – fully accounts for Costa Rica’s relatively high standard of living. Ticos enjoy state-funded medical care. Their electricity, car insurance and telecommunications are provided by state-owned corporations. Taxes are high. Prices too. But the people enjoy a pretty good life. And as a tourist to this country, I find it hard to begrudge the relatively high costs when I see how well the system seems to work for the benefit of Costa Ricans.