Not to be rude, but why do you chose to live there? If you value your health and friends, why live in a war zone.
I hate my government, the corruption, violence, bigotry.. But this is my home. I love the people, the culture, the food, my friends and family.
I've traveled and I've lived in other areas in the world. But this place is my home.
People wonder why anyone would want to live in the Middle East; Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gaza Strip? Because this is my land, these are my people, my tribe.
I will stay, and I will fight and protest for a better life for everyone in this country.
Sorry I feel this is too offtopic for HN, but I couldn't help but reply.
Based on impressions created by Hollywood movies, people I've spoken to in South Africa express opinions that Mexico is some kind of hellhole. Here's a sobering comparison:
https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=mexico+south+africa
In most measures, Mexico is way ahead of South Africa.
I'd feel a lot more hopeless if things were stagnating or getting worse. I can't imagine being a Syrian right now, for example.
I think the biggest change we've seen recently is English becoming more popular among the youth. That and technology which brings about education and positive influence from developed countries.
I'm very supportive of subsidized and ultra-low-cost smartphones and laptops. I think a lot of our issues won't be solved in the next 30 or 50 years, but as the world becomes more connected and social issues are democratized, ideas and efforts are spread through passion and action rather than advertising budgets..
Money will eventually no longer run this government and people will start to think for themselves.
Look at China, they employ hundreds of thousands of people to save their public image, they have a walled garden which they pluck and trim to fit their needs. But only half of their country (excluding rural and unregistered jurisdictions) has access to the internet. Is that going to be feasible long-term?
This is why things like Reddit, albeit very American-centric, have such a positive affect on the world. I want to see more countries get their "own" Reddit which is free of corporate interest and censorship. A medium that everyone has access to and uses.
That's not really what it's about for us. South Africans have become experts at making the most out of a bad situation so things are always "good" in a way that's hard to describe out of context.
When you ask if South Africa is improving you have to qualify that with: which class? Anything that the government controls is going backwards. The middle and upper classes, however, have in a way created their own functioning infrastructure.
* The police force is complete ineffective. Solution: build a fortress and hire private security.
* Continuous controlled blackouts because the power infrastructure is inadequate. Solution: buy a generator.
* Hijackings, muggings. Solution: lojack all cars (car insurance now requires it) and don't walk anywhere.
As I said, we make it good.
Couldn't stop my brain from reading it in a SA accent. :)
However, I don't want to diminish what others have experienced - I just want to put it into perspective. It is still a dangerous country to live in. Even though I lived in a 'safe' area I had to travel through 'unsafe' areas to get to friends, family, and work. On top of this the judicial system is a shambles due to corruption and incompetence. Apathy and burnout is extremely common in the police so they don't really care anymore because why should they? They bust their balls off investigating, arresting, etc only to have the court case thrown out because, for example, important court documents go missing and no one is arsed enough to investigate why :/
There are thousands of people looking to get into any country that is considered "safe".
Asylum seekers are being denied every day at borders, whether they're crossing the border into the Southern US, or floating ashore on a raft in Australia.
Your qualifications are meaningless, ask your next 10 taxi drivers where they're from and what they studied. More than half will have a degree from their home countries.
One only needs to try to move to a safer country.
As a species, we've become very tied to our original locations. Stability had its advantages in the early days of agriculture. Today I wish we'd make our borders more porous, legally and bureaucratically.
Why should a remote worker be paid less for the same created value, simply because they live in a "cheaper" country?
I was only able to move the UK because I found out I could get a British passport (so I did) plus my company paid for most of the relocation.