Chile Forum

I might just point out to those that think chileans do not care about their animals, the massive market for pet food, toys, and so on in every single major grocery store, pet stores, and so on. The pet sections are sometimes larger than the toy sections in some stores. Some one is spending serious money on animals in chile.

I have seen entire neighborhoods ban together to care for the neighborhood street dogs.

Don't have time to get more in to this subject, there are more than a few threads here already.

That is true but that love is generally (there are obviously exceptions) reserved for Pedigree dogs. Having a dog that is not pedigree is not that common here for all sorts of reasons that I've tried to understand over the past few years. Coming from Europe its difficult to understand this mentality. Why is the life of a bred dog worth more than a dog on the street? And why do so many people throw their dog on the street when it doesn't look a certain way? It's funny because if you go to Buenos Aires for example the problem of the stray dogs is not so bad and many people have mixed bred dogs and quite proudly walk them in the street.

sophieb wrote:That is true but that love is generally (there are obviously exceptions) reserved for Pedigree dogs. Having a dog that is not pedigree is not that common here . . .

I have noticed comments on this forum that Chilean society has the propensity to favour humans with good "pedigree".
If both preferences truly exist, is it possible that Chileans' preference for pedigree dogs is merely another manifestation of that which motivates them to also prefer pedigree humans?
What is/are the source(s) of that motivation? . . . as neither preference makes sense to me.

Andres wrote:I have noticed comments on this forum that Chilean society has the propensity to favour humans with good "pedigree".
If both preferences truly exist, is it possible that Chileans' preference for pedigree dogs is merely another manifestation of that which motivates them to also prefer pedigree humans?
What is/are the source(s) of that motivation? . . . as it makes no sense to me in either context.

Could it be related to the apparently wide-spread phenomenon of Chileans seeing a European when they look in the mirror? My wife who is of American Indian/African American descent thinks it's downright hilarious.
Also, what's with the billboard adds featuring blond/blue-eyed models? Arn't Chileans about 95% mestizo?

john wrote: Could it be related to the apparently wide-spread phenomenon of Chileans seeing a European when they look in the mirror? ... Arn't Chileans about 95% mestizo?

I believe that the census policy in Chile does not make the distinction between "white/caucasian" and "white/caucasian with some other esp indigenous." So that is probably where you get the 95 percent mestizo. Even the unrestricted CIA "Fact Book" cites the published Chilean government-approved approach. In another reality, the numbers would come out quite differently, but it's the government's social identification policy to say that the population is essentially homogenous and thus unified and qualifying as a "chilean race."

A glance at wikipedia says this:

One study conducted by Francisco Lizcano from UNAM suggested that people of European origin made up 52.7% of the population and that Mestizos made up 44% of the population.[6] Other studies have found a white majority that would exceed 60% of the Chilean population.[7][8]

[6.] Fernández, Francisco Lizcano (2007). Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI. ISBN 9789707570528.
[7]. "Genetic epidemiology of single gene defects in Chile". Ukpmc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2010-05-16.[dead link]
[8]. Esteva-Fabregat (1988), Book: El mestizaje en lberoamérica "a white majority that exceeds 60% of the Chilean population".

Another wikipedia approach says this:

In 2009, Chile had an estimated population of 16,970,000. Of which approximately 8.8 millions or 52,7% are white European, with mestizos estimated at 44%.[2] Other studies found a white majority of 64% to 90% of the Chilean population.[3][17]

[2] Fernández, Francisco Lizcano (2007). Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI. ISBN 9789707570528.
[3] Argentina, como Chile y Uruguay, su población está formada casi exclusivamente por una población blanca e blanca mestiza procedente del sur de Europa, más del 90% E. García Zarza, 1992, 19.
[17] Genetic epidemiology of single gene defects in Chile.

Px,

Thanks for the census policy information ... so only 85% are hallucinatory?

john wrote:Px,

Thanks for the census policy information ... so only 85% are hallucinatory?

I'm afraid I don't understand that.

patagoniax wrote:john wrote:
Px,

Thanks for the census policy information ... so only 85% are hallucinatory?

I'm afraid I don't understand that.

Sorry! My attempt at being flippant has obviously backfired!

I'm assuming that 85% (100% less the 15% that are of 'pure' European ethnicity) of those who look in the mirror and see a European are mistaken. No?

BTW, I don't wish to get too wrapped up in such a contentious subject since it presents too much of an opportunity for people to start slinging allegations. However, if anyone might wish to read author Lizcano's study on "Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI" -- it is available in free PDF here.

http://convergencia.uaemex.mx/rev38/38pdf/LIZCANO.pdf

john wrote:

patagoniax wrote:john wrote:
Px,

Thanks for the census policy information ... so only 85% are hallucinatory?

I'm afraid I don't understand that.

Sorry! My attempt at being flippant has obviously backfired!

I'm assuming that 85% (100% less the 15% that are of 'pure' European ethnicity) of those who look in the mirror and see a European are mistaken. No?

In an attempt to reduce chamullo and guesswork I removed the figure of my bad memory and inserted instead some of the arguably more useful studies and numbers cited by the wikipedia contributors. I hope that there was something there that was useful to you in evaluating your earlier notions of ethnicity in this country. If those studies are reasonably accurate, around half of the CL population could be considered caucasian/white without a mestizo component.

Anyone wishing to post an authoritative explanation from Ministerio del Interior about why they use the census categories they do, please contribute.

Px,

Yes, it is a contentious subject and, understandably, too sensitive for further discussion on this forum. Thanks for the link ... very interesting study!