I am wordless and speechless. I don't know what else to say
about Silvana Paternostro rather than how she is everything but Colombian.
Paternostro left colombia at a very young age, consequently turing her back on
Colombia. Now, she returns thirty years later crying on how her country is
falling apart, but doing nothing but than to criticize it. She comes back to
Colombia with the pretext of showing the world the truth about Colombia,
while in reality she simply focuses on the smallest portion of Colombia's
population: It's elite. Paternostro fails to comprehend that not every
Colombian household is the same.
Paternostro describes that
Colombian household "have masters and servants living as if it
were eighteenth-century feudalism” (Pg.72). In fact, only ten percent of the
country can afford having maids, or drivers. Nevertheless, she fails to
comprehend that Colombia isn't the only country that has
maids. Millionaires in America, or Europe live in mansions and have
butlers, maids, gardeners and drivers working for them too. It might be
that Paternostro doesn't agree with the hierarchical system
of maids and masters, but this isn't a phenomenon only occurring in
Colombia. Her mistake is she only acknowledges it as if it
were occurring only in Colombia.
Furthermore, she confuses hypocrisy with an act of
kindness. She is bewildered by how the servants "smile, laugh, as if they
enjoyed life at [her] grandmother's" (Pg. 153). Does being a maid, or even
an employee mean we have to be unhappy? She criticizes the system and
wonders if it's "paternalism or feudalism" (Pg. 152), when it's
really neither. The truth is that we live in a world of hierarchies, controlled
by a system called Capitalism. This means that there is a worldwide pyramid of
authority in which owners are on the top and employees on the bottom. There is
always going to be someone with a higher position than you. We aren't always on
the same level of authority. Simply because the case is much primitive in
Colombia doesn't make it neither slavery nor feudalism. Hiring maids, gardeners
or chauffeurs is the same as hiring an economist or a teacher. It
follows the same pattern and rigorous order as any other work
position in the world. There is nothing wrong with being kind, or having some
generosity with one's staff.
Paternostro places Colombia in a place were everything that
is not American or is foreign to her, is anachronistic. If she had a
problem with the way of how the world works, instead
of solely attacking Colombia, she must realize that it isn't the only
country that implements this structure. Paternostro portrays the problem as if
it were uniquely Colombia, when it is not. The text is incomplete, and
profoundly biased. She influences her text by her personal opinions and
prejudices of her country, making it an erroneous and narrow-minded
text.
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