A little while back we published an article entitled, “Understanding the PuraVida”.  

It captivated many foreign readers who wrote to us thanking us for “helping them understand the philosophy” behind the words so commonly used in Costa Rica.  At the same time, a Costa Rican reader wrote to us in appreciation of our “effort to rescue the positive values of the nation’s idiosyncrasy”.

However, it wasn’t all praise and there were also those who found the article to be “too optimistic”, “with a prejudiced analysis” or even that “it attempted to justify attitudes detrimental to this society”.

^{To be honest, one must recognize that these criticisms do have some validity.  It is for this reason we will approach this controversial subject from a new and different perspective.*}

Hidden vices of Puravida?

A Canadian reader said it very clearly: “Lies, corruption, mediocrity and irresponsibility have nothing to do with Puravida, as they harm others and taken as a group, it affects the economical development of the nation”.

Completely true, but here it’s fair to ask some questions like...

Do these vices generalize Costa Rica?  Are they personified in the Puravida philosophy?

Let’s take a closer look…

Though many may lump all the vices in question together as traits of the Costa Rican culture, corruption and deceit have been and remain present in varying degrees

throughout the world.

One could say that such behavior is part of human nature and that each society wagers a constant battle against them. 

Corruption exists in Costa Rica, but frankly, in a much smaller scale than in most other Latin American countries.

We carefully analyzed specific details of local corruption in an attempt to find any link that may exist with the Puravida philosophy.  In the end, we were unable to find evidence to support any effect that Puravida plays on corruption or deceit.  In fact, Costa Ricans naturally and intuitively classified the practice of corruption as a bad thing, something “anti-PuraVida”.

Quite the contrary, Puravida strives to be a set of values and simple rules that guide people towards a life of happiness and harmony and thus it can never be used as a shield to justify or promote the negative attitudes mentioned above.

It’s easy to understand how anyone, both Ticos as well as foreigners, can be tempted to offer a bribe of ¢2,000 that can save them from a fine a ¢50,000.  The origin of this comes from a global moral weakness and this is the first thing that a society must overcome in its fight against corruption. Corruption only works if the corrupt person can get others to pay him.  It’s everyone’s responsibility to break this cycle.

Ok, corruption is not part of the Puravida lifestyle, but... What about mediocrity and irresponsibility?

This is a very different story, one that has more local flavor. Is not hard to find clear links that tie laziness to Puravida philosophy.  

In fact, several Costa Rican sociologists have studied the subject and arrived at similar conclusions, which we have used as a guide in our process of understanding how laziness and Puravida may be connected.

The root of it all lies in the profound national concept of what happiness actually is:  Ticos like to live in peace, to take it easy in life, to have plenty of time to enjoy life and hopefully to have very few stressful things in their lives.  The average Tico has it engrained in their cultural genetics that the secret to happiness consists to a large degree in avoiding conflict, working the bare minimum, limiting their responsibilities, and not complicating their lives with unnecessary clutter. Such is the local recipe for happiness. 

The reason Costa Rica consider itself the happiest country on earth, is due in some part to the fact that Ticos generally do not demand a lot to feel happy or content.   Even when one doesn’t have everything that they would like, they typically will not dwell on this void, instead they choose focus on appreciating and being thankful for what they do have...  On the contrary, people with ambitious goals, while able to enjoy big moments of happiness through their achievements, have greater difficulty feeling fulfilled because other unmet goals distract them. 

Additionally, ambitious people tend to compare their lives to that of other people more successful than themselves in an attempt to reach long-term goals through self-motivation and constant personal improvement. 

This is the key difference between Ticos and the majority of the continent. Instead of thinking of future happiness, the majority of Ticos will concentrate their efforts on having a good morning or a beautiful week.  Instead of comparing themselves to other more successful people, they will look at those that are not as well off as they are and feel lucky to be better off than them.

It’s this spirit of appreciation and pseudo-conformism that becomes a double edge sword capable of boycotting the real potential of a society in the long run.  In such instances, Puravida degenerates into mediocrity, lack of long-term goals and even at times, an absence of commitment and motivation. It is at this pivotal point that a major cultural clash occurs with those who come from more work and achievement-focused societies.

At this point, our second conclusion is easy:  Ticos simply are relaxed people... and have all the right to be like that.

But does this mean that they are all mediocre?  Are they all irresponsible?  It may be tempting to generalize, but it is not realistic.  After all, this is a surging country that is stable, balanced and perceived as a leader in the region.  Costa Rica functions and grows with the goal of building a modern society that simultaneously ensures a happy environment and home for its citizens. Among its citizens is a great majority of hardworking people who are responsible and committed to their environment and the forward progress of the nation.

On the other hand, there are others who do not consider making a contribution to society to be relevant to their daily lives and there are also those, like in every society, who are just lazy.

 Oftentimes, the latter justify their lack of passion for life and lack of respect for others as a sub-product derived from the Puravida lifestyle.  However, anyone who seeks to justify their irresponsibility in life as a result of Puravida is very far from understanding the subject and philosophy.  To clarify this once and for all:  Irresponsible people, dishonest people and people who are selfish are really people anti-Puravida.

Why?

Basically, one only may seek peace and happiness in the way one chooses to do so as long as this does not affect the peace and happiness of others.  In other words, “our rights end where the rights of others begin”.
 

For example, if someone lives alone, doesn’t work, has no wife or children and doesn’t have any responsibilities to live up to, they can enjoy the luxury of doing whatever they want to do at any given moment; but as soon as one chooses to interact with others, and society as a whole, one becomes a link in a chain.  At this point, others are affected by what the person does (or doesn’t do).

Enveloping the Pura Vida style is to perform in that role and live up to the responsibilities afforded by participation in the chain (society).  Avoiding such accountability would be selfish, and this is very clearly anti-Pura Vida.

The subject at hand could fill books, but in a bilingual magazine we must be brief.

Let’s review the good values of Puravida and the negative vices that can result from its misinterpretation.  In other words, let’s make a list of which things are Puravida and which are not...

To be clear, this list is not only for Ticos, but also for foreigners that have the luck of be living in this country. It’s a guide for all that wish to live a really Puravida life…

 Today, the actions of a few are tarnishing the name of an entire society.

 Let us get down to work to build an even more puravida Costa Rica.

Let us get down to work to eradicate the right column and show that the puravida is “solo bueno.”