Ecuador's Galapagos Islands were Darwin's proving grounds in his development of the theory of evolution. Fittingly, the whole of Ecuador seems to have adopted the natural selection mantra. During our visit to this beautiful country, we witnessed many hazards that would be unacceptable in many other countries. A series of incidents led me to reflect on the nature of risk and the many adaptations used in its mitigation. It seems that the residents of Ecuador have steeled nerves along with heightened senses of awareness when dealing with the physical environment. Their skills to dodge traffic and to otherwise avoid calamity are remarkable.
There were many 'what the hell' moments during our visit such as when the wires snapped along the highway as our car sped underneath. We didn't see any sparks but we saw and heard the wire hit the car. The driver slowly turned his face towards Kristin with a 'don't worry about it' matter-of-fact expression.
Electrical wire nests are common and so are dangling wires.
You have to keep your wits about you as you the traverse streets and sidewalks because you just never know if there will be some unannounced obstruction, moving vehicle or other hazard.
You're a dumbass if you fall in that four foot deep hole in the middle of a Quito sidewalk.
On another day, we heard a loud snap as we were walking along the sidewalk in Banos. The 'Garage' sign in the photo below sheared off and just missed a pedestrian's head. He didn't jump at the noise or even break his stride.
He should have known that the sign was about to break off.
The local children learn early to keep an eye out for random hazards.
Lonely piece of rebar sticking out of the ground in a park in Cuenca.
Not once did I see a sign or advertisement for a personal injury lawyer. There seems to be a cultural acceptance of such risks brought about by limited governmental resources and perhaps by a genuine sense of personal responsibility.
Another example of different risk profiles would be the workings of farmacias. Do you have a headache? Go to the pharmacy and buy yourself a triptan. Got stomach cramps? Pick up a muscle relaxant or perhaps antibiotics for that sore throat. Tell the pharmacist what ales you and you will get some medicine. I wonder how this system compares to the highly regulated prescription only systems found in many other countries including Canada and the US.
Prescription drugs taken as prescribed in hospitals are the fourth leading cause of death in the US and Canada, after cancer, heart disease and strokes. They cause about 10,000 deaths a year in Canada and about 106,000 deaths a year and over two million serious injuries in the US. As many as another 10,000 deaths a year in Canada are thought to occur outside hospitals due to the wrong drug, dosage errors and adverse reactions. One out of four admissions to internal medicine in Canadian hospitals is related to prescription drugs, of which 70% are preventable. Canadians now spend more on prescription drugs ($24 billion) than we do on doctors ($18 billion). From commonground.ca.
So evidently the heavy regulations of Canada and the US are no panacea. I do not know the relevant statistics for Ecuador, but I would bet that Ecuador compares favorably even if normalizing for the population's access to healthcare. I could be wrong, but either way people seem healthier here and the big pharmas have less of a chokehold on the government and its constituents. At some point, too much regulation is unhelpful. Conversely, too little regulation can make for a smaller population. People do the best they can whatever their circumstances - some leap over the hole while others fall in. Natural selection at work.