Today, I make my way to Masaya. Granada has been fine, but I'm saving my high hopes for Leon, which is supposed to be quite a bit more culturally inclined, more refined, and more "liberal," whatever that means. It was/is one of the primary sites of Sandinista support. Granada, on the other hand, is the center of Nicaraguan conservativism.

Speaking of conservatism: Yesterday I read the local paper, La Prensa, and saw that a large group of poor people had occupied big stretches of land that belonged to rich people, saying that they were supported by the FSLN (Sandinista Liberation Front). While one can see the point of view of the landowners, it is really hard to have much sympathy. They are complaining to the government that their property rights are being infringed, which they certainly are, but it seems to me that these poor folks without a home are having their human rights infringed. On the other hand, I was appalled to read that, apparently, some of these folks had cut down thousands of trees on the land that they were occupying. One might argue that these rich people were essentially holding these lands in reserve from the "development" that we environmentalists so despise.

It's just a very complicated situation, and I would not pretend to have easy answers. Back in the old days, I probably would have just said, "well, screw these rich people, give these folks a place to stay." But I see now how complicated and dirty all of this can be. I don't necessarily support the right of the rich to hold the land from people who have none; on the other hand, I don't support the poor moving onto a piece of land and chopping down all of the trees. It seems to me that neither party has real respect. Ultimately, I withhold any judgement, because I really don't know anything about Nicaragua.

That's something for me to work on. I have a great tendency to form opinions about things that I don't really know, or about which I have only limited information. I am pushing myself to withhold judgement whenever possible, because making a decision about how I feel or what I believe puts me in a less flexible position. Once I've decided my stance, it's more difficult to see new evidence with an open mind.