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This is a serious question, I have been thinking about it lately and, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of people in the DR have a higher net worth than those in the US. They actually own their homes (no matter how sencilla they may be), own their motorcycle, but their food with cash, own their car outright, pay little to no property tax, and typically have considerable savings.

I have friends in the US who appear to be well off, but I can guarantee their net worth is actually negative. House on a 30 year mortgage with maybe 20% paid off, car is either a lease or bought with financing that has high interest rates, eating out and groceries are typically paid with credit cards until they get paid to pay them down. I almost feel like they are so leveraged that anyone lower-middle class or above in the DR actually is better off than they are. I understand credit here exists in the form of "fiando" but people are MUCH more likely to pay these off on time since their name is on the line. In the US people can go years ignoring their credit cards and just accumulate interest until it gets to a point where they just default.

Another point is people here that have absolutely no income eat MUCH better than their US counterparts. Healthy foods here are actually cheaper than processed food, and others are more likely to help them out. When we first started our internet business in the US, my buddy and I ate ramen noodles and McD double cheeseburgers everyday for 2$ per day, for 100 pesos a day here somebody can have one huge nutritious meal with a ton of vitamins and minerals. Maybe the idea that things here are so bad comes from the Dominican trait of over-exaggeration how bad things are.. ask any Dominican business owner how business is doing and you will get a very similar answer almost every time .. "Las cosas estan mal" "Pero estamo vivo gracias a Dios" "Ya tu sabe" .. Maybe it's all a hoax just to make us think it's worse than it REALLY IS!!?