Blog Post for the Week of February 3

 I really enjoyed the book The Gaucho Juan Moreira. I found it to be a fascinating, engaging read, but also somewhat sad at the life Moreira lived not necessarily by choice. An important thing it did for me, however, was illustrate why someone like Sarmiento, who viewed himself as "civilized", might look down on the Gaucho lifestyle with disdain. Realistically, Moreira's life was full of violence and alcohol. But it was people like Moreira that become legendary to the point where even city-dwellers knew their name. Thus, it's very easy to see how those city-dwellers, like Sarmiento, could look down on gauchos. If the only stories they heard about the gauchos were violent and chaotic like Moreira's, it's understandable that they would form a negative view of these people. It seems like it could have been some form of stereotyping, though. After hearing a few stories like Moreira's, it makes sense that the "civilized" people of the cities could readily come to the misconception that all country folk are sword-wielding, alcohol-drinking bandits that ride from town to town causing mischief. I think this demonstrates the dangers of developing pre-conceived notions about a region and its inhabitants without personal experience. Like the city-dwellers, its very easy to look down on people just because of a few stories once heard about them. This can lead to inaccurate conclusions and perpetuate ignorance, which is ironic seeing that the city-dwellers generally viewed themselves as educated and cultured.