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Today I’m going to talk about the Chilean national culture. I think that the essence of the Chilean people is demonstrated in events like Teleton or football championships, like, for example, the effervescence caused by the triumph over Honduras in the last game in the World Cup.
In this kind of events the people feels that is memberships of something, even for some few minutes or hours (ninety minutes that longs the game of football or the “twenty-seven hours of love” that longs the Teleton). I think that the characteristics that those events exploit – like the extreme solidarity of the Chilean people or the union of different people that is caused by football – are only shallows and temporary feelings. The people feel those things until the events stop and everyone turn off the T.V., and come back to their real life, with problems that make this person forget the solidarity and the beautiful union with other people.
I think that the supposed strong sense of identity those events gives is only appearance. People in the street are more and more selfish and individualist. I’m not saying that you have to walk and say hello to everyone or something like that, but a little attention to others will do more nice places like Metro and the public transport in general. I think that details with others Chileans (for example, with the old people in the public transport) create the real strong Chilean identity.