Viveza criolla

Characteristics

• Lack of respect for others and indifference to the common good in a framework of individual interests.
• Political corruption, which extends in all institutions, in the form of perks, direct appropriation of public funds, favoritism, nepotism, misallocation of state resources, etc.
• Extreme individualism, with mistrust of others. This includes having little ability to partner and cooperate in community goals.
• Anomie or weakening of the common morality, and social deviance as behavior that departs from generally accepted standards in society.
• The habit of blaming problems on others, thereby encouraging paranoia and granting a permit to self-indulgence.
• The tendency to take advantage of or cheat others in favor of one's own self-interests, partially for reasons of self-protection and mistrust, but also to assert one's superiority and "quick-wittedness" over another.

  Phrases

• Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa. -- "Made the law, made the loophole."
• Total, si no robo yo, robará otro. -- "In the end, if I do not steal, someone else will."
• El vivo vive del zonzo y el zonzo de su trabajo -- "The cunning lives off the sucker, and the sucker lives off his job"