The author's discontent during his life in Argentina is related to feeling locked up for life in a country unable to change with the times, as its body politic nurtures a culture of self-absorption and isolationism that is poisonous to every aspect of public and private life. Argentina reached its height of power and wealth at the turn of the 19th Century, and for thirty years was among the ten wealthiest countries in the world. The country declined because of nepotism and corruption. The military's intervention and consequent debasement of its governance made Argentina's decline inevitable. Coming close to losing life and limb during a student revolt in 1955, the author did not wish to remain in a country that he viewed as a prison. Becoming aware that the door of that prison was unlocked, he began to plan his exit, and joined the Argentine exodus in January 1960.