Is it good for a nation to be stratified with ersatz slaves (brainwashed by Mother Church to hold off on fulfillment till they reach the Pearly Gates) at the bottom of the pyramid? And yet, there doesn't even seem to be simmering revolt here in Mexico where some of my acquaintances (members of our local sewing group) can make around 200 pesos a day for a physical slog in a garden or house. True, many of them couldn't stick it out at school. Stickability is present here ut needs someone to channel it. I look at the conditions here and, taking into consideration the consumer tax and cost of rental and utilities, the people are under more stress than the French were in the 1780s. Substitute Mr. Carlos Slim for any of the Louis and you have an interesting scenario. Perhaps he should think about doing more than establish his museum in Mexico City, an edifice that will do nothing for the people who never get to go there from Chiapas, Oaxaca or Zacatecas. I would suggest that he focus on education - he has enough gelt there folks to build a school in EVERY town. And to employ teachers. Some examination (measurement) of standards is required too. The architects, doctors and engineers down here don't seem to be using internationally approved text books!! It's a great country, but they waste enough water to green a whole agricultural belt parallel to the coast line cities and that alone would stop the interminable (and carbon-wasting) procession of trucks north and south. There are enough mangoes wasted to create a new industry of mango oil for the cosmetics industry. Teak stands could be grown as well and provide the raw material for weather-resistant furniture making. Hey, vote for me! I could fix it, but only if I were a cardinal (making it a mortal sin not to be smart) or ... a dictator!
Without making this a Marxist diatribe, I can point out that in nations where ALL profits are shared, where healthcare is universal and where doctors are not deified, where there is genuine freedom rather than the siege/defeatist/paranoid mentality of places that feature a gulf between rich and poor, are happy, creative and functional. Here in Mexico, even the smallest hovel will sport its razor wire, barking 'watch-dogs' and padlocks. The notion of shared lands such as those they have in Scandinavia would never work here. In the coastal cities, Resorts have gobbled up most of the access to attractive beaches. Lately, I have noticed signs in Spanish declaring that if anyone stops you (molestan!) on the way through to the beach, call the police and a particular journalist. Good luck! The drug cartels are another problem. THAT is what requires a massive groundswell of a very brave revolution in Mexico. Every person should, at grass roots level, refuse to take their money, supply them with the fertilizers they need to grow their drugs, building materials to construct their fortresses and the priests should deny them entrance to heaven - ever! Again, it sounds simple, but with all those Russian and American made guns they have at their disposal, there's an imbalance. The simplest cure would be for the USA to stop buying their products altogether immediately. Dry up their market. But tell that to people like Charlie Sheen or to Jay Leno who sniggers at the whole marijuana culture in his monologue. Ban the narco-ballads as well. They suck, musically, anyway!
Of course, the trafficking of drugs is, at heart, caused by demand meeting the gap between rich and poor and the fact that it is a 'no skill' profession.
It is tiring tossing these problems around and looking for solutions! I think I will handball it to Dr. Edward De Bono who, so far, appears to have been silent on the 'war across the border'. But look out USA, it has begun to creep north and already the deaths are mounting (the burnt-out body-filled car in Arizona last week). It is time to do something NOW.
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