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All Steamed Up

Someone pissed me off today. If you are a CancunCare message board regular then you know what’s coming. I posted some criticism of Mexico’s restrictive immigration policies, and another poster basically said “if you don’t like Mexico then you are free to leave”.

My retort was that if Mexico is so great (and I think it IS great) then it’s worth fixing. And it’s worth having an open debate about how to fix it. I believe that this guy was just taking the easy way out, instead of getting into a debate about what might need to change in Mexico he just tells critics to get lost.

My father was paid to be critical. He made his career kvetching and bitching and deconstructing. He was a widely published critic of music (and of everything else). Can I help it if the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? I’m going to cop out myself and tell you that it’s in my genes and I can’t help it.

Mexico is a beautiful country with enormous natural beauty, deep cultural roots, huge diversity and a strong sense of identity. It’s also a place where government officials rob the public coffers to the point where they can’t even keep the roads free of potholes. And every time someone tries to protect a place of natural beauty it seems to be sold off to the developer with the deepest pockets. Mexico is a place where people expect little from their public officials and are rewarded with less than they expect. It’s a corrupt country where I’ve learned more than I ever wished to know about organized crime. And where I’ve learned to ignore executions because they are so common! Now that’s a sickening thing to say.

But Mexico is also a place with tremendous potential. And it won’t meet that potential if there is not discussion and debate, if there is not argument and insightful, creative thought about it’s future path.

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2 Responses to “All Steamed Up”

  1. eddie.willers
    March 10th, 2008 23:48
    1

    “But Mexico is also a place with tremendous potential. And it won’t meet that potential if there is not discussion and debate, if there is not argument and insightful, creative thought about it’s future path.”

    I got down on my knees to thank the Blessed Virgin Mary that SOMEONE ELSE is saying the very same things I have been saying these last five years.

    Now I have to go flame a few folk on the Cancun Forum!

  2. RiverGirl
    March 11th, 2008 08:59
    2

    Thanks Eddie!

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