Who cares about the recent Mexican elections?

Originally Posted by Isla Verde

I trust my Mexican friends, the woman who occasionally cleans my apartment, the students who come to my apartment for class, and some of the neighbors in my small building. In fact, I have actually exchanged keys with two of them in case one of us forgets or loses our keys. Sorry that you wouldn't feel comfortable doing the same.

Learned my lesson the hard way. My 100% trusted housekeeper of several years had keys and took a chance one day for which I suffered. No more - I paid the tuition and got the degree for this lesson.

[Isla Verde]

Originally Posted by GringoCArlos

Learned my lesson the hard way. My 100% trusted housekeeper of several years had keys and took a chance one day for which I suffered. No more - I paid the tuition and got the degree for this lesson.

Sorry to hear that, GC.

[dpebbles]

I trust my friends and a few neighbors here to some extent, but I wouldn't give them the keys to my home. I don't trust anyone else, and don't open my door to strangers. My MX neighbors do the same thing.

Mexicans don't trust each other either. Maybe it's a cultural thing. Has a cashier in any big supermarket or store ever had change available immediately if you handed them a 500 peso note for a 200 peso bill, without calling a supervisor for change? With labor as cheap as it is in MX, why do parking lots use automated machines to take your money instead of a live person? Management doesn't trust their own employees or potential thieves over a few thousand pesos in a drawer, why should I? My neighbors did as I did, and didn't answer much of the Census or IFE polls either.


Considering most of my neighbors have huge walls around their houses, security cameras, electric fencing and large dogs.... plus pay people to stand watch in front of their house...I am thinking they are not very trusting either. I've heard so many stories about the houses being robbed around me...most of the time security being in on the robbery.

[Ken Wood]

Disclaimer--I am not taking issue with any post by anyone. The thread drifted from politics to trust, and I am simply posting my thoughts.

I will trust individuals until they prove to be unworthy of that trust. I cannot agree that the citizens of any country are any more or less trustworthy than the citizens of any other country. Our neighbor, Mexican, has our key and we have hers. The lady who cleans, once a week, does not have a key, but, more often than not, on her arrival, we depart and ask her to lock up when she leaves. I'm not so naive as to loan my car to a perfect stranger, but I'm also not so naive as to think that a Mexican is any less honorable than a citizen of where I came from. Maybe (probably) it's a deep seated emotional need of mine, but I get a good feeling from trusting people, and vice versa. To each his/her own, and I'm not condemning anyone for their mistrust, we each have our criteria that is instilled in us by virtue of our life's experiences. I might meet my Waterloo tomorrow, but today, until you convince me otherwise, I trust you.

[dongringo]

Right on, Ken

[Longford]

I tend to favor trusting everyone until they give me a reason to behave otherwise. I don't do things, though, which might tempt people whom I don't know very well to take advantage of me.

[stilltraveling]

So anyway, who cares about the recent election?

I do.

[edgeee]

Originally Posted by Ken Wood

Disclaimer--I am not taking issue with any post by anyone. The thread drifted from politics to trust, and I am simply posting my thoughts.

I will trust individuals until they prove to be unworthy of that trust. I cannot agree that the citizens of any country are any more or less trustworthy than the citizens of any other country. . . I might meet my Waterloo tomorrow, but today, until you convince me otherwise, I trust you.

KW, you are so right, what would life be like if you could trust no one?
but it does come at a price, always to be determined later and small only if you're lucky.
i'm the same way, but sometimes i feel very foolish as a result.
thank goodness there are so many who are worthy of our trust.

this is what i call the "Good Guy Burden".
people on the other end of that extreme are likely to be 'good' people too,
tho betrayed trust has taught them to trust no one. but not all of them.
some are also greedy selfish violent criminal types, and the GGB makes it easy for those nasty creatures to abuse trust.

it's attitude and perspective rolled together with beliefs and concerns.
my personal guess is that it takes somewhere between 10 and 100 people,
with the GGB to counter balance just one evil presence, depending on how much evil they are dealing with.

i have no idea what to do about it, other than what i already do - constant vigilance.
(but at least now people think i got it from Mad Eye Mooney instead of PTSD.)

sometimes the only way to find the ones you shouldn't trust is to trust everyone.

that's a dangerous gamble in the game of politics.
and of course politics is built on the foundation of trust,

in the end, you could do worse than to listen to the words of Pete Townsend.

"I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss"

[Longford]

Originally Posted by stilltraveling

So anyway, who cares about the recent election?

I do.

There's been a lively discussion of the election in the "Red State/Blue State" discussion elsewhere on the forum.

[stilltraveling]

Originally Posted by Longford

There's been a lively discussion of the election in the "Red State/Blue State" discussion elsewhere on the forum.

I only check in on that thread occasionally. It drifts around a lot. I made a few contributions there today, but I can see that a discussion of that sort is destined to deteriorate.

I do care about the recent election. The thought of a return to the PRI really bothers me. I remember the administrations of Salinas and Zedillo when the peso was in constant free fall and billions of dollars were spirited out of the country into the private accounts of the political elite. I was in the General Hospital in TJ when Colosio was assassinated. I remember watching as the entire staff deflated into a long depression with the stark realization that anyone who tries to change the system here, and has a possibility of winning an election, would get a bullet to the head. I remember watching in horror as they were too afraid to even talk about it lest the walls have ears. Nobody knew who to trust so nobody trusted anyone.

The PRI is the epitome of Mexican corruption. El que no tranza, no avanza. They instilled that culture into this country shortly after the revolution and anyone who tried to shine a light on the situation was lucky to get out with their life. Corruption exists in any government. It attracts bad people the way honey attracts ants. The very nature of government means that bad people will try to use it to their own personal advantage. There comes a point, however, when concern should turn to outrage.

As a physician, my mind naturally gravitates towards physiological metaphors. Corruption is no different than the parasite load that exists in every human body. Productive people create goods and services and corrupt people feed off them, just like a tapeworm, offering nothing of value in return. Even the bacteria in our guts are necessary for the production of necessary nutrients. However, parasites that don't contribute anything to the body are at best a nuisance and at worst a fatal pathogen.

There is corruption in Sweden and there is corruption in Nigeria. The Swedish government can live with the level of corruption it has without it putting the whole organism in danger. The mechanisms put in place (the immune system, aka, rule of law) can keep the parasites at bay and allow the body to thrive. Nigeria, on the other hand, is carrying around such a heavy load of parasites that all other bodily functions are focused just on keeping the organism alive. Despite its tremendous income from oil wealth, the overwhelming majority of the population lives in abject poverty with no hope of ever rising above it. Almost everything is stolen. The resources left over are used up just for maintaining its borders, avoiding civil unrest and keeping the oil flowing. There's nothing left to build schools or root out corrupt officials, judges, police or soldiers. Nothing left for even a basic health system. Nothing left to govern. The massive emigration rate from Nigeria reflects that of Mexico. Body parts are being amputated rather than treating the infection. Better to chop off another leg in the form of emigration rather than spend additional resources to save it. One in every five people born in Mexico die in the United States. Another one in ten die in other countries.

Somewhere between Sweden and Nigeria, there is a tipping point, the point between tolerable corruption and a failed state. Mexico came back from that tipping point just over a decade ago. I remember a time when you couldn't get anything done here without a mordida. Every tramite, every transaction, especially those you were legally entitled to, required paying someone a little something lest your paperwork just sat there unprocessed for eternity. Every sello had an additional price attached to it.

When the PRI was pushed from power, it rattled the system. The old bosses were out of a job and the new bosses had a hard time trying to replicate the practices of their predecessors because the newly emboldened populace started calling them out on it. Reporters started reporting on corruption, private citizens started mobilizing. While the PAN was able to dig in and start the free-money tap flowing to some degree, they never achieved the tapeworm potential of a fully entrenched PRI. It was like the difference between having an anaconda in your intestine and carrying around a few pinworms. Sure your butt itched knowing they were there, but at least you could function, get things done.

So now the 45-year-old pretty boy comes in to Los Pinos and we're supposed to believe that everything has changed. I promise I won't beat you anymore, baby. The hundreds of millions of dollars spent to put him there, far beyond the limits established by law, weren't spent just because they liked his politics. These weren't people looking to open up the free market. Powerful people are looking to reestablish the feudal system that existed under 70 years of PRI governance. I only shudder to think what they are planning.

In addition, every individual in every government post will be from the old guard. Every jefe de jurisdiccion de salud, every regional federal police chief, the cabinet ministers and the huge departments they command, will all be functionaries from the old PRI (they're the only ones with any experience), functionaries that have been out of a job for 12 years. They haven't forgotten the methods, they haven't become more ethical during their time out of office. Even if Enrique has the best intentions (though I doubt he has any intentions other than becoming president, classic narcissist), it doesn't change the fact that the eyes, ears, hands and feet of his administration, the tens of thousands of personas de confianza, will be those left over from an institutional culture that not only looked the other way as civil servants abused their positions for personal gain, it rewarded them. Anyone who got close enough to power to threaten to change that system ended up in the emergency room at Hospital General de Tijuana with a fatal gunshot wound to the head ... delivered at pointblank range while the surrounded by PRI-paid bodyguards.

Be that as it may, there is a silver lining to the clouds gathering on the horizon. Mexico has a very young population. There is a huge bulge in the populational pyramid in the 20-30 range and an even bigger one coming up behind it. Most of these young voters don't remember the PRI as they were little children the last time the PRI was in charge. Salinas de Gortari is ancient history to these young adults. Diaz Ordaz might as well be from colonial times. I'm comforted by the belief that 6 more years of wandering in the desert under the guidance of this mafia will finally make them ready to vote for real change. It will take a lot more than a 100 peso gift card to Soriana to convince the people to vote against their best interests next time.

Democracy doesn't ensure that you get the best government. It only ensures that you get the government you deserve.