Sandy, you said:. "I know Mexico, while we are on the subject. Acapulco was and is no more. The Americans led by the CEO of Braniff, Ford, Sears and a few others set up there on the coast with a 36 hole golf course and a private club with an admission fee of $36,000. Many joined. It has been trashed. There is not a member left... and the…
Sandy, you said:. "I know Mexico, while we are on the subject. Acapulco was and is no more. The Americans led by the CEO of Braniff, Ford, Sears and a few others set up there on the coast with a 36 hole golf course and a private club with an admission fee of $36,000. Many joined. It has been trashed. There is not a member left... and the most beautiful architecture has been ravaged by the mob. Mexico talks the talk. That's all."
If white corporate colonialism and a failed private club catering to white non-Méxicans, (and employing Méxicans at whatever the horrifyingly low minimum wage was, and still is), is your yardstick for knowing México, you don't know México. Period. If you visited or lived as a corporate colonial in Acapulco and thought your a mostly white private club was the real México you were part of the problem. If you are unaware of the relentless bigotry European Méxicans have for the indigenous peoples, your viewpoint is part of the problem. Not just in México but throughout Latin America. Most white Europeans and Americans who come to México love to pay as as little as possible to employ Méxicans, whether it's in a factory, a service industry or in a home.
No. A failed private club in Acapulco, is not a the yardstick by which to measure México. White corporations are not here to help México they are here to help themselves.
And does México have problems? Yes, indeed, it does. But you are never going to have a good idea what those problems are as long as you are plunking your white rear end down in the middle of a white enclave or luxury hotel anywhere in México. Or the world for that matter.
I wrote a rant earlier today and wondered if it referred enuf to the subject in the "Letter." Then when I came here and saw only posts about location (I'm in Miami Beach) I never posted. But, just scrolled yards down and found an actual discussion.
Here is what would have been my post it only deals with what I find to be a major problem with Centro & South America - Drug Trade:
Blatant Dishonesty is our major problem in the U.S. That and the huge masses of absolutely stupid ppl we have who believe any lie and conspiracy of the Repugnant Party. This denigration of “others” is also right out of Hitler’s playbook, which we had to endure with the other guy and his complicit enablers. And even with him out of power, the Repugnant Party continues the same lies.
However, if we were honest with ourselves we could end the Drug Cartels in Latin America in a day. MAKE ALL DRUGS LEGAL. IT HAS ALREADY BEEN PROVEN EFFECTIVE. The proof is in The Great Experiment that failed miserably in the U.S. when we made the drug Alcohol illegal, which gave us organized crime to supply it at inflated profit. Heroin & Cocaine are no more dangerous or addictive drugs than Alcohol. Marijuana should never have been illegal, especially compared to tobacco. But too many ppl in the U.S. buy the lie and the Cartels get so wealthy they can defy the military in some nations.
Oh and while I am ranting on STUPIDITY. You cannot save daylight. All you can do is upset everyone’s biorhythm twice a year by moving the artificial construct of “time” forcing everything off by an hour. That too has been quantified in more accidents, heart attacks and other stresses. But no one can stop the stupidity.
Daria, I have been to Merida two times, once with my partner Jim in 1975, where we were accosted by the police for suspicion of being druggies (we were Hippies) and then had to leave Mexico shorter than our original visa.
I have that account written and in jpg form, but can't attach those here. You got an e-mail address? Send it to roboyte@att.net and I can send that narrative of my first trip to Merida & thru Mexico to Guatemala. My second trip was with my wife Brenda & stepdaughter who seemed to be the only black ppl in Merida in 1981 by the stares we got. Brenda could handle it but the 13-year-old girl was self-conscious & only wanted to stay in the hotel. But, we dragged her around and to the ruins at Chichen & Uxmal.
Rob, I remember you telling a little about your Mérida adventures several months ago. There are still very few Black people in Mérida, I know 2, both expats, one from the US and one from England. There has been a little bit written recently about Afro-Mexicans, I'll have to dig around to find it but will post when I do. I am a much bigger fan of Uxmal. Chichen has turned into a zoo with so called artisans selling junk within the site.
I will e mail you so you can send your account. Thx.
Well said, Daria; country clubs do not a nation make.
Please correct as needed, but I believe Merida has an intense history of racial and ethnic conflict that still persists. The city survived a harrowing siege during the Caste War, Mexico's largest peasant rebellion between the 1810 Hidalgo Revolt and 1910 Revolution.
TPJ, indeed it is still a problem. I've drafted several long responses but have decided, for the time being, to simply let it go. It's frustrating that people continue to parrot half truths to downright lies. Until people step out of their comfort zones and do more than watch/read news that addresses caste, class and race dishonestly, things will not change significantly. Not here in México, not in the US or anywhere else. Thanks for posting the resources.
A point of reference:The DAILY federal minimum wage for México is $141.70 pesos. That is equal to $7.42 USD per day, (using 19 pesos to a dollar). This means that the minimum a worker can be paid for a full day's work is the equivalent of $7.42. You can bet your bottom dollar there are a good many corporations, businesses, and individuals that pay their employees not a peso more.
Visited Tres Vidas in Acapulco December 15-25, 1970, studied the poverty. Agree. In 1960 visited new Brasilia, Rio, Santos, San Paolo, incredible poverty, BA, Vina del Mar, Santiago, Portillo, Chile, Lima, Panama, fascistic oligarchies, typical contradictions. Was 21 and 31. Met the power structure. Plutocracy. Never returned. Liquidated DELTEC and IBEC in SLL’s estate, May 1978. Columbia is dangerous. Julio Mario Santo Domingo a family friend. Same deal.
Sandy, you said:. "I know Mexico, while we are on the subject. Acapulco was and is no more. The Americans led by the CEO of Braniff, Ford, Sears and a few others set up there on the coast with a 36 hole golf course and a private club with an admission fee of $36,000. Many joined. It has been trashed. There is not a member left... and the most beautiful architecture has been ravaged by the mob. Mexico talks the talk. That's all."
If white corporate colonialism and a failed private club catering to white non-Méxicans, (and employing Méxicans at whatever the horrifyingly low minimum wage was, and still is), is your yardstick for knowing México, you don't know México. Period. If you visited or lived as a corporate colonial in Acapulco and thought your a mostly white private club was the real México you were part of the problem. If you are unaware of the relentless bigotry European Méxicans have for the indigenous peoples, your viewpoint is part of the problem. Not just in México but throughout Latin America. Most white Europeans and Americans who come to México love to pay as as little as possible to employ Méxicans, whether it's in a factory, a service industry or in a home.
No. A failed private club in Acapulco, is not a the yardstick by which to measure México. White corporations are not here to help México they are here to help themselves.
And does México have problems? Yes, indeed, it does. But you are never going to have a good idea what those problems are as long as you are plunking your white rear end down in the middle of a white enclave or luxury hotel anywhere in México. Or the world for that matter.
I wrote a rant earlier today and wondered if it referred enuf to the subject in the "Letter." Then when I came here and saw only posts about location (I'm in Miami Beach) I never posted. But, just scrolled yards down and found an actual discussion.
Here is what would have been my post it only deals with what I find to be a major problem with Centro & South America - Drug Trade:
Blatant Dishonesty is our major problem in the U.S. That and the huge masses of absolutely stupid ppl we have who believe any lie and conspiracy of the Repugnant Party. This denigration of “others” is also right out of Hitler’s playbook, which we had to endure with the other guy and his complicit enablers. And even with him out of power, the Repugnant Party continues the same lies.
However, if we were honest with ourselves we could end the Drug Cartels in Latin America in a day. MAKE ALL DRUGS LEGAL. IT HAS ALREADY BEEN PROVEN EFFECTIVE. The proof is in The Great Experiment that failed miserably in the U.S. when we made the drug Alcohol illegal, which gave us organized crime to supply it at inflated profit. Heroin & Cocaine are no more dangerous or addictive drugs than Alcohol. Marijuana should never have been illegal, especially compared to tobacco. But too many ppl in the U.S. buy the lie and the Cartels get so wealthy they can defy the military in some nations.
Oh and while I am ranting on STUPIDITY. You cannot save daylight. All you can do is upset everyone’s biorhythm twice a year by moving the artificial construct of “time” forcing everything off by an hour. That too has been quantified in more accidents, heart attacks and other stresses. But no one can stop the stupidity.
Truth.
Daria, I have been to Merida two times, once with my partner Jim in 1975, where we were accosted by the police for suspicion of being druggies (we were Hippies) and then had to leave Mexico shorter than our original visa.
I have that account written and in jpg form, but can't attach those here. You got an e-mail address? Send it to roboyte@att.net and I can send that narrative of my first trip to Merida & thru Mexico to Guatemala. My second trip was with my wife Brenda & stepdaughter who seemed to be the only black ppl in Merida in 1981 by the stares we got. Brenda could handle it but the 13-year-old girl was self-conscious & only wanted to stay in the hotel. But, we dragged her around and to the ruins at Chichen & Uxmal.
Rob, I remember you telling a little about your Mérida adventures several months ago. There are still very few Black people in Mérida, I know 2, both expats, one from the US and one from England. There has been a little bit written recently about Afro-Mexicans, I'll have to dig around to find it but will post when I do. I am a much bigger fan of Uxmal. Chichen has turned into a zoo with so called artisans selling junk within the site.
I will e mail you so you can send your account. Thx.
Well said, Daria; country clubs do not a nation make.
Please correct as needed, but I believe Merida has an intense history of racial and ethnic conflict that still persists. The city survived a harrowing siege during the Caste War, Mexico's largest peasant rebellion between the 1810 Hidalgo Revolt and 1910 Revolution.
W Gabbert, Violence & the Caste War of Yucatán
E Galeano, Memory of Fire, v2
N Reed, The Caste War of Yucatán
TPJ, indeed it is still a problem. I've drafted several long responses but have decided, for the time being, to simply let it go. It's frustrating that people continue to parrot half truths to downright lies. Until people step out of their comfort zones and do more than watch/read news that addresses caste, class and race dishonestly, things will not change significantly. Not here in México, not in the US or anywhere else. Thanks for posting the resources.
A point of reference:The DAILY federal minimum wage for México is $141.70 pesos. That is equal to $7.42 USD per day, (using 19 pesos to a dollar). This means that the minimum a worker can be paid for a full day's work is the equivalent of $7.42. You can bet your bottom dollar there are a good many corporations, businesses, and individuals that pay their employees not a peso more.
Visited Tres Vidas in Acapulco December 15-25, 1970, studied the poverty. Agree. In 1960 visited new Brasilia, Rio, Santos, San Paolo, incredible poverty, BA, Vina del Mar, Santiago, Portillo, Chile, Lima, Panama, fascistic oligarchies, typical contradictions. Was 21 and 31. Met the power structure. Plutocracy. Never returned. Liquidated DELTEC and IBEC in SLL’s estate, May 1978. Columbia is dangerous. Julio Mario Santo Domingo a family friend. Same deal.