Posted on 04/29/2010 12:06:09 PM PDT by the_devils_advocate_666
(Actual dumb editorial removed, this is the first comment.)
This take on the situation is so incredibly wrong-headed, I scarcely know where to start. Let me start by saying I´m a former American newspaper editor who retired early at age 55 a decade ago and moved to a mountaintop in the middle of Mexico. I have become a Mexican citizen. My wife is Mexican. I speak Spanish all day long. I know Mexicans. I am one.
Some of my relatives are current or former illegal aliens who stole into the U.S. I also am personally acquainted with others who´ve done the same thing. Each and every one can support himself here in Mexico. Things just look brighter over the border. Who cares if it´s illegal? Nobody down here does.
Most Mexicans live as we did in the U.S. during the 1940s and 1950s. Americans in that time were not poor. They simply did not have Toyota Tundras, plasma TVs, iPods, designer clothes, etc., etc. It was another time, and it´s another time in Mexico. Alas, Mexico is right up against another nation that lives in a separate universe, so to speak. It´s very alluring.
Educational opportunities abound in Mexico, probably more so than in the U.S., and they are affordable, but they are under-utilized due to cultural issues. Jobs can be found. Help Wanted signs are common. Newspapers, especially in their Sunday editions, carry reams of Help Wanted ads, everything from the most humble work to high-tech positions. Anyone with focus and drive can make it in Mexico. Are pay scales low? You bet. Is the cost of living in Mexico correspondingly low? It sure is. That´s important to remember when you´re weeping over people who only make ten bucks a day.
Utilities are incredibly low. Medical care is cheap to sometimes free. Income taxes are usually nonexistent. Many people live in homes their families have owned for generations. Property taxes? I pay ten bucks a year. Think of these elements when you´re moaning about our low salaries.
But the allure of the U.S., especially to the young, is powerful. And the U.S. makes it soooo easy with its refusal to get serious with border controls.
Mexicans, if they wish to move to the U.S., have every right to apply, just like other immigrant hopefuls from around the world. People everywhere want to move to America, and America allows that, but standards are set. There are requirements. Most Mexicans do not fulfill those requirements.
There is no "right" to move to the United States.
What´s most important to understand is that we Mexicans are not going hungry. We do not lack clothes. We are not homeless. We are not sitting forlorn on the desert floor, wasting away. This is not Chad. It is not Rwanda. It´s not even Bolivia. Mexico has one of the best standards of living in Latin America. Sure, things could be better. And the primary problem is cultural. Mexicans are not a cooperative people. They do not trust each other, and trust is the foundation of a vibrant economy. Our attitudes come from our troubled and violent past. We need to get over that, but it´s not happening quickly.
Mexicans are flooding over the U.S. border at an absurd rate, and most are doing it through Arizona. Arizona got fed up, and I don´t blame them. Both the U.S. government and the Mexican government are to blame for the lamentable situation. Americans are sick of it, and are taking matters into their own hands. Thus, Arizona. More states will follow, and not just on the border, if Washington doesn´t get real and address this issue in a meaningful way.
Excellent post!
How come no one mentions Oklahoma?
Good read! I have many Mexican national friends who go back and forth from Texas to Mexico for business reasons. They are filthy rich in Mexico and have proper Visas and such.(have LEGAL access to the US)
It’s nice to read an opinion from someone who knows the reality of life in Mexico.
Too bad this reality will never reach MSM or the stupid liberals who are inciting violent protests against AZ and others who take US laws seriously.
Wow!
...or North Carolina.
Thanks for posting this. I am so anxious for good news on ANYTHING these days, even though it is far away, it is a bit of sunshine. We need some good news before a lot of us just snap LOL. Thing is, with the anxiety levels so high, we need good things to be happening or a lot of people will wind up sick, and that isn’t good!
Freepers, go to the site and read the editorial. Rosenblum is a real creep.
Ping!
Read carefully - the post is actually a comment to an editorial from an American Ex-pat who is now a Mexican citizen.
For the same reason no one mentions Kansas, Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, or a whole host of other states. You aren't on the border and the average joe - thanks to an agenda-driven press - is absolutely oblivious to the fact that illegal immigrants don't stop at the border.
They are now a natiowide thread. How many people realize that there are illegal immigrant communities in Hawaii and Alaska?
He is right. Can’t argue with him on this at all.
I wonder what paper he was editor for?
“Most Mexicans live as we did in the U.S. during the 1940s and 1950s. Americans in that time were not poor. They simply did not have Toyota Tundras, plasma TVs, iPods, designer clothes, etc., etc. [OR WELFARE!!!!] It was another time, and it´s another time in Mexico. Alas, Mexico is right up against another nation that lives in a separate universe, so to speak.”
BTTT!!!
Such an incredible disconnect between the citizens and the Media/Politicians...
I searched but couldn’t find a law in North Carolina addressing the issue. Was this passed in the last few months?
I did find a lot of articles concened with illegals in NC.
BINGO. I've gotten flamed (not here) for suggesting our main problem with poor school performance was cultural.
Excellent comments. I didn’t bother with the editorial. If it wasn’t posted, it must have been really drenched with liberal stupidity.
There’s plenty of wealth in Mexico, but due to government corruption and cultural problems, it’s harder to get a hold of legally than in the US.
Sorry, I now recall you posting an article about good work being done by the OK legislature. What I meant is that the problem here in NC is only EXCEEDED by AZ, CA, NY and a few others, and there’s no excuse in the world for it to be so, other than soft-headed Dumbocrats who’ve been misruling the state here since Reconstruction.
I hear they’re considering moving the capitol of NC to Asheville ;-)
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