I would imagine that the two Mexicos described in Lewis’ Five Families was there then, too. The rich had the best. The poor barely survived. And there were always more of the poor. They’re not saying this was a great civilization. Just that it was larger than we think because it’s sunk beneath our memories as thoroughly as it has sunk beneath the ground.
>> The rich had the best. The poor barely survived.
That is the history of humankind in a nutshell. Only the prosperity created by a free America with a Protestant work ethic has allowed the two worlds to even come close to being similar. And as we discard the Protestant work ethic in favor of the Third World kleptocracy, the two will diverge once again.