Is President Calderon Good for Mexico ??? (real estate, to buy, income)

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by dusesean1986

The culture does not influence corruption, people in authority influence corruption.

I think the original poster meant that there is a "culture of corruption" in Mexico, which merely means that it is prevalent. But you are right as well, the Mexican culture doesn't influence corruption, although corruption has become a large part of Mexican culture. This could be confusing!

[malamute]

Originally Posted by dusesean1986

The culture does not influence corruption, people in authority influence corruption.

But don't forget the culture of the mordida. La mordida is very widely accepted and it's very much part of the problem. And there is the culture of the narco -- where the drug lords are actually admired by many, the music of Mexico has become centered around the narco-corrida theme where drug lords are praised and admired.

Mexicans have told me that corruption in Mexico can never be eliminated because everyone is corrupt. If you get rid of the corrupt in power now, the ones replacing them --- will just replace them, and when you get rid of them, then they next group moving up will become the same.

The most pessimistic people about Mexico are Mexicans. It's Americans that have some rosy colored glasses about Mexico.

[malamute]

That doesn't mean very last person in Mexico is corrupt -- there are some who are the most honest hard working moral people you could meet -- just not enough and maybe not the ones who seek power there.

[Rawlings]

I love Calderon. I was actually in Mexico for the campaign to do research (I'm in academia). Calderon is uniquely able to synergize Catholic piety with capitalism in a way that most of the region has been unable to do. Most capitalists like Fox have been up against the liberation theology so pervasive in Latin America. But Calderon is eloquent in his defense of traditional values and a free market.

And, wow, AMLO would have meant total destruction a la Chavez should he have won. He is a real nut--wanted to disassemble the Mexican 'White House.'

[MexicanGuy]

I think Calderón will be a good president; he is intelligent, pragmatic, patient and gutsy.

[MexicanGuy]

Originally Posted by malamute

That doesn't mean very last person in Mexico is corrupt -- there are some who are the most honest hard working moral people you could meet -- just not enough and maybe not the ones who seek power there.

This is very true, but dishonesty levels in Mexico are still way to high; the average Mexican thinks it’s OK to steal if the opportunity presents itself.

[cooldude11]

A lot of Americans have a bad view of Mexicans in general because many farmers illegally bring Mexicans into town to work for nothing and it pisses a lot of people off. I say if growing tobacco requires this practice then maybe it's time to stop growing it.

[MexicanGuy]

Originally Posted by cooldude11

A lot of Americans have a bad view of Mexicans in general because many farmers illegally bring Mexicans into town to work for nothing and it pisses a lot of people off. I say if growing tobacco requires this practice then maybe it's time to stop growing it.

LL, cooldude

[Sgoldie]

Here is my theory about the situation. There is no true freedom or attempt at economic equity without a strong middle class. This is the fundamental entity of success.

What made this country so great is that the founding Quakers didn't believe in a hierarchy as did the Catholic Church whose influence is reflected in a countries culture where its following is prevelant. Specifically, a rich upper class (originally Rome's emissaries ie, priests) who were the communities' leaders to be unquestioningly obeyed, and everyone else (the peons) the poor who were told what to do and who were soliticted for addl funds creating even more power at the top.

This structure of those who could do whatever they wanted without societal recourse and who had all of the money/power vs the greater majority of those on the bottom is what these societies are patterned after, and this is the fundamental problem in Mexico, no middle class.

[MexicanGuy]

Very true; and, so far as I know, the middle class here in Mexico has decreased progressively in the past decade. Proof of Mexico’s wealth inequality is the fact that we have the richest man in the world; his name is Carlos Slim.