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[quote=tvdxer;21328100]
The lack of zoning, the ease of setting up a business on the street, the number of street vendors and performers, etc. make it seem like Mexico's more capitalist than the US.
With the US having adapted the sort of corporatist "crony capitalism" that has plagued Mexico for years, without those more free market aspects of Mexican life, perhaps Mexico is more capitalist than America now, or at least just as capitalist.
> Free parking lots. Most parking lots in Mexico, even in malls, require you to either pay or get a voucher from a store (usually with a purchase). In the U.S., most parking lots are free.
Is that true of Walmarts and local supermarkets too?
Someone sent this message to me in a reputation comment. There is no way that I know to who wrote it, but I will share the person's ignorance about Mexican medical care.
Quote:
doctors in the US who went to med school in MX are jokes. You can't say there are decent med schools in MX.
There are many Canadians living in my area of Mexico who can return to Canada for "free" medical care and instead pay out of pocket for Mexican medical care.
Almost every foreigner I know here much prefers his Mexican doctor over doctors up North. I know of one person here who was unhappy with his back surgery out of at least 20 who can't rave enough about how wonderful their doctors are and the surgical results. I've never met one (1) person in the U.S. who thought his back surgery went well or was thrilled with the results or his doctor, including me. The same results are for every type of surgery, hip, knee replacement, heart bypass, every foreigner is happy with the outcome and treatment.
If anyone is unfamiliar with Canadian characteristics, Canadians are very thrifty. For a Canadian to pay $30,000 out of his pocket instead of returning home for free care certainly says something about Mexican medical care.
Is that true of Walmarts and local supermarkets too?
Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam's, Home Depot, etc. stores like these don't charge. Supermarkets that charge depend on location. None at Lake Chapala charge but some of the same stores in Guadalajara do.
Attractive females (not counting girls of Mexican stock in the US)
Skinny people.
Skinny people? Mexico is now the fattest country in the world, edging the US after a good run at the top (USA and Mexico Are The Fattest Countries In The World). You won't find any more skinny people in Mexico than in the US, although Mexico does not have the "diet" culture that the US has. It's not offensive for somebody to have the nick-name "gordito" for example, which is the equivalent of "little fat one." The body issues aren't there, although that's changing. And maybe for the better - Mexico also has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the world.
Bars on windows. EVERYWHERE in Mexico, even in rural areas.
Brick walls dividing properties. Again, everywhere in Mexico.
One thing that is NOT mentioned re: servants in Mexico.
They get a monthly salary...own sleeping bed/shower/bath room... eat same food that is prepared for the family...sundays off...extra pay if asked to workon a holiday etc. Their expenses are minimal to say the least.
Due to the large population in Mexico City and shortage of jobs/education many girls starting at age 15 start to work as housekeepers ( I like the word better then servants).
There is NO discrimination on their choice to work in the housekeeper field.
With a large household there may or not be a car in the family. Transportation is easy to come by and very cheap. Family members contribute towards the salary of a housekeeper so even middle class households will have one.
I'm getting up in yrs with some medical problems and am considering having a girl/woman cleaning my home 2-3 days a week. ( NO live in for sure) There are many looking for work in this area of Rosarito, Baja.
Steve
It wasn't that long ago that middle-class Americans had servants. Older houses often have butler's staircases, small kitchens suited for servants with a backdoor entrance, butler's pantries, and butler's quarters. Even smaller middle-class houses built as late as the 1920s/1930s.
Why that changed, I do not know. I do know, however, that restaurants have become much more ubiquitous in the U.S. and accessible to most everybody, so that perhaps partly coincides with the fall of the middle class having personal servants.
All of the talk in this thread of regulations and restrictions not allowing food and vendor stands in the United States, and the lack of the middle class having servants, makes me consider further that, perhaps, Republicans are right, and too many regulations and perhaps even the minimum wage, are hindering the employment opportunities of those who need them most.
That said, when I was in Puerto Vallarta for 2 weeks last Februrary, I must have been living upper-class from the perspective of the locals. Many of the locals in Puerto Vallarta work in the tourism-related industries and you get to rub shoulders with them, but I was most curious about the folks in suburban (for the lack of a better word) Puerto Vallarta who don't make it to the touristy areas/beach area. So I got on Google streetview a few days ago to at least see what those folks houses look like and was shocked to see basically no yards, many attached houses, and businesses mixed in everywhere - basically no zoning. Kind of neat, but also a bit of a low standard of living. Having worked in pest control, I wondered if their rodent and bug problems are hard to control in those crowded conditions.
Anyway, many of the ways Mexico differs from the United States is appealing to me and actually something we're lacking.
One of the BIGGEST differences between Mexico, what Mexico has and the US doesn't, is....
Walkable communities! In Mexican towns, you can basically walk everywhere, to everywhere you need. And buses will take you anywhere that is too far to walk. And I like how they get down to business with the buses, using whatever buses they can get VS the US requiring those expensive quarter-million dollar buses and if not, nothing at all.
Does it have anything to do with the way property or land is taxed? (IE, tax is based on land and parking lots aren't worth the expense)
Maybe because lack of space.
In some cities like Monterrey and Mexico DF, almost all the parking in malls or even in Walmarts charge per using because there is a law were the owner of the parking is responsible for theft or damage in the car.
It wasn't that long ago that middle-class Americans had servants. Older houses often have butler's staircases, small kitchens suited for servants with a backdoor entrance, butler's pantries, and butler's quarters. Even smaller middle-class houses built as late as the 1920s/1930s.
Why that changed, I do not know. I do know, however, that restaurants have become much more ubiquitous in the U.S. and accessible to most everybody, so that perhaps partly coincides with the fall of the middle class having personal servants.
All of the talk in this thread of regulations and restrictions not allowing food and vendor stands in the United States, and the lack of the middle class having servants, makes me consider further that, perhaps, Republicans are right, and too many regulations and perhaps even the minimum wage, are hindering the employment opportunities of those who need them most.
That said, when I was in Puerto Vallarta for 2 weeks last Februrary, I must have been living upper-class from the perspective of the locals. Many of the locals in Puerto Vallarta work in the tourism-related industries and you get to rub shoulders with them, but I was most curious about the folks in suburban (for the lack of a better word) Puerto Vallarta who don't make it to the touristy areas/beach area. So I got on Google streetview a few days ago to at least see what those folks houses look like and was shocked to see basically no yards, many attached houses, and businesses mixed in everywhere - basically no zoning. Kind of neat, but also a bit of a low standard of living. Having worked in pest control, I wondered if their rodent and bug problems are hard to control in those crowded conditions.
Anyway, many of the ways Mexico differs from the United States is appealing to me and actually something we're lacking.
One of the BIGGEST differences between Mexico, what Mexico has and the US doesn't, is....
Walkable communities! In Mexican towns, you can basically walk everywhere, to everywhere you need. And buses will take you anywhere that is too far to walk. And I like how they get down to business with the buses, using whatever buses they can get VS the US requiring those expensive quarter-million dollar buses and if not, nothing at all.
My family has always been middle class, and I can assure you that the middle class in the USA was never known to have servants. No one, not myself, my parents, my grandparents, my great grandparents ever had a servant, and we're about as middle class as they come. I've never known any one middle class that had servants in the USA, that has always been associated with the wealthy class.
In fact it's common for middle class types to have done some domestic type work, a landscaper in the USA wasn't traditionally seen as a impoverished type servant before, it was a middle class kind of job.
In some cities like Monterrey and Mexico DF, almost all the parking in malls or even in Walmarts charge per using because there is a law were the owner of the parking is responsible for theft or damage in the car.
Space is limited in some cities, like Puerto Vallarta because of the mountains, but it seems like every Mexican town and city is developed densely, so I think there's more to it.
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