moisheh wrote:
"It's a good thing. Mexico will be better off in the end. It will take time to change the mentality of people accustomed to government rhetoric and false promises of handouts."
Chris: You cannot be serious. It is one thing to post some political rhetoric. It is another to ignore facts. When you travel Mexico do you see all the citizens driving a vehicle that barely makes it down the road? Quite often they only use the car once a week. The whole family empties their pockets and manages to find enough coins to by 4 or 5 litres of fuel. All of their food staples have become more expensive. Everything from Tortillas to vegetables. Yesterday it was announced that medications are going up as well. Where are people supposed to get the money to buy these necessities? I don't see your Conservative business owners giving them a raise. Nor do I see Nieto giving them free food! Your comments would be correct if we were talking about Canada where the basic minimum wage allows you to buy 5 gallons of gas with 2 hours of wages. How long will it take an Albanil ( not a Maestro, just a grunt) to earn enough money for 20 litres of fuel? Many of these guys work for 250 to 300 pesos a day. And please don't give me that nonsense about these fellows lacking an education. Your post shows a lack of sensitivity for the plight of millions of Mexicans. Fuel is going up early next moth. The Government has said that as long as the Peso keeps dropping ( than you Trump) fuel will go up every month. Every time fuel goes up so do most consumer items. This is a serious problem. There is no simple solution but it needs more than comments blaming the poor for their problems. They need help not preaching! Between Mexico's trade problems, corrupt Governors and an inept Federal Government Mexico has some serious issues. You are an intelligent educated person. How about a little compassion?
Moisheh
What do you recommend? Continue to subsidize gasoline? Run the country into the ground like Venezuela with gasoline at .10 a gallon?
Mexicans consume 24,000,000 barrels of gasoline a month. That's a lot of fuel.
Sorry, but I believe your vision of Mexico is based on a very small swath. I just returned from Mexico City where the highways and avenues are packed. The majority of the cars are new. The same in Monterrey.
Mexico is much bigger and has a much larger middle class than anyone can imagine. When you rv and avoid major metro areas you see rural areas, low incomes, etc.
The same is true when we took our trip to Canada. Had we not ventured into major metro areas our vision would have been identical. Throughout the "great" southwest we saw abandoned towns, run-down shacks, people living off wages from McDonald's, food stamps and SNAP cards. People we talked too were second and third generation field workers picking potatoes and beets. The states were West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. We didn't go into major cities because we had the rv.
In Canada, more of the same as we headed across BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Mexico will adjust. It always does. The way out of poverty is the same in every country. It's my same old rant. Free education, free uniforms, free books, free breakfast, scholarships to universities (51% receive scholarships), free transport to school. What else?
I've worked in Texas towns where the schools have to provide dinner for students who return at 5 p.m. I don't know what the answer is not even for what some consider the greatest country in the world. They have the same problems.
You're beating a dead horse. Poverty is as old as human history. All I can do is "try" to help people find education. If they aren't interested, and many aren't, I can't help them. Nothing is for free and everything has a cost.
Again, I am not a rich American living in Mexico, I'm not retired and I get paid in pesos. I live like any other Mexican. I earn pesos, I don't have savings in the U.S. I have to live with this situation also.
