Alba from Mexico
When I am asked about what I don’t like about you, I could recite a litany of attitudes, people and things that I do not like. But when faced with a white piece of paper and a blank cheque (yes, with a que) to write about this topic, it becomes much harder to do it because the answer cannot come from a moment of irrationality; it has to be thought out.
A few months ago a teacher asked us during a class what we thought of you. Some said they admired your power, your will, your way of life, some others said they didn’t like you, largely for the same reasons. I was the only one who actually said I couldn’t understand you, and I still think, after almost two semesters of teachers trying to explain to me what you are, and how you behave, that you have this aura of mystery that will never be broken.
I will not say that I hate your policies, even though I am Mexican and thus on the losing side of a wall that your leaders have decided to set up, but the truth is, sometimes my country has taken advantage of your weakness. I will not say that I admire you in absolute terms because I believe that some things can never be absolute. But I will say that I think you must have something other than a special permission from God to become what you are. You have people that take the world situation, analyze it, and work to your advantage (at least most of the time). You are a country where the majority of people wouldn’t be able to pin point Montana, let alone
So if it is a special deal you have with God, enjoy it. If it is a cultural thing we could all learn a bit from you. I am not saying you haven’t made any mistakes, or that we should learn everything from you. Nobody is perfect, but while the rest of the world laughs about the stereotype of the big-blond-burger eating American, you are still racing far ahead of us. I still don’t agree with the way you have treated my country, and a lot of others, for that matter. And I do believe that your biggest mistakes in foreign policy have come back at you, a boomerang with a vengeance. But through it all, you have found strength, and your people are slowly realizing that mistakes can be corrected, that leaders aren’t always right.
So your society shouldn’t be despised, since we could learn quite a few things from it. Being your neighbour by a long border makes everything that happens to you important to me, at a very personal level. And while I cannot say that I admire you in your true glory, I can say that if we only stopped to think about why you are “so great”, we would find many, many reasons to either prove or disprove your greatness. I am sitting on the fence for this discussion, but not before I say that perhaps we always make fun of the stereotype I mentioned above because that is exactly what we are becoming ourselves.
AlbaAbout the Author
Name: Alba
Country: Mexico
Gender: Female
Occupation International Relations Student
Labels: americans, border issues, female, foreign affairs, foreign policy, mexico, north america, religion, student
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Of course, you fail to mention the Mexican policies toward central American immigrants. People in your south are shot for being "suspected" Hondurans or Guatamalans.
Alba,
Your characterizations of America are understandable given the marketing campaign that Americans use to sell goods. There are actually very few of us who are a "big blonde burger eating American". As far as the fence, it is necessary - we have an immigration policy. We have a way to immigrate into our country. It was abused by so many of your compatriots that our immigration policy is nothing more than catching air with a net. There is a way to come here. And we don't deny anyone that method. "Illegal" is a key word when any discussion of the fence is done.
Democracy are easy to compromise. It takes work and effort to lead us down a road that's central to the core beliefs - and I think they are shared by you and all free people. Extremes are a part of democracy - sometimes painfully. The world today is one of extremes. It is time we began putting our house in order and staying on that middle road. We aren't afraid of anything - but some here will be liquid in the face of those very extremes we try to moderate. So our foreign policy doesn't look so good all the time. But its purpose is to help our survival with other nations - and democracies. You don't see too many democracies at war with each other.
Good luck to you.
"when faced with a white piece of paper and a blank cheque (yes, with a que)..."
You're Mexican. What the hell do you care how American spellings differ from English? At this point we can all see you are clearly not interested in diplomacy and "understanding eachother".
You say you're on the losing side of a "wall"...you mean MEXICO. Are you suggesting the United States should not secure its borders and people? Would you suggest that Mexico stop enforcing ITS borders?
I had to stop reading at this point. Waste of my time.
jen, alba's letter was actually not that bad, considering the kind of letter it is.
Alba, the wall on the border is a sign of the Mexican government failing its people. I heard 10% of the Mexican population lives in the US. Entire towns are empty of men aged 18-45 because they've all left to the "other side". That's crazy!
The Mexican government isn't doing anything to stop the problem of Mexicans fleeing Mexico as they appear to be addicted to the remittances Mexican workers send home, & each person who isn't in Mexico is a person who can't complain to the government to demand change.
As for the wall, if the US treated Mexican migrants on our southern border the way Mexico treats migrants on Mexico's southern border, there would be riots in the streets & rightfully so.
It's like Mexico demands more rights than Mexico gives to others, which is something to think about next time somebody uses the wall as propoganda to make you have a negative opinion about the US.
To be honest, it's a complex issue & no 1 blog post is gonna sum it up, so I'll leave it at that.
Well, good luck in your studies & do come & visit some time! I know I look forward to my next trip to Mexico :D
Alba,
I invite you to sit back and review your criticism, which is that you hate America partly because we're building a wall that keeps you out. That's like complaining to a restaurant that their food was lousy and there wasn't enough of it. Ten percent of Mexicans live in the US. What those Mexicans are doing is voting with their feet for a better country than they were born in.
Here in America, an honest man can make a decent living, unlike Mexico. The police are honest, unlike Mexico, and you get a fair deal in the courts, unlike Mexico. Most of all, America knows how to get out of people's way when they create businesses that create wealth. Mexico is clueless, imposing obstacles for little guys to create businesses so that the fat cats can rip you off and keep you down.
You complain about American policies, but those very policies are to turn a blind eye to all the illegal Mexican immigrants in this country who keep Mexico's nose about water with their remittances. You'd be in real trouble if your northern neighbor was Iraq or China or the Soviet Union, wouldn't you?
You should be thankful you have America for a neighbor to provide an escape from your broken and corrupt country. Think how bad it would get if Mexicans were stuck in Mexico with no hope for their future.
Yes well, no one is perfect. But when the shit hits the fan, it's always America who is asked to come to the rescue isn't it? I for one am glad they are our neighbour, I'd rather have them than just about anyone else on earth...ciao
Ok, I will address each one of you guys separately, since I honestly thought this was going to be another type of critique:
Mr. Smarterthanyou:
Well, I know my country is not doing a lot of things right, regarding immigrants, economy, environment, yes, I am aware of that, but as far as I know this was a letter to America. If you want to know my views on my country's problems, I will gladly share them with you.
Mad conductor:
a)If you read my post carefully, I actually said that there is a stereotype of the big blonde burger eating American, in no way meant to say that all Americans are that.
b) While I understand the point of view about the wall, I believe it is not a solution in absolute terms because people will still migrate. I believe as well that border enforcement cannot really be treated as a joint issue, you have the right to keep whomever you want out of your country. I am not in favour of a wall because of misunderstood nationalism, I am against the wall because it is costing you a lot of money and the flux of immigrants is not stopping. So perhaps things could be done without a wall that will do nothing, and could be dealt with in a more effective way. On a side note, it takes a person who legally wants to go to the States about 6 months to get a visa, and you need a very good reason to get it. Sometimes, even if you have a reason, it won't work.
c) I said I admire your country, because you manage to make your foreign policy work to your advantage most of the time. I even say we should all learn from you!
Jen:
"At this point we can all see you are clearly not interested in diplomacy and "understanding each other". I care about spelling because I believe to understand your culture I have to understand your language.
b) I am on the losing side of a wall. Again, I am not suggesting you shouldn't secure your borders, I am just saying you could find better ways to do it.
c) if you HAD read past that point, you would have seen that I actually said I admired your country, because I do. Not everything that you do, and not in absolute terms, but I believe that you guys have done a good job of developing a country into a superpower, which nobody else is capable to do.
Tantor and Rositta:
Again, I wasn't trying to bash America. I know my country has a lot of problems, and I know people migrate to get away from them, which is imposing a burden on Americans that you shouldn't carry. I am aware of all of those things. Like I said, if you want to discuss my country's problems with me, I will gladly do so!
But I also say that sometimes while your policies make you work internally, they do not work towards the other country. I did not complain about American policies to the extent that I said they work for you, and that is what makes your foreign policy good.
If you take a look at the realist theory, it is a world of power and powerless. Mexico falls in the latter category, and I did say that we have taken advantage of you at some points in history (the oil nationalization, for example). But your country is powerful, and the measures your governments take go towards making it more powerful. Sometimes this hurts other countries, yes, and sometimes these same countries will come back and ask for help, granted. But the fact that you still hold on to your superpower status means that your country has a foreign policy that works for you!
I thought my post would be understood not as just saying that America was wrong, and it was hurting my poor defenceless country, because I do not think so. I apologize if it was misunderstood, but I thought it was clear enough. I believe there is a lot other countries can learn from you.
Alba
We (America) seem to be caught in a vicious cycle when it comes to immigration, especially along our southern border. Simply put, the system is broken. America's greatness stems largely from it's history as a melting pot of immigrants. Yet we now have an immigration policy that severely limits and hinders people from coming in and filling these jobs and contributing to our economy in the name of "job preservation" (for many, a cover for the type of racism that the Irish, Jews, and Chinese have experienced in the past). There is clearly a demand for the type of work that immigrants are able and willing to do...so much so that employers are even willing to break the law to hire these people. This protectionist attitude only exasperates the problem by causing those who are going to come fill those jobs one way or another to do so illegally. This will, in turn, lead to even more resentment and protectionist policies toward immigrants. While all of this is going on, the business community continues their practice of hiring under the table, thereby depressing wages and working conditions.
If we don't want to lose our place as a global powerhouse of great ideas and economic prosperity, we need to return to our roots and become a country that welcomes an inflow of ideas, culture, and (legal) labor.
I understand why so many of your people come to our country. Obviously, most are just looking for work. On the other hand, when it comes to illegal immigration, American citizens have to bear a tremendous burden in the way of increased crime, gang activity, drug dealing, drunk driving accidents, crowded emergency rooms, dealing with students that cannot speak English, dealing with Mexican-American students who generally perform poorly in school, and economic competition from illegal laborers.
I recommend looking for articles at these sites that will explain why many Americans are concerned about the effects of illegal immigration from Mexico on their society:
http://www.parapundit.com/
http://www.vdare.com/
http://www.immigrationshumancost.org/
This is one article you may wish to start with:
http://www.parapundit.com/archives/002109.html
Good luck.
Thank you for your honest relation of your genuine thoughts. I appreciate this very much.
arThanks Dylan!
Oh, incidentally, I could recommend some books on the subject of America as an empire (not my thesis, not my words, lest I am misunderstood).
Niall Ferguson's Colossus: the Rise and Fall of the American Empire, (Allen Lane, 2004. ISBN 0-7139-9770-2)
Jorge I. Dominguez (Harvard) and Rafael Fernandez de Castro's Mexico and the United States, between conflict and cooperation, Routledge, 2001.
The second one is mostly about the relation between Mexico and the United States, short, and concise--and it does show how the wall is not a new thing, there have been measures like that since the late 1980's, none of them have worked. It is not that wanting to keep people out is wrong, it is the way you are doing it that just drives people to try other places to cross, so the measure is pretty pointless after a couple of days. It just leads to more human trafficking. Again, all I am saying is that you could find more (cost) efficient ways to do it.
Alba
Alba,
I will not tell you much.
Just check this out.
http://www.artcamp.com.mx/venga/
Alba,
Interesting, refreshing and a very well thought out point of view, in consideration of most knee-jerk reactions when the topic of the U.S.A. comes up. Your opinion's deserve more thoughtful contemplation than you otherwise might think!
I am very glad to come across this blog. It was a well thought out commentary. More so than those (like Jen) who nit pick at different spellings. I mean, you only have to read "Jen's" comment to realize who is the diplomatic one in this case. Maybe if more people communicated their opinions like you, there would be more understnding.
Congratulations on your comment, and dont worry about the knee-jerk reactions from those who fail to open their minds. That problem is for them to deal with.
Dear Alba:
You'll find that one of the problems with attempting to engage Americans in anything resembling thoughtful dialogue is the tendency to speak in very absolute terms - which, it is worth noting, was exactly the opposite of your approach.
If you truly want to understand American attitudes and foreign policy, it is essential to understand the frightening extent to which they are shaped by media.
The sad truth is that a tiny handful of corporate interests use television and print media as a form of mind control on a mass scale. One of the advantages of brainwashing is that its victims always perceive themselves as independent thinkers.
In the late 20th Century through the present - as media perfected itself and refined its ability to control the population - the American intellect has increasingly become a device used to reach a predetermined end. In other words, we start with the answer and work our backwards to justify it.
Science, of course, works in the opposite direction - which accounts for the fact that issues such as global warming and human evolution are endlessly debated regardless of what evidence is presented. I was wrong is the rarest of sentences and sentiments in the American lexicon. This is the natural result of a hyper-competitive society which views individuals exclusively as winners and losers.
When personally held beliefs conflict with factual, objective reality, an American will just stick his fingers in his ears and scream "I can't hear you," and then declare himself or herself The Winner. After all, we're told we're The Winner every single day.
This is an exceptionally difficult flaw to transcend for the outsider attempting to examine the rather complex fabric of America. Good luck in your quest to do so.
P.S. The purpose of U.S. foreign and domestic policy is singular: To strengthen the American Empire. It is not by accident that most Americans have no concept such an empire even exists. Such is the power of media - and the willful ignorance it perpetuates.
Dear Mr. Hill,
This is perhaps the most eloquent response I have come across in a long time. I tip my hat to you sir.
Mr. Hill,
Though you had put that in eloquent terms. I fail to see how the media is force feeding and shaping US opinion, anymore convincingly than anyone being convinced that Mr. Bush's has any oratorial skills what-so-ever... or even Congress's claim of recapturing the moral and ethical standard of this country; Which BTW... they still have failed too achieve after 10 months since the mid-terms and it's only getting worse. Seeing that all three are just about as popular as the plague right now here in the states, i'm left too wonder quite a bit about your claims!
Still, i'm sure that statement may sound very weird to you. But, i assure you, if we are to rely on public opinion polls, then the Bush administration is doing a bit more better than the other two, with congress coming in second and the media approaching the single digit number's in the minds of the US public! Speaking purely for myself, i wouldn't be too quick to generalize every US citizen in such a way, as following a pied piper to their eventual self-destruction, no questions asked!
I know you didn't say that in such a way. But the implication of what you had wrote leaves one with the impression of condescension toward the many and varied people within this country,. Whom were raised too always hold any or all of the US govt. at arms length, and regard it's motive toward them with suspicion first and then win their trust if the govt. is able too allay their fears about any of it's motive! In a nutshell... it's called "Elections"!
Best regards to you,
J.P.