Nathan Scandella (personal)

He regresado de Mexico

I have just returned from a trip to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. Some lovely pictures can be found here. While the scenery was amazing, I'm afraid that wasn't the first or last impression I was left with on the trip.

While Mexico is only one border away, the difference in cultures is enormous. One notable difference is the necessity to keep your guard up at all times to avoid being ripped off. Not necessarily by pickpockets in stealth mode, but openly by anyone you volunteer to do business with. Of all the purchases I made in cash, only one actually involved me paying the advertised (in writing) price. All other transactions involved some sort of mandatory gratuity included. Perhaps it was a tip for the kind gentlemen who so graciously offered to translate Mexican numerals into US values. In any case, the one guy who didn't try to rip me off got a nice (voluntary) tip for his honesty.

Nothing costs what it seems. Everyone seems to take an extra cut for themselves. That includes the police. Two of our party were stopped for no reason by the Policia and threatened with a trip to the local jail if they didn't pay a cash fine on the spot. I'm not naive enough to think that this sort of thing doesn't happen in the US, but it's the exception here, rather than the rule.

It didn't stop with the funny money. Rules in general seemed to be absent all around us. Construction workers were scaling towers of rebar in flip-flops. Children of very young ages were clearly being put to work. Our hotel (which was top-of-the-line, by the way) had more safety hazards than the Temple of Doom. And whether or not the lack of rules was a cause or a symptom of Mexico's other problems, it can't be argued that Mexicans are doing well for themselves.

At a time (election season) when we're inundated with political rhetoric, one of the popular refrains is the one about how America is great because of its "free" markets, streamlined regulation, and individual liberties. While these things all have their own merits, I can't help leaving Mexico thinking that part of our success has to do with our rules, and the fact that most of us follow them.

It's also clear that "corruption" is a relative concept. This is something I think it would serve Americans well to remember the next time we think about crucifying a politician for having an affair and lying about it.

Posted at 01:10PM Oct 21, 2008 by Nathan in General  |  Comments[0]