Years ago I was lolling on the beach on the pacific coast with some family members. We were eating seafood and drinking beer alongside one of those precious seaside palapas. All were enjoying a siesta when a cousin looked at me,,, the gringo,, and asked, why is the U.S. so rich? What I think they mean is how did it acquire such wealth. This seemed a valid question at the moment probably because I had never thought about it in those terms before and at least because I suspected in my relaxed state on the beach with a stomach full of alchohol and mariscos the answer would be very difficult. How does one explain the United States of America without the dubious cost of deflating the history of Mexico. How can one answer the wealth question in a few sentences without getting mired? It's true that the two countries have very different histories. For sure there are a time lines that factors into the histories of both countries. Mexico entered the game late,,, 100 years after the US had freed itself from England. You see, the US is the oldest country in the world with a continuous form of government,, representing a substantial block of time, uninterrupted by upheavals to wax entreprenurial. It is unrivaled in this aspect. Was this the simple answer or is it the vastness of the US, and the wealth of its natural resources. Could it have been the determination of a bunch of industrious protestant outcasts who didn't drink or carouse and could easily combine the precepts of capitalism with their own stoic religious beliefs? Perhaps it might have been the vast rich midwestern prairie converted into a seeminly endless bread basket and which spawned a variety of heavy industries. maybe it was energy independence which began in colonial times and still keeps producing to this day? It's true there was a financial system that supported the adventurer. Small local banks (now dinosaurs) that existed years ago were ready to finance dreams.The US instituted a system of large research universities funded in part by government and another part by private interests that churned out technological ideas. Cars? More Cars? Was it the waves of eager immigrants that helped expand the country's corporate prescence or became an army of macroscopic entrepeneurs. Did their participation in the "free at last to get rich culture" affect the ambitious character of future generations? Was it the industrialization and political power that resulted from the "great" 20th century wars? Was it all of the above?
The question about wealth was posed by a Mexican who saw himself part of the "THIRD WORLD" None of the reasons I have delineated above, that accumulated wealth and power for the US apply to Mexico I thought. Mexico doesn't sport a grand per capita income,,, but it is still rich. That day a cousin asked me "the question" when I was sitting under that charming palapa on the beach next to a dreamy surf of warm water, eating an affordable delicious huachinango a la talla and pulpo encebollado cooked fresh right there, in a country of catholics, (who like to party as a general rule), a country of luscious gastronomical delight, a country rich in culture, swathed in traditions that go back in time way before Columbus ran aground. Who's rich I thought? I reflected on all Mexico's beautiful spaces grand and intimate,, its palette of colors, and abundance. I was comparing apples and avocados, and if I fell for the trap I would be forced into an unavoidable lie. What makes a country "THIRD WORLD" anyway. Mexico cannot be third world,,, It's too verbal and out in the open. The countries or sections of countries in which the majority of the population spends its time indoors in insuated environments not talking and whose living room is considered a form of street life are third world. New York would be an example of a first world section and Chatham, New Jersey where they might just as well tear up the sidewalks because no one uses them anymore is third world. Mexico is a place where the air is filled with words because life is lived outdoors and people are verbal.
Some images of Mexico
The Precious Palapa Where The Question Was Posed
Teotihuacan
El Tajin
The monarch reserve
Chinelos
Beautiful women
Tenancingo Fiesta
Sunsets in Ajiic
Charro
Atotonilco
Benedictine Monastery Guanajuato
Atontonilco
Religious baubles Atotonilco
Bacalao al pil pil
Chon Coatepec, Veracruz
Dolores Hidalgo
Guadalajara
Huamantla Puppet museum
Banda
Omar's funeral
San Miguel de Allende
Tlaxcala
La burra Pantuflas
Tlaxcala Hacienda Tenexcac
Toros Tenancingo
Taxco Evening Zocalo
Tenancingo Evening On The Zocalo
Tenancingo Mercado
El Ahuehuete
Guerrero
Colima
Chalma
Chalma
Chiapas
Tenancingo Dancers
Tenancingo Fiestas Patrias
Tenancingo Fiestas Patrias
Papantla, Vera Cruz
Arteaga, Coahuila
Tenancingo
Tlaxcala
Coatlan del Rio
Tlaxcala
Tlapujahua
The beach at Puerto Escondido, Guerrero
Pulpo encebollado
Huachinango a la talla
Huachinango a la talla
I have walked there and felt peaceful
Puerto Escondido Guerrero
Mountain of chilacas Oaxaca
La señora in the market Miahuatlan
The colors
The history
Teotenango
Xinantecatl
Typical wires in Mexico that stand as a false symbol of its gross inefficiency
I never did answer my cousin concerning the question of how the United States aquired wealth. I needed time to think. I did however suspect how the coloring of his perspective on what the US seemed, had led him to ask it in the first place. Weeks later while perousing the net I read an old account of the Sago Mine Disaster in West Virginia. Shortly before 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2006, a methane ignition in a recently sealed area of the mine triggered an explosion that blew out those seals, sending smoke, dust, debris and carbon monoxide into the working sections of the mine. Investigators with the Mine Safety and Health Administration later determined a lightning strike was the ignition source. The accident claimed the lives of 12 men and severely injured another when the explosion caused the underground mine to fill with carbon monoxide. After hours of trying to get out, struggling to make their emergency breathing supplies work and banging on a pipe in hopes of communicating with those on the surface, the miners finally died from a lack of breathable air.
The Sago mine had been cited for 270 safety violations in the two years prior to the blast. Worker safety had been traded for profit by an industry that is politically well connected and notoriously lethal. During the 41 hour rescue attempt a dozen families were told by mining company officials that their loved ones had been saved when in fact they had died in the deadly explosion.
I also read about what could have been another potential mining disaster, I think somewhere in Germany. The circumstances were similar to the Sago mine disaster, however all 67 miners in this Euro-mine were saved. There was a "safe room" below equipped with special insulation, bracing, food, oxygen, beds. Mines in W Va. don't have these. People have been dying below the ground in West Virginia since coal was discovered. In Europe too but they have made significant advances in safety. The U.S. lags far behind in this department. Profit rules as energy and politics are famous bedfellows. I ask if one could use this example of mines too, in a way answer my first query, that is how to answer my mexican cousin who desired to know what was the key to wealth in the USA. Simply said friend, you just don't know the U.S..
Perhaps this doesn't really satisfy the person from the supposed third world whose mind is filled with material images garnished by the media. The USA, where there are truly rivers of new cars, designer drugs, supermodels everywhere, the good life lived on the edge glutted by endless drink and 3" thick steaks, wads of money to buy all you could desire,, with an army and a gargantuan police force to protect it all. How would you answer someone concerning this?
In my frustration I decided to devise a test and ask people that question: Why is the US so rich?
Compare yourself to the others using a fantasy scale I made up called the Caroline Strumolo Elementary Grade Credibility Scale. You add the participant's age plus the year achieved in school (for example a high school diploma is 12 and college degree = 16). This I call Factor One...... then multiply waist size of the participant in inches by their I.Q. and divide this figure by the previous factor. The resulting number is a credibility rating. The names have been changed to protect the impoverished. The responses are their actual unedited responses. This method may seem stupid to many but it actually works.
#1 is the response from my brother Manny. He had one year of college, is grossly overweight, and teaches auto shop in New Jersey. His Factor One is 63 (50+13=63) then divide that into figure two (waist size 52 times an IQ of 100). We arrive at 5000 divided by 63 and voila we arrive at 79.36507936. This is his Credibility Factor.
#2 is the response from someone I knew 32 years ago in New England named Tara. She is thin, almost college educated, and lives in a suburb in Colorado. Her Factor One is 65. We divide that into 3399 (waist size times IQ) and we arrive at 52.29230769 for a Credibility Factor.
#3 is the response from Janice, a medium waisted university teacher of writing in Tennessee. She has a masters degree going for a doctorate. That's 18 for education! Her Factor One is 64. Divide that into 3776 and we get a solid 59.
#4.is Lona, a slightly zoftig graphic artist from New Hampshire and a good friend. She was educated in a technical school for a couple of years. Her Factor One is 56. Divide that into 5250 and we get 93.75.
Responses:
# 1 Manny' response: America is rich because we buy everything and if we stopped so will their economies so they will lend us money just so we can consume. Manny
# 2 Tara's response: Things are GREAT!! Not sure what you're asking me to try to answer?... Tara
# 3 Janice's response: What an inquiry you sent me. We are the "haves," maybe the "HAVE' nation. Natural resources, space, technology, ??????? I've wondered myself. How did we grow so big and so fast. A bunch of outlaws running way from society. A cowboy world? As much as I complain about our system and despise our current political and global situation, we do seem to come out on top in many areas. Maybe the answer is "accident of birth." Some think we are "doing" the right thing. And what is that, I wonder? Maybe I'll give this to my students as a writing assignment?
# 4 Lona: Dear Peter, One of my theories for the apparent wealth
of the US is this: With the advent of ｳwomen's liberationｲ more women started working outside the home. This was first met with disapproval. Women are needed at home to take care of the children and the husband. At first, women worked for a little extra money, to pay for some of the extras: pools, second cars, larger homes, vacations, nicer clothes, things that improved the quality of their lives. With two incomes, even unequal incomes, every penny of the household finances was not going to mere existence.They could save, send their kids to college, etc. Essentially, they could start to enjoy components of the lifestyle that was relegated to the upper class. Well, the upper class couldn't stand for that. If the middle class started enjoying the benefits of the upper class how could they differentiate between us and them. Without that carrot of keeping up with the Jones, what would keep the middle class motivated to support the upper class. If you charted the price increases of items you would see a sudden spike in the 70s and anexponential incline ever since. The cost of living skyrocketed so that two incomes was no longer a luxury but a necessity. But the middle class still aspired to reach the upper class, so they required higher salaries and worked more hours, they sacrificed family life for upward mobility. And they didn't want their kids to get used to just sitting around (or having to pay for all that daycare) so they schedule every minute of their time with football, and music lessons, and gymnastics, and play dates.
Heaven forbid anyone should have a second of peace and quiet to contemplate their thoughts,they might realize what an accelerated rat race they were running. That they are working twice as hard as their parents for four times the material crap and have the
qualiaty of life. And you can't just be happy with what you have, no you have to save $200,000 per child for college for a degree that isn't worth the paper it is written on. And you have to save for your retirement because any promises the government or your employer
make regarding that are worthless. So you keep going, and going, but the upper class can still feel your breath on their neck. You are still too close, but they don't want to give up their big fat bonuses, but they have to cut costs to keep the profits up. So what
do they do? They cut jobs, close plants and outsource your jobs overseas to people who are willing to work for a tenth of what you do and then view themselves as philanthropists because they are helping the economies of underdeveloped countries. And
if they can't do that, they build their empires like a house of cards, lying and
cheating their employees and investors out of money, being pompus enough to think they will never get caught because they are so much smarter than the people they are stealing from. Meanwhile, the government plays in so much subterfuge, funding rebels who will become presidents we will then turn on and blow up when we need an enemy to rally around, or a smoke screen for domestic issues or a shot in the arm for the economy. And while they arebusy playing god, countries like Japan and China and Russia buy up our debt and real estate. The governmentspends billions of dollars it doesn't have, borrowing
from the people's social security but then throwing us to the wolves that are the credit card companies who own our souls by protecting THEM. Your time is worth more, but your dollar buys you less. Everything is disposable, made to break or become obsolete
about the same time you finish paying for it if you are lucky.And so, is the US really rich? We have merely become the upper class in a global economy. We are just trying to keep one step ahead of the rest of the world. We blow up buildings to send a message and it is shock and awe military tactics that are considered fair in time of war. Someone else
blows up one of our buildings to send a message and they are terrorists. When we overthrew the English occupiers using guerilla tactics in the 1700s, we were brave revolutionaries. When we are the occupiers, the revolutionaries become cowardly insurgents. Everyone wants to climb the ladder to get to the top, but once at the top there is no place left to go, and if there are still people climbing they aren't just going to let you stand there, they will push you off to make room for themselves. So why is the US rich? The US is rich because it had the benefit of a fresh start. It came to a new country, stole it from the Natives, and built it into what it wanted to be. It had no history, no infrastructure, no rules.It is like the difference between buying a house and working around what is already there and building a house from scratch, creating what you want it to be. It took many people from other countries who had nothing to loose and everything to gain and gave them a blank slate on which to build their future. And it was never perfect, but it started out with a lot of good ideas and hard work. But I think we are learning what happens when people inherit rather than build. When you become far enough removed from the thought and hardwork that are required to build something, you take it for granted. You expect it. You get lazy and thoughtless, and there are always those who are willing to take advantage of that. Whether they cheat you or overtake you, fairly or unfairly. And so, we have gambled, we have won, and right now we may be holding most of the chips but when you get cocky, you get careless and thoughtless. Much of the USｹs abundance is so much smoke and mirrors. Life is a barter game, and it is all about what you are willing to trade. So do not try to explain to them why the US is rich, ask them why they think they are poor. The perception depends on the currency you are counting.
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