Mexico or Not – Drugs, Guns and Money - On my Soapbox Again

 

The news are pretty scary. Yet for us all living in Mexico, they are the stuff of scare tactics, sensationalism, whatever. Have horrible deaths occurred? Undoubtedly. Where? Mostly in areas where the drug cartels are active, which would be the areas close to the border, or connected in one way or another to the routes used to take the drugs to the U.S.A. Also in vacation spots highly prized by visiting North American neighbours where drugs are part of the picture, aren’t they? How to enjoy surf and turf without the mind-altering substances… It boggles the mind (mine and probably others’) how can there be simple enjoyment of all that nature, art, sports, etc. can offer without the need to obliterate oneself to the enjoyment of any or all. There is enough booze to do the job without resorting to controlled or illegal substances!

Mexico is a developing country. I can state without a shadow of a doubt that there appears to be no drug culture here in Mexico. Lack of $$ or higher spiritual values or something else? Just shoplifting mascara from a store can get you photographed and named on the local paper! Who would dare? Besides, where in the world is the country going to get the money to control and render the drug cartels inoperative when the hunger for the drugs NORTH OF THE BORDER is so great?

I lived in the Bahamas many years ago when the islands were used as a stopover and refuelling station to bring drugs from the South to satisfy the North’s phenomenal appetite for them. At the time, there was Prime Minister Pinder who asked the U.S. for help, the country having neither the means nor the resources to patrol such a wide area. The Bahamas are a small nation with some 700 islands dispersed from Florida to the Antilles. What kind of manpower and equipment can such a small nation get hold of? So the DEA was patrolling regularly. Yet even for them, it proved to be a hard task. 

It boils down to this: THE LAW OF DEMAND AND SUPPLY. It shouldn’t be so difficult to grasp for a capitalist country. As long as there will be so many people who DEMAND the drugs and are ready to pay plenty for the next fix, there will be enterprising others who will be ready to supply them. It isn’t that hard to understand, is it? Just as easy it should be to understand that Americans’ DEMAND for the right to own and use firearms can be a two edged sword. From that, it’s not such a wide stretch to think- that some enterprising “others” would see that for drug runners, firearms are a must have, and there’s big $$$ to gain from supplying them. SUPPLY AND DEMAND, period.

I recently read that Windsor, Ontario (in Canada) had been free from any homicide for TWO YEARS! Right across from Buffalo, NY!  This seemed to make a point that gun control does work at some level, without any citizen being endangered or rendered powerless by the LAW that controls gun ownership and proliferation.

I recall a post by Tioga George that mentioned that the Days of the Prohibition engendered more lawlessness than those where control by the Government made booze available, for a price and a tax. I shudder how much $$$$$$ could be raked in by the Government by legalizing drugs, such as in Holland and Portugal. Unless, of course, the lobbyists for legalized Alcohol feared a substantial loss of revenue… Think of a grass roots movement that would empower Government to enact such a law. What would happen to recession? $$ In and $$ Out, Supply and Demand… No need to raise taxes on the super-rich. Perhaps they should get in, if not for personal interest, perhaps just for self-preservation…

To sum it all up, I LOVE my Tequisquiapan, Mexico where I can go at any hour of the day or night without fearing for loss of life or limb. I received a comment on my blog from a reader whose good friend had recently died after being viciously stabbed ON THE STREET, after church. For what? Robbery! I cannot recall any similar instance occurring in Mexico for the couple of years that I have lived here.

Yep, I’m on my soapbox once more.  I think that the mea culpa ought to be ascribed where it belongs. I’m not a sociologist, or even a highly educated person. No PhD or Master’s degree. It strikes me that just PLAIN COMMON SENSE ought to prevail over degrees and tons of letters after one’s name. I DO value education and sought it even when it cost me plenty. However, no university degree will ever take the place of common sense. It didn’t when I was fostering needy and damaged children. One does not raise a child by the “book”.  Neither does it now. Come on people, just use Common Sense! It helped build these great nations. Let’s not take leave of it.

OK, I’ve had my time on the soapbox. To sum it all up, let the responsibility of fixing things fall where things got f…..d up in the first place. Mexico is definitely not at fault here.

LiveJournal Tags: Mexico Drug Cartels,Violence in Mexico,Tioga George,Legalizing Drugs,Common Sense