Today we went on a bus tour of
Oaxaca, and as we drove through the city we saw plenty of visual reminders of
the impact politics have on Mexican housing and infrastructure. One thing that really stood out to me from the
tour was that unions play a much larger role in the people’s lives here than
they do in America. As one who has a relatively comprehensive understanding of
the U.S. political party development and implementation, I understand the
relevance and importance of a two party political system and can recognize its
strengths and weaknesses. The U.S. is a democratic republic, which in theory
means the people decide, but in my lifetime we as a country have become a lot
less active in our role in government. Mexico is also a democratic republic, however
the citizens are by far more proactive in political issues.
Along the banks of the Rio Grande,
a well-known river that runs through Oaxaca, there are several makeshift homes
made with scrap metal, rags and recyclables. They look very synonymous to the
famous “Hoovervilles” established during the 1930s American Great Depression.
Imagine my shock when my professor told me people willingly live in these
conditions as a way of obtaining land ownership! Electoral candidates promise
to give the people living in these makeshift houses a plot of land and building
materials in exchange for political support. My first thought was this would
never work in America because candidates promise things all the time, and no
real change ever seems to result, but it really works in Mexico. My class and I
were able to see communities that were once squatter settlements, but where people
had received the materials they needed to build permanent residence. These
places are poorly constructed due to lack of urban planning or any real type of
coordinated infrastructure, but they are sturdy looking homes owned by people
who started with next to nothing.
Unions also play or
used to play a large role in achieving goals. For the past ten years the
teacher’s union is probably the most prominent example of this. The presence of
the teachers specifically in Oaxaca deserves its own blog post, and after
further research and a complete understanding of the issue I can provide an
explanation and opinion.
In the mean time I’d like to try
and understand why Mexicans are more proactive in politics than Americans. In
America people still protest when they are outraged by certain events, but the
impact seems to be lessened. My first guess for the change would be the wide
spread use of technology and how people use social media as a platform for
reform more so than actual physical demonstrations, but people in Mexico have
social media. So then why? Is it possible that we’ve gotten too comfortable with
the privileges of being a “first world” country that we’ve forgotten how to
fight? Perhaps because conditions in Mexico, specifically Oaxaca ( one the
poorest states in Mexico) could be better, people are more willing to risk
things because they have less to lose. Whatever the reason, I believe the oneness
and nationalism that I’ve witnessed in my brief time here has shown me to never
doubt the power of unity in political reform.
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| View overlooking Oaxaca |
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