Mexico's Social Crisis

[Ajijic]

Mexico's population is about 106 Million and what bothers many of us is the extreme poverty. This article puts some of it into perspective. Thankfully many expats assist when possible.

Narro: the nation nears social crisis

BY Rocío Zayas

Mexico is nearing a social crisis due to problems like extreme poverty, unemployment and illiteracy, said the rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), José Narro.

He stressed that at a time like this, it's essential to find solutions for the problems, while still respecting plurality, history and institutions.

He continued that, considering the current problems Mexico is facing, social pressure must have an outlet.

He said that there are many problems in the country, and that in order for Mexico to get ahead, fundamental social rights must be addressed.

Narro said the country is going through a very delicate moment. "We have 50 million poor people. How could we not have a delicate situation, when in the past two years, we've seen 5 million more Mexicans join the ranks of poverty? And how could we not see rising social pressures, when there are 6 million Mexicans who don't know how to read or write?"

Narro spoke after a ceremony for the "Presentation of the program to celebrate 100 years of UNAM."

"The country is demanding solutions and answers for the future, not problems that further divide or separate us," he stressed.

Narro added that there is a great risk of social unrest because people are suffering from hunger, people are sick, and people are not finding work.

He issued a call for society to recognize that what is best for Mexico as a whole is above what is best for a certain group of people, stressing that solutions need to focus on the big picture.

Narro said that over 80,000 students at UNAM come from families whose income is less than four minimum salaries per year.

He said it's necessary to direct more resources toward scholarships so that young people won't drop out of the university for economic reasons.

He said it's time to strengthen public institutions like UNAM, the National Polytechnic Institute, and the Metropolitan Autonomous University, so that they can perform their essential services, and he said those schools should all receive larger budgets for next year.

[solajijic]

University president boilerplate budget increase for social reasons address.....geez.

If he'd addressed the need for his graduates to have something to do after graduate other than drive a cab (so to speak) then maybe he'd have an audience. Mexico

s educated young people cann't support themselves...that's the problem, not keeping them in school, but employing them after school.

Without that they won't be examples for or capapble of assisting other young people in their families.

[jimmiller]

What a surprise-the rector of UNAM is asking for more money for UNAM.

That will help to cure Mexico's poverty problem?

Poor people are less likely to have the educational background sufficient to enter UNAM in the first place.

It would be interesting to see an opposing point of view,such as spending more money on pre-school and primary education in the rural areas so that more people can be qualified to enter UNAM and other universities.

[Ajijic]

Definitely primary and secondary schools need help big time. According to surveys posted in the Atencion in San Miguel the average education is 5.4 years!!!

Meanwhile don't loose focus on the whole article. The huge poverty issues and potential for what I believe is the masses pushing for major reform. 60% of the economy is underground and billions lost through corruption in PEMEX, CFE etc. Here is one of thousands of example. In SMA and I am sure elsewhere, give about 1000 pesos to certain CFE employees. They come and adjust your meter to run slow and install a new seal. This is on company time in a company car. This is very common.

In summary the article states 50 MILLION poor people equates to 48% of the population!

[Intercasa]

About 50% of the population doesn't go to junior high or high school. That is the first step and breaking the cycle of ignorance, delinquency and poverty. People need to be trained to act differently. Dropping out of school at 15 to 16 and getting pregnant seems to be the norm rather than the exception and the poor / uneducated have more kids than the educated / wealthy.

Until people strive for education and stop having huge families they cannot afford, little will change.

[Mainecoons]

This is a chicken and egg discussion. Where is the motivation for more education if there are no jobs after graduation?

The Mexican people are the hardest working, most loving and decent people you could find. But they are far too tolerant of bad government and they have been suckered by psuedo socialist propaganda that they "own" their energy. Actually, the corrupt and greedy unions and managers own Pemex and CFE and they milk both for all they're worth. These union members who take paychecks without showing up for work or who take bribes are no better than the oligarchs and the drug lords. All of them are ripping the people off.

This is a world economy. Investors look at Mexico and they see that the ordinary people will reward those who invest in them with hard work. And then they look at the corruption and they go somewhere else.

It's a damn shame.

[Ajijic]

Spencer and Dan, LOUD APPLAUSE

[jimmiller]

This is a chicken and egg discussion. Where is the motivation for more education if there are no jobs after graduation?

The Mexican people are the hardest working, most loving and decent people you could find. But they are far too tolerant of bad government and they have been suckered by psuedo socialist propaganda that they "own" their energy. Actually, the corrupt and greedy unions and managers own Pemex and CFE and they milk both for all they're worth. These union members who take paychecks without showing up for work or who take bribes are no better than the oligarchs and the drug lords. All of them are ripping the people off.

This is a world economy. Investors look at Mexico and they see that the ordinary people will reward those who invest in them with hard work. And then they look at the corruption and they go somewhere else.

It's a damn shame.

Corruption isn't the only problem,it's also a question of bureaucracy, un-enforced laws, respect for contracts,etc. I worked in a financial institution which operated globally-because of Mexico's relatively poor credit rating the amount of business we could do in Mexico was miniscule so we didn't bother.

But just think: if Mexico were developed to its potential most of us couldn't afford to live here!

[tobyjug]

What puzzles me is why Canada, north of the US and Mexico south of the border has "developed" at a different pace/rate..how come countries with contiguous land connections to the US be so different, economically wise... as comparison, Spain when it join the EEC took off like crazy..what has NAFFTA done for Mexico

[Jeannie]

About 50% of the population doesn't go to junior high or high school. That is the first step and breaking the cycle of ignorance, delinquency and poverty. People need to be trained to act differently. Dropping out of school at 15 to 16 and getting pregnant seems to be the norm rather than the exception and the poor / uneducated have more kids than the educated / wealthy.

Until people strive for education and stop having huge families they cannot afford, little will change.

According to TEFL, the average teacher's salary in Mexico is $8000 a month. Assuming a 40 hour work week that comes out to approximately 50 pesos and hour.

Many of us here are paying maids and gardeners 50 pesos an hour, or more, so where is the incentive for any young person to stay in school. In many cases any job they get is not going to pay as much as what they could earn as a maid or gardener, so they can easily drop out, and make the same salary as a teacher makes and help provide money for the whole family. Or, they can even take the risk and go north, and make far more than they ever could here in their own country.

There are no easy answers unfortunately.

[dazedconfused92037]

About 50% of the population doesn't go to junior high or high school. That is the first step and breaking the cycle of ignorance, delinquency and poverty. People need to be trained to act differently. Dropping out of school at 15 to 16 and getting pregnant seems to be the norm rather than the exception and the poor / uneducated have more kids than the educated / wealthy.

Until people strive for education and stop having huge families they cannot afford, little will change.

Absolutely correct. And no one seems to be doing ANYTHING to address education or the changes that it effects. Kind of like in the US? Hmmm. Sometimes it seems that here in Mexico pregnancy at 15 or so is a genetically predisposed condition.

It amazes me that the Catholic Church still rides the downhill train of perpetual propagation in the poorest countries of the world. And then wonders why Islam is taking over.

Jeannie's 8000 a month for a teacher figure is spot on. And it's true that there are no easy answers particularly in politically charged environments where backbone's an unknown and unpopular word.

[kapakahi]

About 50% of the population doesn't go to junior high or high school. That is the first step and breaking the cycle of ignorance, delinquency and poverty. People need to be trained to act differently. Dropping out of school at 15 to 16 and getting pregnant seems to be the norm rather than the exception and the poor / uneducated have more kids than the educated / wealthy.

Until people strive for education and stop having huge families they cannot afford, little will change.

Sounds like your talking about some U.S. places I know.

[jimmiller]

There are neighborhoods or districts in the US with that kind of statistic. The 50% number sited for Mexico applies to the entire population of the country

[Intercasa]

I don't 100% trust that 8,000 pesos a month for teachers. I'll ask another but I recently spoke at a class at a secundaria and prepa in Michoacan and the teachers there get 65 to 70 pesos an hour PLUS all benefits required by law and IMSS insurance!

[kapakahi]

There are neighborhoods or districts in the US with that kind of statistic. The 50% number sited for Mexico applies to the entire population of the country

Yes, but most Mexicans, whether poor or not seem to have an excelent grasp on the politics of their country. I would venture that most of those 50% of the country who did not go to school are more knowledgable than a lot of U.S. high school grads, who can't read or write when they get out. Even some college grads are pretty pitiful.

[rufus]

Mexico suffers from a long history of one party government that said one thing and then did another. People talked socialism and then stole the country blind. As long a people will sell their vote for a bag of cement, that is the kind of government they will get. This is changing.

The truly motivated Mexicans have gone north. I see them all around my neighborhood. They arrive green as grass. The first thing they do is get a bicycle and a job. In a couple of years, they have their own businesses, homes and automobiles.

Everyone arrives with the intention of making some money, and then going home to start a business or buy a ranch. It never happens. They meet someone and start a family. While they may send remittances home to the family, they never really return. They can't; their kids are US citizens, and for the most part don't even speak Spanish.

Mexico is hemmoraging talent and youth; in return it gets remittances. Esau is selling his birthright.

Rufus

[rufus]

Thinking about it.

In the 2006 presidental election, the winner was determined by a margin of 243,934 votes. It was also the first election in which Mexicans could theoretically cast an absentee vote. What would have been the effect of the eleven or twelve million Mexicans now illegally in the US casting votes in that election? How about the millions of Mexican citizens that are in the country legally? How would they have voted?

Unfortunately, to register to vote they would have to return to Mexico. Absentee participation was minimal.

Rufus

[jimmiller]

Mexico suffers from a long history of one party government that said one thing and then did another. People talked socialism and then stole the country blind. As long a people will sell their vote for a bag of cement, that is the kind of government they will get. This is changing.

The truly motivated Mexicans have gone north. I see them all around my neighborhood. They arrive green as grass. The first thing they do is get a bicycle and a job. In a couple of years, they have their own businesses, homes and automobiles.

Everyone arrives with the intention of making some money, and then going home to start a business or buy a ranch. It never happens. They meet someone and start a family. While they may send remittances home to the family, they never really return. They can't; their kids are US citizens, and for the most part don't even speak Spanish.

Mexico is hemmoraging talent and youth; in return it gets remittances. Esau is selling his birthright.

Rufus

It's all George Bush's doing.

[Intercasa]

There are many opportunities here in Mexico. Many Mexicans want the easy life and go to the US. Yes, they go there and get a bike, job, fancy car, etc but few or their children get a college education, many continue their tonterias up north and teach their kids that lifestyle. In the US, they are stupid enough to reward people for having more kids than they can afford, tolerate criminal illegal aliens and allow people who break the rules to survive and in many cases prosper while the tab is picked up by the hard working middle class.

Mexico really isn't a culture of education and that needs to change. People can survive here in Mexico but few want to, most don't want to follow the rules nor get an education and their plan is to go north. The Mexican government needs to have a better plan for its people then saying "farewell my brothers, live long and prosper in the US." The American people don't want a flood of uncultured, uneducated people, heck, we have our own boneheads to deal with without having to support someone else's people.

Things won't change, people here still like popping out more kids than they can afford, well at least the poor and uneducated who really are the last people who should be having large families. The church wants to keep its members up so appeals to the poor and condoms and the pill are a sin, and if not much of a sin if a girl takes the pill she is a whore (some girls take the bus to Guad to buy their pills so people won't gossip about them) so the girls don't and then get knocked up by the vago down the block and of course he ditches her (Mexico is #3 for unwed teen moms, only after Bangladesh and India) and then as she has no brains and anything else, uses the only thing she has down south to attract guys and becomes the thing she didn't want to be and lives with her mom.

Something's got to give. You can only fit so many generations with multiple offspring into a home, especially if few are working and have education. What will they do next? Ok, they can buy bunk beds but after that?

This is the harsh reality and if it shocks you then perhaps you need to get to know a higher class of Mexican, not all want to go to the US and many have made it here in Mexico and want to better themselves and don't fall into the traps the lower classes do.

[ajiblue]

Agree. Many, many Mexicans detest the idea of going North and look down upon those who do. And don`t believe that all that go North are hard working and dedicated. Some just work enough days a week to pay the rent on the apartment they share with eight others and send a bit back home. They do not all by far become examplars of the American dream, or even try to become that.

[privado]

University president boilerplate budget increase for social reasons address.....geez.

If he'd addressed the need for his graduates to have something to do after graduate other than drive a cab (so to speak) then maybe he'd have an audience. Mexico

s educated young people cann't support themselves...that's the problem, not keeping them in school, but employing them after school.

Without that they won't be examples for or capapble of assisting other young people in their families.

Statements like this, are the same situation which exists in the US today.

Middle and upper middle class Mexicans in many cases have better educations than the Ex pat polulation of Mexico. The problem with living in Chapala is that your source of contact with the Mexican people -are your neighbors, employees or small business owners in the area. The common demoninator is a continuation of life style that has existed for generations- education is not a priority-education costs money -

Where do you think all those people driving nice cars in Guad are going- to work- they may be teachers, accountants, secretaries, doctors, lawyers, engineers etc- they have an education. Visit the Canadian Counsulate in the Guadalajara World Trade Center Complex- 2 towers of over 1200 Mexicans at work doing a whole variety of jobs many for American and International companies.

My next door neighbor has 3 kids in college- one studying in Spain - a friend has a daughter who is studying at the Sorbonne and the Louvre Museum-they are upper middle class-but they came from families who also valued education.

That's a universal problem- how do you teach the poor that education is something that will improve your quality of life.

[rufus]

Agree. Many, many Mexicans detest the idea of going North and look down upon those who do. And don`t believe that all that go North are hard working and dedicated. Some just work enough days a week to pay the rent on the apartment they share with eight others and send a bit back home. They do not all by far become examplars of the American dream, or even try to become that.

True, but I run into a better class of people where I live.

People will continue to be drawn to the US as long as we provide social services they want and need. Nobody goes hungry NOB. Between food stamps and WIC and subsidized housing the living is easy. If illegals get "free" health care and access to social security the lure of NOB will be irresistible. How long until the system breaks down? I don't know. But we did it to ourselves; we voted for those people.

It has been my experience that Mexicanos are more productive and self reliant than Chicanos. It seems like the second generation gets hooked on the opium of social welfare.

Just my opinion.

Rufus