The Baja California citizens counsil for public safety plans to start a new program called Filadelfia named after the place were they got the idea, it
will be a citizens watch program were local business people and high school students will be able to stop and intervene if they see cops stopping
tourists and make sure that the are beeing treated correctly (No mordida o extorsion). These citizens will be attending seminars and special training.
I might join http://www.frontera.info/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Otras/15022007...
You are one buen amigo indeed. Don't forget to duck when the projectiles come back at you.
Is that you in the photo?
Two very serioso hombres!
IflyfishDENNIS - 2-16-2007 at 07:10 PM
fdt .......
This is almost too much to hope for......... may God help me if I dont believe it to be true.
Could it happen that Mexicans, after all they have been taught by their government, care about the well-being of the U.S. citizen, tourist or
otherwise? After all, didn't we steal your land? Dont your school textbooks refer to us as thieves and tyrants? Interventionists? The cause of all
problems in Mexico?
As far as I have ever seen is that Mexico takes Americans as dollar- valueable and at best, tolerable.
Why would they, all of a sudden, be concerned with our safety?
I honestly dont believe any Mexican is concerned with the safety of North Americans after what they have been taught by your government. What I
believe you may be concerned with is our money. As in, " The best part of the Red White and Blue is Green. Leave it and leave".
What happened when Zedillo was minister of education and had text books written with a soft touch toward the U.S.A.?
He was buried by the dinosaures and reprimanded for his soft view of the demon which they used to blame all faults upon. The old-line texts stayed,
to this day, and the scape-goat is still in place. Jeezo, I've heard it so often, how bad we are, Im starting to feel guilty. But, fdt, I wont.
I didn't steal anybodys land and I'm not rich and I wont pay for the sins of my ancestors.
The Mexican attitude toward North Americans, the one taught by your government, is coming to the fore at a rapid rate. That is what needs
attention. We arn't your enemy, in spite of what your government teaches you.woody with a view - 2-16-2007 at 07:45 PM
Quote:
" The best part of the Red White and Blue is Green. Leave it and leave".
if this is the case, well, pee on 'em.......there is a fine line between OUR tolerance and choas......it's a two way street, for now!DENNIS - 2-16-2007 at 07:55 PM
Woody ---
I agreevgabndo - 2-17-2007 at 01:11 AM
Dennis...do you call that a tranquil mood? Pretty harsh amigo. Not at all what I find among my Mexican friends, but then I don't dally long near the
frontera.
fdt...Thank You for your assistance in all things. Where I come from we'd call you a QUALITY DUDE!DENNIS - 2-17-2007 at 07:35 AM
Vag ---
I understand your point clearly. I believe that personal relationships transcend the National agenda. Mine do, as well, but that can't cloud my
view of the total picture. Perhaps I would be more comfortable if it did.
I agree.........fdt is a class act. Too bad he got in the way when I needed to rant and rave.fdt - 2-17-2007 at 08:50 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
Too bad he got in the way when I needed to rant and rave.
You are one lucky guy Dennis, I happen to be a good listener, so if you need to rant and rave, go ahead.
Now maybe it's my age, but I don't remember beeing taught in school any of what you are saying exept for the interventionist part, but that I still
hear in the daily news so it's fresh in my mind.Iflyfish - 2-17-2007 at 01:47 PM
fdt
You are most gracious. It is in the daily news. Hard to deny history. However the average guy doesn't make this history, we are subjected to it, an
then seem to forget it. Jesus had it right about the mote in our own eye and the sliver in the eye of the “other.”
We were not taught in school how our government issued smallpox infected blankets to our native people. The Peoples History of the USofA by Zinn
provides a clearer picture of how it was and is and it is not pretty. We were not taught how the US government allowed Corporations to steal Hawaii
from its sovereign, who was one of the strongest supporters of the US of any monarchy in history. History that is taught in the public schools often
is politically motivated or at least colored by those who choose the texts. Governments tend to want to paint their countries in the best possible
light. This sort of process essentially produces propaganda, that does not educate, but indoctrinates.
You are most gracious indeed. Those who have a stake in keeping us unaware of real history deceive us all and do us all a disservice. It has been said
that those who do not know history are condemned to repeat history. There is great truth in this.
There are wonderful Americans, Canadians and Mexicans who abhor the egregious acts of their government. I do not hold individuals responsible for the
acts of their governments. I do think it is possible to learn from history, though I am somewhat cynical that this does indeed happen. I have watched
two major wars waged by the US in my lifetime, both follies of major proportion causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands. I have seen the Mexican
government nationalize banks and therefore devalue the savings of thousands of people who invested in those banks.
Articles like you have shared with us show me clearly that there are people of good will in Mexico that want to change the centuries old practice of
Mordida, which is a form of tribute, which goes back to the time of the Aztecs. I view this as progress.
For average Mexican citizens to directly confront police officers, who are engaging in extortion of tourists, is an act of personal courage that is
beyond belief. This sort of direct intervention is very dangerous on a personal level. This sort of behavior risks severe reprisal. It takes an
extraordinary sense of identification with the public good to engage in such behavior. I saw students in the 60s put flowers in the barrels of guns. I
doubt that I personally would take that risk. There was a time, in the not to distant past, when even discussing such an idea might result in horrific
reprisals. “Times they are a changing”, Bob Dylan
This article says to me that there is indeed change occurring in Mexico in regard to the centuries old way of doing business in Mexico. These changes
will come slowly as Mexico is required, by its increased engagement with the international community, to change some of its way of viewing how to do
business.
Mexico is coming out of what has been a feudal system. It takes time for the old to be replaced by the new. The election of Vincente Fox, after
seventy-five years of single party rule, and hundred of years of oppression by the Aztecs, Conquestadors, the Catholic Church and Despotic Leaders who
acted as Monarchs, ushered in a new era that I doubt will go away.
We in the USofA Norte have observed social change at this level during the 60s-70s when we observed a sea change in the rights and roles of woman and
minorities in our society. You may be living in the midst of such a sea change in your own society.
I appreciate your thoughtful posts and the way you support we who are guests in your country.
Now, is that you in the pic with the killer slingshot?
Iflyfish
Amen !
beercan - 2-17-2007 at 08:59 PM
There are some individual exceptions --but my long experience tells me that Dennis is on track !!
Quote:
by Dennis
As far as I have ever seen is that Mexico takes Americans as dollar- valueable and at best, tolerable.
