Moving To Mexico

I fell in love with Mexico on my first trip there in 1989, and was totally depressed to come home to my native country of Canada. El Norte seemed like a dystopian version of Disney Land, by comparison. Every trip since, I have felt the same. Now, 32 years later, I am ready to move to Mexico, and eagerly.

In this short essay I will look at the cultural, economic, and yes, political reasons, why millions of people are relocating to Mexico from the US, Canada, Britain, Europe and other parts of the world. What I do not cover here are the logistics or practical details of how to make such a move. I have included two playlists below, of podcasts and videos, that cover all of that extensively, for anyone who is interested. What I want to focus on here is the question of why so many people want to move, or have moved, to Mexico, over the past 40 years, and in exponentially growing numbers since the crash of 2008.

But let’s deal with the biggest prejudice or stereotype right away. Most people in the US and Canada will say, “Why would anyone want to move to Mexico?! Isn’t it dangerous?” Well, to put it frankly, most people in the US and Canada are idiots. Why do I say that? Because they live in a bubble. The know almost nothing about the world, or even what is going on in their own country; but they think they do, because they watch or read the mainstream media. They trust the major media to give them an accurate and honest depiction of what is going on in their country and around the world. That is what makes them idiots. They are not innately stupid – they just fail to use their natural intelligence; and that makes them functional idiots.

Most of the violence in Mexico is near the US border. That region is definitely violent, crime-ridden, and dangerous. But if you go south of Monterey, Mexico is peaceful, vibrant, and very safe. In fact, Mexico has the same crime rate as Canada, which is about the same as Europe. And Mexico has half the crime rate of the United States. South of Monterey, away from the US border, Mexico is safer than most US cities.

Every place you go, there is some degree of crime and violence, and especially in big cities. You have to use common sense. But Mexico overall is much safer than the United States, so long as you stay away from the US border, in the North. I would not want to even drive through that area, and if I did, I’d do it in daylight, and make the nine hour journey from El Paso, Texas to Monterey during the daytime. After Monterey, you’re home free.

Even petty crime, such as pick-pocketing, is uncommon in most parts of Mexico, unlike NY, Rome or many other cities.

Of course, Mexico has gangs and organized crime, like nearly every other country, but again, it is primarily in certain pockets, and mainly in the North. The US is riddled with organized crime and gang violence, and Canada, Britain and Europe have their share of gangs and organized crime as well. I feel far safer when I am in Mexico than I would in London, NY, Chicago, San Francisco or LA, or even Toronto, Ottawa or Vancouver.

The media parades crime in Mexico because it sells. If it bleeds it leads. But in Mexico, unless you are involved with the drug trade, or are in politics or journalism, or you’re in or near a border town, or another cartel centre, like Acapulco, you are safer than in most US cities.

Don’t believe everything you read in the newspaper or hear on TV. Only an idiot would do that.

So, now that we have dispensed with the primary objection of the lemmings, let us examine why someone might want to consider moving to Mexico.

Sorry to be so harsh, but conemporary American and Canadian culture, and British, European and Western culture of society broadly, simply needs to be questioned, and challenged. We face major problems, and we are not dealing with them seriously at all. Something has to burst that bubble of mass delusion and complacency. I hate to speak of sad and negative things, but reality simply must be dealt with. The consumer bubble of disociation from reality must be burst.

1. The stress level in Canada and the US was extremely high in 2019, before the covid crisis created mass hysteria. Now it is positively insane. Other than the Middle East, almost anywhere in the world is a better place to be now, than either Canada or the US, in my view. These two countries have drunk the kool-aid, en mass. The stress levels alone, aside from the more general insanity, are enough to make any sensible person want to get the hell out, and fast.

An important side note here, which is very important to me, is that the political Left is very much alive and strong in Mexico and Latin America generally. And, in Mexico and throughout most of Latin America, the left is both democratic, and strongly anti-authoritarian. In the US, Canada, Britain and Europe, the Left is now neo-Maoist, pro-censorship, and is cheering for authoritarianism. In other words, in El Norte, the Left has lost its mind. That is another reason I would strongly prefer to be in Latin America. Fascist lemmings give me the heebee-jeebees, to say the least. Kafkaesque is a better description of the state of things in the North. Creepy and ominous in the extreme.

Mexican people don’t do stress. They don’t do hysteria. The don’t rush, they don’t freak out, they don’t live in a perpetual consumer frenzy. They live with peace and calm, and take their time. They value family, friends, spirituality, food, and quality of life, over rushing about to make ever more money and buying ever more consumer goods.

The stress simply vanishes when I travel to Mexico. It is a COMPLETELY different world, and a far, far better one. Canadians and Americans seem like strung-out, deeply neurotic, narcissistic, self-centred, addle-minded, cold, repressed, mistrustful and suspicious, deeply indoctrinated, stress-ridden lunatics, by comparison. I am using strong terms, but I can assure you, they are not strong enough.

2. Mexican culture is incredibly vibrant. I have travelled through many countries – in Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia – and while every country has its charms and its strengths, and people are people everywhere you go, there are definitely very big cultural differences, of course. Of all the countries I have been to, two stand out above the rest, I have to say. They are Italy and Mexico. Why are they so attractive and magical? 1. They are extremely vibrant, vital, culturally rich, warm, and alive. And 2. They are incredibly relaxed. No other countries that I have lived in or travelled through compare to these two, for these two reasons.

3. Mexico and the Mexican people value freedom – in practice, and not just in theory.

The only things that would tip the balance for me between Mexico and Italy, are: 1. Italy is five times more expensive in terms of cost of living; and 2. Italy is part of the EU – and the EU, as with Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, along with most other countries in the world, has now gone fascist. The Davos billionaires have taken over, and they are imposing a fascist coup. Again, the idiots cannot see what is before their noses, but that is hardly surprising. They are functionally brain dead.

Mexico, by contrast, is a country of people who are, in general, repulsed by fascism, or authoritarianism of any kind. The Mexican people lived through a dictatorship for three decades in the late 1800s – and they have not forgotten what democracy and freedom mean, or how precious and non-negotiable they are; and they have not forgotten what authoritarianism means, and they do not abide it or tolerate it.

The sad inhabitants of Canada and the US, by comparison, have never lived through fascism or totalitarianism, and moreover, they have forgotten the lessons of WWII. They are sheep being led to slaughter, and they are bleating merrily as they go.

And that is before the soma kicks in!

The people of Britain and Europe have also forgotten what fascism means, and they too, cheer for authoritarianism, and the “new normal” or global corporate fascism.

I will take my chances with the Mexican people, because, frankly, they tend not to have their heads up their asses, and they know what freedom means, and they value it – in practice, and not just in rhetoric and pretty speeches.

4. The cost of living in Mexico is in general 60-80% lower than in Canada or the US.

The middle class is getting devoured in Canada, the US, Britain and Europe. Millions of people are moving out of these countries and regions, to other parts of the world where the cost of living is actually affordable – and millions of people from Canada, the US, Britain and Europe are choosing Mexico as their new home: because it is relaxed, vibrant, democratic and free, and also a far more affordable place to live.

Millions of people in the US and Canada live on pensions of $800 USD a month, which is hard to survive on. In Mexico, it is livable, and with a much better quality of life. Retirement in Canada and the US, for most people, means poverty, if they can retire at all. But not if they move to Mexico, where they can live well on the same income.

The sad fact is that most Canadians and Americans will not be able to afford to retire. But if you plan well, and are frugal, many people can retire in Mexico at 55 – or semi-retire earlier than that. That is a world of difference in terms of quality of life. But whatever your age, with the same income, you can experience a whole other world of richness of culture, and whole other level of quality of life. That should be very appealing.

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Another note, as aside: The one biggest thing people coming from Canada or the US have to adjust to is the pace of life. Nobody rushes in Mexico. Mexican people work very hard, often with multiple jobs, but the pace of life is slow and relaxed. Learn to love the word tranquilo. Tranquil. Don’t expect things to move fast. They don’t. That should be seen as a God-send. The atmosphere is incredibly relaxed. Even in Mexico City, with a population the size of Canada, a city five times the size of metropolitan Toronto, a city almost as big as NY, LA and Chicago put together, people are relaxed, friendly and cheerful. Embrace it! Embrace the slow pace and relaxed way of life. It will transform your life – and heal you and bring you joy. If you are going to move to Mexico, learn how to slow down, be patient, and be relaxed. That is the biggest transition, and with the right attitude, it is a joyful one.

You will hear stories of people who have travelled in Mexico, or moved to Mexico, and were miserable. But remember, there are a lot of chronically miserable people in the world, especially in the US and Canada, for sociological and psychological reasons, and they bring their misery wherever they go. There are people who will be miserable no matter where they go. Don’t blame the country for the individual’s shitty attitude. Of course, a very small percentage of people have bad experiences in Mexico, but a percentage of people have terrible experiences in Canada, the US, Britain, Europe, and all over the world. For every one person who says that had a terrible experience in Mexico, there are 50, 100, or a thousand people who have had wonderful experiences. Keep it in perspective.

The biggest complaints about Mexico, from people who have travelled there or moved there, are three:

1. Things don’t move fast enough. Well, if you’re a control freak, or you want a regimented, fast-paced life dedicated to instant gratification or the illusion of control, don’t move to Mexico. The slow pace of life is one of the best things about Mexico. But it can be frustrating if you’re not used to it. “Manana” is a common phrase. It literally means “tomorrow”, but in practice, it usually means, “Later”, or, “Some time in the future, and we’re not quite sure when.” If you can’t slow down, and you want every little thing to go your way, then yes, you will be miserable in Mexico. Stay home. Don’t be a drag for the Mexican people, or the other expats living in Mexico. Just stay the hell home. Keep your whining to yourself.

That makes me think of something a very kind-hearted, but no-nonsense friend of mine once said, when she realized why she didn’t like the kids’ TV show, Caillou. She realized it was because the parents in the show confused being loving, with being doting, and caving into the child’s every whim – which only creates narcissistic, spoiled, self-centred, ill-mannered, neurotic children, who grow up to be self-centred neurotic adults. Her response was, “Fuck you Caillou! Whiny little bitch!” I can sympathize. And how many “adult” people do you know who you’d like to say that to? I can think of a lot.

The second complaint about most places in Mexico is that it doesn’t have shopping malls. Really. This is a big complaint about Mexico. I’m baffled. I don’t live to shop, and I don’t make shopping a hobby. People who do, might want to stay home – or move to Mexico City, where you can spend all the time you want in shopping malls, if that’s what you like to do. Or order it online – preferably not from evil Amazon. And please grow up. Take the soother of shopping addiction out of your mouth. Life is a whole lot bigger than weekly shopping excursions. Live a little! It’s a big world out there.

Mexico City, of course, has a lot more than shopping malls. It has bustling markets, the most impressive city centre I have ever seen, palaces, cathedrals, architecture, art galleries, museums, loads of great music, a very cosmopolitan but definitely and decidedly Mexican atmosphere, with people and food from all over the world, and an incredibly rich history, heritage and culture. It’s like Toronto, New York and Chicago put together, but with an incomparably more relaxed feel. But they have lots of malls, if that’s what you like. I grew up in the country, and I don’t like cities – in fact, I hate cities; but I love Florence, San Miguel and Mexico City, and I would be thrilled to live in any one of them. I just happen to like small towns and the countryside better.

The third big complaint about Mexico is that in many places you can’t get the food you are used to at home. The food in Mexico is delicious, but in many places they might not have sushi, or great pizza, or hotdogs. Again, this seems to me a petty complaint, born of rigidity of mind. Adapt! Broaden your mind! Broaden your horizons! Try new things! Why would you leave home at all if what you want is exactly what you left?!

I call it the whiny gringo syndrome – and it is sadly commonplace in Mexico, and all around the world. Look, dudes, and doodettes, you are giving your home country a bad name. Lighten up. Try to show some gratitude and appreciation! So they don’t have hotdogs and sushi – big deal! Get a grip!

There are a lot of people who are miserable in their jobs, but are afraid to make a change, and there are a lot of people who just have miserable attitudes, and in either case, they spread their misery everywhere they go, and make everyone around them miserable. I am emphasizing the point because it has become pandemic – especially in the US and Canada. There are a lot of Don and Debbie Downers out there, and a lot of John and Joanna Joy-Killers. There are a lot of princesses, male and female, and a lot of prima donnas. And there are a lot of chronic complainers. They need to make a life change, or a change of attitude, or get some counselling – or all three. Some people can find the dark cloud in every silver lining.

Cry for your griefs, speak out for your values and the issues you care about, and share your sorrows and your joys, yes, but when it comes to the little things, try to keep some perspective, and don’t focus on the negative. Life is too short. And don’t piss on everyone else’s parade just because you have a shitty attitude or are unhappy with your life. Be a bigger person than that. Please.

The question is, do you want to be cynical, pessimistic, jaded, jaundiced, paranoid, spoiled and/or miserable ALL your life? Or would you rather have an adventure, learn to relax a little, lighten up, and see something of the world beyond your tiny little bubble? I’d recommend the latter, myself. Your life will improve radically if you just shift your attitude a little. Take up yoga, saunas, walking, meditation, journaling or psychotherapy, if you are so fearful, cynical or hard to please. Life can be a whole lot better, be assured.

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Another perception that most people have about Mexico is that it is a poor Third World country. Well, it certainly was. And still today, half of the Mexican people are poor. But what most people don’t realize, is that in 2019, prior to the economically devastating lockdowns, half of Americans were living below, at, or just above the poverty line. That number is now rising exponentially, and fast. The majority of Americans are now living in poverty, or are falling quickly into poverty. While the middle class is disappearing in the US, Canada and Britain, the middle class is growing fast in Mexico. So, Mexico today has less poverty per capita than the US. The US has become a Third World nation, as Chomsky predicted over 30 years ago; and Canada, Britain and Europe are following in that same path. Meanwhile, Mexico’s economy, prosperity and middle class continues to grow.

There are rich people in Mexico, of course, and some of them are extremely rich. There is a more obvious and overt disparity of wealth in Mexico than in Canada, or even the US, but impressions can be deceiving. In El Norte, we like to sweep all our problems under the carpet, and pretend they don’t exist. That’s one of the things that I find so deeply disturbing about the US and Canada – it makes it a surreal, dystopian Disney Land, a macabre hall of mirrors. In Mexico, and Latin America broadly, the problems are out in the open, and nobody pretends they don’t exist. That is refreshing, by comparison. A little reality therapy would be good for most Americans and Canadians. The dissociation from reality is pandemic and extreme, and it is very, very dangerous.

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In terms of housing costs, a beach house in Canada or the US will cost at least a million dollars USD, typically. But you can buy a beach house in Mexico for as little as $100,000, or you can rent a home, condo or apartment with a view of the ocean for $500 a month.

Medical tourism to Mexico is booming, and people are moving to Mexico to live, in part for affordable health care. One retired couple from Texas were paying $24,000 USD a year for health insurance, for a bronze level coverage with $10,000 deductible, which is typical in the US, and in Mexico got better health insurance with global coverage for $2,000 a year. A four day stay in hospital in the US for surgery typically costs $189,000. Exactly the same procedure in Mexico with equal or better quality health care costs $8,900, or 0.5% of what it costs in the US. Major dental work in the US can easily cost $15,000. In Mexico it is a fraction of that. A house call by a doctor in Mexico is common, and costs $35 with medications included. Most people can’t afford to take the best care of their health in the US or Canada. In Mexico they can.

In Mexico, you can buy fresh organic fruits, vegetables and fish at the market that will feed one person for a week, for 100 pesos – about $4 USD, or $5 CDN. In Canada, the US, Britain or Europe, the same amount of money will buy one small piece of toxic, parasite-ridden, genetically modified farmed fish.

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Conclusion:

There is simply no comparison. Mexico is a world apart, and a world above what Canada, the US, Britain and Europe have become. I am very proud of my home country of Canada, and I love the people and the land, but I am deeply saddened, and deeply terrified, for its current state, and its current direction. Mexico has big problems, but is moving in a very positive direction. The other countries I have mentioned also have big problems, and are heading in a very dark direction. You take your pick.

While Canada, the US, Britain and Europe continue to sink economically, and the middle class is devoured by the super-rich and the giant corporations, Mexico has become the manufacturing centre for all of North America: the Mexican economy is booming, and the middle class and entrepreneurship in Mexico are flourishing, and growing fast.

While Canada, the US, Britain and Europe go ever more deeply and ever more rapidly into a corporate-ruled police state, and ever more deeply into the collective lobotomy of consumer culture and corporatization, alienation and disociation from reality, Mexico remains alive, vibrant, democratic and free.

In short, if you value your health, move to Mexico. If you value quality of life, move to Mexico. And if you value your freedom, move to Mexico.

By the way, Mexico has one of the lowest population densities in the world. It is half the size of Europe, with one eighth the population density of Europe. The health care system is at least as good as in Canada or the US, and probably much better. Health insurance costs about a tenth of what it does in the US. And even paying out of pocket for health care is affordable. You can get a doctor to do a house call, as is common, and it will cost $35, including all meds. And if you are concerned with hurricanes or floods, consider the Central Highlands, where those things rarely ever happen. What are you waiting for?

I plan to be gone from Canada in three years or less. I would leave tomorrow if I could. I would recommend people think deeply, and hard, about where they want to be over the coming 20-50 years. Some places will do well. Others, will be a living hell, and a fascist police state. For myself and my family, I choose Mexico. I can think of nowhere on Earth I would rather be – especially now, during the global corporate fascist coup.

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The cultural richness of Mexico is off the charts – but that is just a bonus, compared to the primary reasons for leaving the “developed” world. The main reason, for me, is to escape the corporate fascist coup, and to live in a free and democratic society. But it doesn’t hurt that in my favourite city in Mexico, with a population of just over 100,000 people, where fewer than one person in ten is a gringo, I can stroll the colourful, charming, safe and friendly, cobblestone streets, and find world class Italian food, or Thai food, or delicious Mexican food, and sit in a quiet courtyard in an utterly charming little restaurant, that is a million miles above MacDonalds, or any of the other McCulture chains of El Norte, and have a delicious and inexpensive brunch, while a Mexican three-piece, live jazz band plays Dave Brubeck songs – to two tables in the whole, tiny restaurant! Over brunch! Where in the world can you find that?! It’s like being in Florence, only with a small fraction of the tourists, and at a fifth of the cost. Why would I want to live anywhere else?

I have many dear friends and family in Canada, the US, Britain and Europe, and the great majority of people in these countries are good-hearted, kind people; but the sad fact is, the great majority of the people have been shackled and chained – and not just economically, not just politically, but culturally and psychologically. Their minds have been shackled and chained. The four horsemen of the apocalypse have arrived, and they are consumerism, corporatization, authoritarianism and escapism.

People might say I am escapist for wanting to leave, but there are most definitely good reasons, and good times, to leave a place or a situation. In the North, I struggle daily to fight off the sense of impending doom that hovers like a black cloud over these lands, and to dispel the darkness of the pervasive malaise, numbness, glumness, apathy, tension, stress, alienation, and disconnection from reality in this culture. In Mexico, I feel relaxed, peaceful, alive and strong – and as Sun Tzu said, it is only intelligent to place yourself where you are strong. Why would you want to do anything else?

Three decades ago, Chomsky saw what anyone who was paying attention could see: that the US, Canada, Britain and Europe, with the US in the clear lead, were becoming Third Worldized, and were moving toward a Third World model of society, where the richest 1% own the nations, a priviledged few are high-paid, loyal servants of power, and 80% are the underclass. That trend has only continued, and accelerated. And the other, parallel trend, of course, was and is, the big business take-over of government, the culture and the economy – which means, not only increasing inequality and increasing poverty for the people, but also, the death of democracy and freedom. Anyone who still cannot see this is, frankly, living in a dream world.

Mexico, as I have said, has big problems. What country doesn’t? Countries around the world are facing major crises: a severe and escalating ecological crisis, a continuing economic crisis, war, or the threat of war, crime and violence, a public health crisis that has very little to do with corona and everything to do with poverty, hunger and obesity; and widespread and growing pandemic of addiction, to name just a few of the bigger problems, along with a social and political crisis which is the result of four decades of neoliberal corporate globalization, better known as rape and pillage economics, or class warfare, resulting in soaring inequality, rising poverty, a deepening crisis of legitimacy for the ruling elite, and growing social unrest. These are global problems, and no country, that I am aware of, is immune to them.

Mexico has a big problem with organized crime and the illegal drug trade, yes. But who is the leading narco trafficer in the world? That would be the CIA, which has controlled the bulk of the cocaine and heroine trade globally for decades. (See Peter Dale Scott and Alexander Cockburn.) Who aids and abets this killer drug trade? All of the major banks, and all of the major governments of the Western world and the Global North. (See Max Keiser.) So, pointing a finger at Mexico is deeply hypocritical – hypocritical in the extreme. The heart of the problem is in the North.

If you want to get rid of drugs, forget it – it’s like alcohol prohibition: we tried that, and it doesn’t work. Treat drug addiction as the health problem that it is, not as a criminal offense punishable by being put into a cage. (See Michael Moore’s film, Where To Invade Next.) Get tough on organized crime, yes – and start at the top: abolish the CIA. That will reduce drug trafficking and drug-related violence by enormous levels, with that one single move. But nobody is serious about such things in the North. It’s all a game for social control, power politics, and the politics of distraction.

Mexico also has big problems with corruption, unquestionably. I do believe that the landslide victory for Mexico’s new President, Lopez Obrador, is a sign of hope and positive change, however far from perfect that is. But he is coming into office in a government where systemic corruption is deep and entrenched. It’s a little like the situation which would unfold if FDR came into office, sweeping Mussolini from power. Some people will think the comparison is inappropriate, but it is not as far off as one might imagine.

Meanwhile, in the Hallowed States of America – or the United States of Apotheosis… or is that Arrogance, or Apologetics, or Apoplectic Amnesia? …which is quickly becoming the USSR – corruption is also, and undeniably, deep and systemic.

Biden is no messiah, nor even an honest man. He is a war criminal, who has never met a war he didn’t like, for starters, and a self-confessed prostitute to big business. But he is a mere figurehead, in any case, like all heads of state in the North-West corner of the globe – the Deep State and the military industrial security complex has ruled the US since the CIA was created and the National Security Act was passed, in 1947. Presidents come and go, but the corporate business elite remain firmly in control. The federal elections are political theatre – they are like the world wrestling. It’s a farce, a charade. Whoever you vote for, you get the oligarchy.

The political elite in this North-West quadrant of the world which I am calling El Norte, are deeply corrupt, and are behaving as servile and eager pawns to the ruling corporate oligarchs – even as the billionaire oligarchs take us from neoliberal corporate rule to fully blown corporate fascism. The corruption in the North could scarcely be more extreme, or more obvious and self-evident. It takes real effort to avoid the reality here, but many people are quite willing and able to do it.

The third and greatest problem facing Mexico is the same problem that has plagued the Third World, or the Global South, for centuries: it is imperialism. (See Mark Twain, Howard Zinn, John Pilger, John Perkins, William Blum, MLK and Chomsky on the subject, particularly Chomsky’s, Year 501: The Conquest Continues.) This latest phase of imperialism began more than 500 years ago, and it has not stopped, but only intensified, and hidden itself behind the thin veil of “democracy” and “freedom” – which means, you can have all the democracy and freedom you want, so long as you vote for the party that we like – the party that will sell its soul to the international business elite, so that your country can be opened up to gang rape by criminal corporations and the truly sociopathic billionaires who control them. And they call that democracy. (See the song by Canadian poet laureate, Bruce Cockburn.) And yes, real democracy and real freedom are worth fighting for. The alternative is a world of exponentially growing horrors. (See also, my own books, Enlightened Democracy, and The People vs The Elite, and my forthcoming book, All Hell Breaks Loose: Global Geopolitics 1945-2045. Freedom and democracy can be won, along with a better world for all, but only if we want it, choose it, and actively build it.)

As Chomsky said of the US, and it also applies to Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, “This is a huckster, business-run society, whose cardinal virtue is deceit.” And it is true. At least in Mexico, India, and many parts of what used to be called the Third World, or the Global South, the problems are much more out in the open, and there are very strong movements to build a better world. Popular movements for democracy, freedom, social justice, environmental stewardship and peace are growing stronger in the North, but the complacency and denial are as thick as oily black smog. Again, I choose to place myself where I feel strongest. That is now in the Global South. The democratic revolutions which are brewing are global, as well as national and local. Choose your ground to fight on well, I say.

As my favourite heart-song says,

“Fight the good fight every moment

Every minute, every day

Fight the good fight every moment

It’s the only way.”

And know this:

El pueblo, unido, jamas seras vencido.

La lucha continua. Y, la revolution no hay terminado!

Vive Zapata!

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Heaven to me is Mexico. Canada and the US have become a fascist cultural wasteland, by comparison, filled with zombie consumers, and virtually lobotomized, hapless, clueless, repressed, paranoid, obedient drones. Why the hell should I stay in such a place, if this is what has become of my beloved country?!

Besides, it is only a four hour plane ride if I want to come home to visit. Time to get the hell out.

And that is not even considering the economic situation. But to recap again:

In the US and Canada, families with incomes of $2,000 a month, or far higher, are struggling to survive, and 90% are sinking. Meanwhile, in Mexico, a family can live extremely well for $2,000 a month – with extra funds for classes, excursions, trips, meals out, night life, etc.

In Mexico, only 1% of the people have an income above $2,000 a month. $2,000 a month makes you wealthy in Mexico. In Canada or the US, you can have a much higher income than $2,000 a month, and still be struggling, if not drowning.

A low budget home in San Francisco, Vancouver or Toronto that is going to be torn down, will cost over $800,000. Even in smaller cities, homes are typically $300,000-$600,000. In Mexico, you can rent a gorgeous two bedroom apartment with a view of the ocean for $500 a month, or buy a home for $20,000 USD.

Most people can’t afford to retire at all in Canada or the US now. In Mexico, they can live well. Younger families can’t afford to live well in Canada or North America anymore, and most are strained or sinking. In Mexico, they can live with a vastly improved quality of life, for the same income. Yes, that means telecommuting or having a pension or an online business – but millions of people are now making that happen.

While the US, Canada, Britain and Europe largely de-industrialized, shipped their factories offshore, and gutted their middle class, Mexico’s economy, industry and middle class have all had explosive growth. And while these same “leading” and “developed” nations abandoned their artisanal crafts and liquidated their local economies, Mexico has retained a flourishing artisanal craft-based economy, along side their growing manufacturing and industrial sector – which was extremely intelligent – and has retained the vibrancy and vitality of local communities. While the US, Canada, Britain and Europe are experiencing a rapid growth of artisanal crafts and local resurgence, they are having to come back from near zero; unlike Mexico, where these extremely valuable things were never lost to begin with. For these two reasons alone – a flourishing manufacturing base, and a flourishing local artisanal craft economy and culture – Mexico is poised to meet the challenges of the 21st century far better than any of these “leading” “developed” nations.

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Between the years of 1500 and 2000, millions of people moved from Europe, and all over the world, to come to the US and Canada. Now that the world has radically changed, since the birth of neoliberal corporate globalization 50 years ago, over the past 30-40 years, and particularly since the crash of 2008, an exodus has begun out of the US and Canada, and lately, out of Britain and Europe as well. That exodus is only going to increase. The brave, the thoughtful, the creative, the adventurous, the free-thinkers, free spirits, rebels and freedom fighters, and the entrepreneurial, are relocating en mass. The brain drain and the cultural drain is now moving out of Canada, the US, Britain and Europe. The best minds and best spirits are leaving. I plan to be among them.

Mexico, like most countries, has big problems – but unlike most countries, it is thriving, and moving in a positive direction. In Canada, the US, Britain and Europe, the billionaires have taken over, and have deeply corrupted the governments and all of the major political parties, while the majority of the people have been virtually lobotomized by Silicon valley and the major media. They are heading into a very dark time indeed.

The Prime Minister of Canada, the less than honourable Justin Bieber Trudeau, the poster child for neoliberalism and smiley-faced corporate oligarchy, was recently asked what country or government he admires. He replied, with a straight face and with nonchalance, that he admired the Communist government of China. This is where we are heading now. Considering that all calls for revolution, resistance and revolt have fallen on deaf ears, it is time for intelligent, thoughtful people to leave.

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While the populations of the US, Canada, Britain and Europe are aging, Mexico is a youthful country, with a median age of just 27. That youthfulness alone brings vitality, both economically and culturally.

The people of the US, Canada, Britain and Europe were force-fed austerity measures for the 99%, while the 1% received trillions of dollars in subsidies, bailouts and “stimulus” packages that benefitted the big corporations and the richest few, and while the US, Canada and Britain let their infrastructures go to rot and decay, and while these same formerly wealthy nations slashed their spending on health care, pensions and education, Mexico, meanwhile, is training 110,000 engineers and technologists a year, and has heavily invested in health, education and infrastructure.

Mexico is now a world leader in aerospace manufacturing and design, auto manufacturing, electronics, software, entertainment and agricultural exports; and its economy continues to boom, while the “leading” industrialized – or formerly industrialized – nations of the world, continue to stagnate and decline.

Detroit and Oshawa used to be the major manufacturing centres of the US and Canada. Now they are in mothballs. The auto industry of the US and Canada is now in Mexico. That was a deeply unwise move on the part of US and Canadian politicians (to sign NAFTA), but in more honest terms, it was simply a sell-out: it was corruption. Our politicians sold their souls to their corporate benefactors and masters. This is sad news for Americans and Canadians. But the other side of the reality is that Mexico is now a manufacturing powerhouse.

In Canada and the US, there is now heavy competition for part-time, minimum wage McJobs, as a Stabucks or Tim Horton’s coffee and donut slinger, a burger flipper or a Walmart greeter. In Mexico, the middle class has seen explosive growth, and is still growing, not disappearing into the underclass, as it is in El Norte.

Immigrants continue to stream into the US from the south, but it is poor immigrants from Central America, not Mexico, who are coming. For decades, large numbers of Mexican people came north to the US for better opportunities economically. But now that has changed, and reversed. Mexicans are coming home to Mexico, and are leaving the US for their homeland – the better opportunities are now south of the border. And, millions of Americans and Canadians are following them south, because Mexico is now quite simply a better place to live.

When I was last in Mexico, which, sadly, was an incredibly long two years ago, I came across a t-shirt outside a beautiful little cafe, and the caption read, “Relax, you’re on the fun side of Trump’s wall”. I thought it was hilarious, and also true. But that doesn’t convey even a sliver of the reality. Mexico today is simply a far better country to live in, than either Canada or the United States.

Mexico in the past was called a failed state. That was unfair and inaccurate then, and it is definitely inaccurate now. The US is a failed state, and Canada, Britain and Europe are following in the same path. That is the reality in the present.

Mexico had three decades of corrupt governments. That changed with the recent democratic election of President Obrador, who has not only promised to drain the swamp, but is actually doing it. (Editorial note: My recent discoveries about the new Mexican government put that in question, but at worst, the Mexican government is no more corrupt than the Unites States government – which is a low standard to beat.) The corruption in government and big business in the US, Canada, Britain and Europe is extreme and systemic, and there is no indication that these failed or failing states are going anywhere but further and deeper into corruption and corporate rule.

Mexico’s new president, Lopez Obrador, by the way, and the broad-based movement which supports him and put him in power with aclandslide victory, has demolished the two formerly dominant political parties of Mexico, the PRI and the PAN, both of which are deeply corrupt. His only strong opposition is from a sector of the Mexican business elite, and of course from the multi-national corporations, who always seek to devour and control every nation and every government. They present a major challenge to any positive change, but Obrador seems to be navigating the dangerous waters very well. The one weakness of his government is that he must do much more to genuinely include the indigenous peoples in shared power and decision-making. I am not one to dismiss or denigrate him for that weakness, but it nevertheless must be overcome. On the whole, however, he is truly moving Mexico in a more just, democratic, and prosperous direction, and that should be celebrated, not condemned.

Mexico today is like the US or Canada were in the 1960’s: prosperous, economically robust, thriving, culturally rich, democratic and free – except that Mexico does not have anywhere near the same level of racism that has plagued the US, or even Canada, Britain or Europe. Where do I want to be? There is absolutely no question. I choose to be in Mexico.

Plastic people, in a plastic, consumer-driven, deeply alienated and indoctrinated, corporate fascist culture, goodbye. Hello Mexico! And, Vive Mexico!

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As another aside, where would I like to live in Mexico? Well, the beaches are gorgeous, and the tourist-heavy areas are wonderful places, despite being overrun with tourists. But I prefer to be off the beaten track, outside of the cities, towns and beach resorts, immersed in Mexican culture, and living a quiet country life, getting to know the Mexican people better. But to each his own. To me, the cocktail demographic is not my interest, nor are the tourist havens. Give me Mexico raw and real and vivid. That’s what I love the most. And I hope to give more than I take, and I certainly plan to.

The high desert and the mountains call me, and lead me south. Give me Edward Abby, Mexico and Thoreau. There are my kin.

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Why is Mexico such an amazing and wonderful country to visit or to live in? There are many reasons, and climate is only one of them. The beauty and diversity of the land is another. But what makes Mexican culture so attractive, aside from the glorious landscapes, the beaches and the climate?

I would say, and I am not Mexican, nor have I lived, yet, in Mexico, that in three decades of intensive global geopolitical, political-economic, sociological, cultural, philosophical and spiritual studies, research, reflection and meditation, that there are several major factors which make Mexico exceptionally rich, vibrant and strong in terms of its culture.

1. Maybe the first and biggest reason why Mexico is such a wonderful place to visit or to live, is that it is less “developed”, in all the negative senses of that word, than the North. Mexico is a manufacturing powerhouse, and the primary manufacturing centre for all of North America, but Mexico has not allowed industrialization or corporate capitalism to thoroughly dominate the country, the culture, or the people.

A) Mexico has been far less overtaken by global corporate powers than in the North, which is now, in essence, a single empire of corporate oligarchy, moving swiftly into corporate fascism. That alone is a world of difference.

There are oligarchs and trans-national corporations in Mexico, of course, but the people of Mexico have not allowed them to thoroughly dominate them, the culture or the nation to the extent of what has happened in the North, where near total subjugation by the corporate oligarchy is the pervasive norm.

In other words, freedom, democracy, and cultural diversity, have not been obliterated as they have in the North. I realize the North is also diverse, but in reality, the cultures in the North are primarily consumer cultures, and are heavily corporatized. The diversity is less real than is perceived, because consumerism and corporatization have taken over, pervasively, sadly, and tragically. And consumer-corporate culture is the death of culture. Mexico, meanwhile, is very much culturally alive, vibrant and strong.

In Mexico, people warmly and cheerfully say, “Good morning”, or “Good afternoon”, or “Good evening”, and they greet people with warmth, friendliness, responsiveness, and with presence of mind. In the North, people stare into their phones, like zombie addicts, or walk with eyes cast down, or stare straight ahead, afraid that anyone might want to make eye contact, or, heaven forbid, to talk with them. The paranoia and alienation in the North is so extreme, by comparison to Mexico and Latin America, that it seems like a different planet – a dark and dismal, sad and lonely planet. Mexican people have retained their sanity. In the North, you have to look hard to find that basic sanity, and it is disappearing fast. I cannot find adequately strong words to describe the difference. It is the difference between life, and living death. For myself, I choose life.

B) Mexico has done a far better job, although far from perfect, of blending and wedding industrialized cities and urbanization, with rural life, local communities, spiritual life, the arts, history, heritage and tradition, peasant life and culture, indigenous cultures and peoples, and artisanal culture and grassroots economics, than in the North, where all of these things were decimated and largely wiped out. I am painting with broad strokes, but if you cannot make generalizations, then you cannot see the big picture, and if you cannot see the big picture, then you have no perspective whatsoever, and are completely lost.

2. Closely related, Mexico has preserved, in practice and not just in rhetoric, its deep valuing of spirituality, history, tradition, the arts, creativity, indigenous culture (yes, there are major problems, but they have done infinitely better than the US or Canada!), artisanal culture, cultural diversity, local culture, local economics and local life, close ties to the land and to nature, nature preservation, and cultural preservation and heritage, to a far greater extent than in the US, Canada, Britain or Europe, where all of these things, to a great extent, have been steam-rolled by corporate-industrial consumerism, and a very distorted and generally perverse notion of “progress”.

3. Indigenous peoples and indigenous cultures have remained strong, and were not exterminated or buried as they were in the US or Canada. Indigenous movements in the US, Canada and around the world are resurging, healing, and rising in power, thankfully, but they are coming back from near annihilation. In Mexico, the crushing of indigenous culture was far less complete, and the strength of indigenous cultures in Mexico has brought an extremely important grounding to the entire society, which is by and large absent in the North. The North is untethered – from the land, from nature, from history, from its own spiritual, artistic, intellectual and historical treasures – and from reality itself. Mexico never became divorced from reality, or the land, or history, or its cultural, artistic, intellectual or spiritual riches, and therefore Mexico thrives, while the North declines ever more rapidly into social, economic and ecological collapse.

4. Mexico retains a huge peasant population and peasant culture. That is abhorrent to the fans of corporate capitalist industrialization and consumer culture, and to the ideologues of a very narrow and short-sighted ideology of “progress”, but, while a much greater voice needs to be given to the peasants of the world, and a much fairer and more just distribution of wealth and power both must be accomplished, it remains a fact that: A) peasant culture and peasant farmers, along with the indigenous peoples of the world, are the people who are going to save the planet from ourselves, and lead the way toward a more truly sustainable society (as Vandana Shiva, Helena Norberg-Hodge and others have argued very compellingly); and B), As corporate industrial civilization (sic) slowly collapses, it will be local peasant cultures, indigenous peoples, and artisanal culture, which will be the new life-blood of the economy, and the safety net for us all, as the corporate-industrial infrastructure begins to fray, crack, and finally collapse; and C) Peasant culture keeps the people of Mexico, and the culture of Mexico, as in many other nations of the Global South, i) connected to the land, and ii) connected to local economics and local communities – and that makes Mexico, like most of Latin America, Africa and Asia, far more robust, resilient, and connected to the land and to nature, and thus to reality, than the North, which is deeply alienated from nature and the land, and deeply dissociated from reality.

5. Mexico has not gone remotely as deeply into the disease of materialism as have the “leading” nations of the “developed” North. Thoreau was right, when he indicated in Walden, and vividly and compellingly argued, in what is still to this day the single best and most important critique of the modern world (which every thinking person should read), that the disease of the modern world is materialism. I am not arguing for a romantic primitivism, but merely a regaining of our basic sanity.

Modern society has frankly gone insane. It has become deeply alienated, in terms of a deep and pervasive alienation from one another, from our own labour and creative powers, from nature, and from our deeper selves – which means, we have become deeply alienated and dissociated from reality, as well as alienated and estranged from our joy, our wisdom, our hearts, our conscience, our creativity and our power. And while the disease of materialism has now spread globally, it is also true that this cancer, this spiritual disease, this mental illness, or sleeping sickness of the soul, is most advanced and most gruesomely, terrifyingly, horrifically self-evident, and everywhere on vivid display, in the North.

Unlike the countries of El Norte, Mexico has not sacrificed its soul on the alter of mammon. And that, has made a world of difference.

6. In Mexico, people face death as a reality, and make peace with it. In the North, at least in the West, there is a culture of denial about death, which results in an unconscious terror of death, which in turn results in a deep fear and mistrust of life. This is a profound cultural difference. Any person or culture who cannot face death and come to terms with it, will live in perpetual fear; and a life or a culture steeped in fear will be a deeply neurotic and control-obsessed one. Until the North and the West face death and deal with it with greater sanity, there can be no peace, either inwardly, or outwardly, in the society.

7. Mexico has a history of revolution – and not just one revolution, but a series of revolutions. That has given Mexico, and the Mexican people, a spirit of freedom that has teeth, and real depth. In the North, lip service is paid to the values of freedom and democracy. In Mexico, these values are practiced, and vigourously defended.

First, the Spanish empire was defeated in a revolutionary war of independence in Mexico. Then the invading US forces were stopped (after the US stole half of Mexico, sadly). Then the French empire was defeated. Then the German empire was defeated. Then a dictator was defeated, during the Mexican revolution, and there was a re-instatement of constitutional democracy and freedom. And finally, the authoritarians were swept from government by a landslide vote in the recent Mexican elections – a reminder that the spirit of freedom is still alive in Mexico today.

During a time in human history when we face the unprecedented horror of a global corporate fascist coup, which the brainless Left of the North has failed to even recognize is happening, I would feel far safer in Mexico, with its passionate spirit of freedom, than anywhere else in the world.

For a combination of reasons, the Mexican people have been able to embrace industrialization and urbanization, without losing their souls or their minds, without losing the connectedness which enables them to retain their spirit, their warmth, their vitality, and their basic sanity.

That single fact, that in Mexico, as with most of the Global South, especially in the rural areas, the people have not succumbed so thoroughly to the scourge of materialism, has left Mexico’s spirit, vitality, richness, and sanity, intact.

In the North, people are working desperately hard to regain these things, but again, we are coming back from a very low and dismal state. In Mexico, the Renaissance never ended. In the North, it is in its infancy, and has only just begun.

All of that makes Mexico culturally rich, vibrant, robust, resilient, and strong, as well as humble, open, welcoming, friendly, relaxed, hospitable, and warm. In short, Mexico is in a very good place for facing the very great challenges of the 21st century, while the North, is utterly not. The corporate-ruled North is hanging on the edge of a crumbling cliff edge, and seems determined to go fascist, foolishly, while it drives itself past the precipice, into the yawning abyss. Guess where I’d rather be for the decades ahead.

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While the political “leaders” of the US, Canada, Britain and Europe have given trillions of dollars in subsidies, bailouts and “stimulus” handouts to giant corporations and the billionaire class who own and control them, and have aided and abetted the mass rape and pillage of the formerly wealthiest nations, along with the looting and disembowelment of the middle class by the same wealthiest 1%; Mexico’s new president, Lopez Obrador, has refused to sell off the publicly owned national oil industry, has refused to crumble under pressure from Big Oil and big international banks, and has doubled the minimum wage. Obrador would appear to be the new FDR. His policy platform is centred around building infrastructure, health, education, economic vitality and independence, and helping the people, within a framework of constitutional democracy. He was democratically elected in a landslide victory, overthrowing three decades of corrupt and authoritarian neoliberal governments, and is hugely supported by the people. But back in El Norte, we still have criminals in high places, posing as leaders. Who is the banana republic now? It is us.

There was election meddling and election fraud in the 2018 Mexican election, but it wasn’t in favour of Obrador – it was run by Cambridge Analytica, the same Big Tech billionaire-controlled group that helped put Trump in the Whitehouse, and in Mexico, they wanted the deeply corrupt, US-backed political parties of PAN or PRI to win. But democracy and the people won anyway.

As to immigration, how many people understand why Hondurans are fleeing to the US in desperation? It is not because the US is a beacon of freedom, prosperity or opportunity anymore, although that image persists. It is because the US destroyed the country of Honduras with its Washington-backed coup, which, by the way, Slithery Hillary Clinton had her blood-drenched hands all over. This is why desperate people are coming to the US – because the US is in the business of destroying nations around the world for the sake of corporate profits. That is why global polls routinely show that 80% of the world’s people view the US as the most dangerous nation on Earth.

The US, Canada, Britain and Europe, Australia and New Zealand, used to be places that embodied freedom and democracy, at least to some meaningful degree; now, they are becoming very much like the Soviet Union, and are imitating totalitarian Communist China. Meanwhile, Mexico has become a beacon of freedom and democracy, prosperity and opportunity. Where do you want to be for the coming decades ahead? My choice is clear.

JTR,
May 1, 2021