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Thursday, March 30, 2006
Los Angeles, Mexico
Ah, what might have been! If only we hadn't stolen California from Mexico...
Ah, what might have been! If only we hadn't stolen California from Mexico...
HERITAGE. Maybe you have to be Hispanic to figure out this kind of logic: You've broken the law and risked your life to get the hell out of the land of your birth, but when the country you've sneaked into considers sending you back home, you rush into the streets in protest -- GET THIS! -- proudly carrying the flag of the country you'd rather die than live in. Some of you even carry signs suggesting that the poor failed country you've escaped from should possess the land you've fled to.
I gotta tell you. To us gringos, this whole shtick is so insanely stupid that it makes us want to boot you back to Mexico out of sheer principle. If the U.S. hadn't acquired the southwest from the corrupt descendants of the Conquistadors, it would be just as destitute and prospectless as the country you left. And if you succeed in taking it back by force of numbers, it will revert to a state indistinguishable from the miserable shanty towns you left behind.
Sound harsh? Too bad. Just because your next door neighbor has the wherewithal to buy a giant Hummer, that doesn't mean you have a right to sneak your large unruly family into the back seat for a free ride, even if your father once owned the driveway the Hummer is parked in. That's exactly the kind of thinking that created the great economic non-miracle of Mexico in the first place.
You're blowing the only opportunity you have for a better life. When you're a guest who wants to continue his visit, insulting and annoying your hosts isn't the right policy. And if you make them mad enough, they will throw you out, no matter how entitled your delusions tell you you are.
