Walmart, Bribes, and Jala, Nayarit... the effects of US business on life in Mexico...

[The basilica of Jala] In 1996, I led my first short-term mission team into central Mexico.  We spent a week in Guadalajara and another in the little town of Jala, in the state of Nayarit. Jala is the type of sleepy town that wakes up once a year for their festival.  Their chief claim to fame is an ability to grow giant corn and the nearby volcano, Ceboruco.  Throw in a beautiful basilica, a classic town square and you have central Mexico. Most of the 15000 or so residents are, or at least were, connected to corn and sugar cane farming. [Casa Arriola in Jala, where I spent many a night with Octavio and his Tia Caratina] I was there a number of times with a good friend who was on the Board of Directors of my ministry, Adventures in Life, at the time. Octavio spent his summers growing up in this little sleepy town and he wanted us to visit, learn the culture, and help the people in some way.  It was at his urging that we went. One of the challenges in small town Mexico if you are taking care of a group, is getting food. Life in these places is not like life here in the states. To make breakfast, you first go to the place that sells eggs.  Then the place that sells bacon and cheese.  Then the place that sells tortillas.  And on and on and on.  It is terribly unproductive, unless of course you want to get to know the community, her people, and the culture. [A typical small store in Jala, this one sells furniture] As is my custom, I like to ask a lot of questions.  One morning as Octavio and I were making the rounds looking for enough food to make a meal for our group of 16 people, I asked a question... "Why doesn't someone open up a supermarket here with everything in one place?" His response was both quick and concise.  He asked me why I hated the people of Jala, his village? I was stunned as he went on to explain that while a supermarket might make things easier, it would kill a lot of local merchants.  Many of the small stores or tiendas that we visited everyday were family stores.  Many of the folks that owned those stores would never be able to get a job in someplace like Ralphs, K-Mart, Home Depot or Walmart. The only thing that would happen, Octavio went on, if those big box retailers came into Mexico and entered the small towns and villages would be a loss of revenue, livelihood, and the businesses of the very people who had sacrificed and built the city.   We would also see a loss of community as people would no longer go to Maria's corner store for eggs and conversation, or maybe Juan's ferreteria for nails and advice. That was almost 20 years ago.  And sadly, Octavio was right. With the recent news that Walmart has been systematically bribing people to get their stores into all corners of Mexico, perhaps it is time to ask Octavio's question a different way. Does American business hate the people of Mexico so much that after devastating the corn industry and cutting down the sugar cane farmers, it felt a need to illegally take aim on the Mom and Pop stores that dot the landscape across the country and form the backbone of the Mexican community? I'm just askin... Here's some great photos of Jala

Freedom and Individual Rights... promoting the general welfare...

It’s a freedom thing. That’s what he said. I was sitting in a local coffee shop this morning and a veteran of our idiocy in Vietnam was talking with the owner. He was saying that we have forgotten what made America great. We are, in his opinion, leaving behind the rights of the individual. The freedom to live his life as he or she chooses is central to this veterans understanding of freedom. And I agree with him, to a point. Because those rights do not exist on a one way street. They flow back and forth in both directions as much as the I-15 flows between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. I have found that there are very few rights that we can exercise that exist in a vacuum, or in a world where the exercise of those rights will not impact others. Let me cite a few examples. You want to smoke? That’s 100% fine for you, but how are you going to make sure that I do not have to pay one penny for the medical care related to your desire to engage in harmful activity? Or let me turn that one around. When does my desire to live in a smoke free world, impinge on your right to smoke when and where you choose? Want to ride your motorcycle without a helmut or drive your car without wearing a seatbelt? How are you going to ensure that the general public will not be paying for your decision to eschew these safety options if you are in an accident? You do not want to buy health insurance? Are you, and your family okay with medical personnel letting you die because you cannot pay your bill? You want to claim a right to build, or own your home in a flood plain, or tornado zone? Why should I have to help bail you and your neighbors out when the inevitable disaster strikes? This is the FEMA question that comes up every year. Even our right to practice religion exists on that big two way super highway. I wonder how many people claiming religion is under siege based on President Obama’s views on health care rose to the defense of Muslims in New York when they wanted to build a mosque at ground zero. Clearly, the free exercise of our rights has limits, something even the Supreme Court understands as evidenced by certain limits on speech. We have free speech, but we can’t yell fire in a crowded theater. So maybe the question is how do we decide when it is necessary, to promote the general welfare, to curtail, or put limits on those rights. It is such a delicate balance. What say you?

Life as a Member of the Jet Set...

It used to be you were part of the Jet Set when you traveled. Flight attendants were stewardesses, beautiful, had cool uniforms and you got some great meals. Not anymore. Now you are part of some vast herd that must be corralled by the least amount of staff the airlines can legally put on the plane. But the fun usually begins before you even board as you are pushed into lines, given no real instructions, poked, prodded, and felt up, all in the name of national security. These days with flight attendants freaking out and pilots going nuts, you wonder if you're even going to survive the flight. I was thinking about this all day yesterday as I was sardined into my 18 inch wide seat for my flights home from Oaxaca, Mexico... 1. When you arrive at the airport and they have a scale waiting for you before you get in line, you know the airlines have decided to take baggage weight limits seriously. 2. US Airlines seem less willing to change your seat than the Mexican Airlines. At least that is true for whatever we are calling United/Continental airline these days. So yes, I was sitting in row 648, seat Q on my trip home. 3. I noticed that one of the benefits of flying United is that they give you complementary seat choice. Seriously, that's a benefit? 4. I left Oaxaca and went through security. I arrived in Houston, passed through security, customs, immigration, and then security again. Can anyone explain to me why, after I was allowed to fly to the states, I have to pass through security again after Immigration allowed me in, even though I stayed in a controlled area? 5. It is never a good sign when the guy across the aisle from you tells his wife he needs the barf bag. 6. More and more people are dressing like they should be part of a Walmart customer photo exhibit. As a general rule, I don't want to see your underwear, ugly feet, or your gut and belly button when I travel, and I'm betting, no one else does, so get dressed before you fly. 7. They've taken almost all of the free snacks away. Now they don't even offer you that bag of 6 pretzels. Of course you can buy it, but it costs $6.99, credit card only. 8. The government has decided that on international flights, you can no longer use the bathroom when you are within an hour of the United States. Supposedly, this cuts down on the possibility of a terrorist doing something untoward in the last hour of a flight. I wonder why no one seems to think he won't just do what ever it is in the last hour and a half? 9. Is all the security really necessary? I mean, could someone explain to me what kind of dumb terrorist is really going to try and pass through security with a bomb these days? Why would they not just blow themselves up in the line of 5000 people waiting to take off their shoes and belts and get X-rayed? And finally, when I left Oaxaca in the morning, food in a tortilla was called a taco, or burrito, depending on where you were. Somewhere over the US, the same food in a tortilla became a wrap. Travel can be so confusing... Want a bonus? Check out Brian Regan's hilarious take on flying...