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 Editorials | January 2006 
A Mexican’s Resolution – Out With The Old And In With The New
 Carlos Luken - Mexidata.info
| | The generation that has reached maturity during his term was only 15 or 16 years old when Fox was inaugurated. But Mexico’s generation X is huge, and some estimate that it represents nearly 50 percent of the population. |
Chronologically a generation is sometimes defined as persons living over a span of 21 years and 9 months.
If so, Mexico’s road to modernism has only began, with Vicente Fox into the fifth year of his administration. The generation that has reached maturity during his term was only 15 or 16 years old when Fox was inaugurated, and those born since will reach maturity at the earliest in the year 2022. But Mexico’s generation X is huge, and some estimate that it represents nearly 50 percent of the population.
As such Mexico is a country with tremendous potential. It has plentiful youth, and if the current and future governments can create environments that will tap into this priceless resource there are genuine possibilities for socioeconomic and cultural transformations in the coming generation.
Mexico’s young people are growing up in a different environment than their elders. Still, although the democratic process has started there are many matters that remain unchanged. Some that are vital, and their persistence can only lead to social insufficiencies, economic stagnation and calamity.
Politically and economically Mexico has already taken its initial footsteps. Yet while its economy may be richer, the advantages have not fully trickled down to the poor majority. An administration can create an atmosphere for growth and riches, but only education and justice can distribute its bounty.
For decades Mexican presidents bragged that they spent almost half of the country’s annual budget on education, a boast that while truthful was unfortunately almost meaningless. Government officials squandered most of the resources poured into education by paying salaries to patronage teacher structures that were politically and educationally inept.
While Mexico prided itself for having Latin America’s largest teachers’ union it too should have been embarrassed, as it was one of the world’s most corrupt and inefficient unions. Many millions in research and development funds, supposedly to raise levels of instruction, and to improve and modernize teaching techniques, were handed out via concessions that guaranteed government compliance.
In doing so, the government failed to regard infrastructure investment needs, and it was unable to keep pace with the growing student population. Classrooms became scarce, inefficiently overcrowded, and as resources were politically and unwisely distributed schools in some areas became understaffed, poorly equipped or non-existent.
After decades of overspending education is an issue that absolutely must be addressed, whereas its lack of quality has lowered the country’s standard of living.
Mexico’s progression into globalization, via the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, was quickly lost as the nation paid the consequences for failing to modernize its technological education and infrastructure. Because of its lost competitiveness, other countries advanced and surpassed Mexico – endangering an already sputtering employment growth and dwarfing industrial development.
Normally corruption would not be considered on the same level of importance as education. Even though it is a drawback for any country’s development, corruption has traditionally been given a lower priority. But in Mexico’s case corruption is a festering wound that only worsens by being complacently passed over as a cultural consequence of poverty.
In truth corruption in Mexico may be due to a basic lack of civic education, but corruption is fostered by a traditional culture of impunity that shamelessly protects and exempts most persons with any power or influence, however meaningless. Generalized official corruption also leads to a lack of punishment, and this impunity is a leading cause for crime, lawlessness and insecurity.
Corruption penetrates and drains all spirit of development and life. It promotes a culture of indiscipline and waste in a country that sorely needs efficient resource management and growth. Furthermore, it can be affirmed that corruption and its negative effects have touched almost every Mexican at least once in their lifetime.
It is present in most facets of Mexican life, and certainly prevalent in politics. There it has flourished, in government structures and political organizations that perpetuate the harm as they make public office their financial occupation and public trough.
Mexico is a nation of squandered potential and opportunities, and if current politicians decide to perpetuate the past in this year’s elections, the country could sink into oblivion. A nothingness bought by ignorance, corruption, crime and populism.
But today’s politicians need to recognize that their time has come, and look to demands to pass on the foundations of a new nation to present and future generations.
Carlos Luken, a MexiData.info columnist, is a Mexico-based businessman and consultant. He can be reached via email at ilcmex@yahoo.com. |
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