An Open Invitation

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You are describing the US in about 20 years. Maybe less the way the process has sped up the last 15 years or so.
We will have no middle class. We will have the working poor and the rich. All blue collar jobs will be reduced to McDonald's pay.
This really has nothing to do with the Mexicans or any other single country. We have a full generation already to add to the millions of lost from the last generation. They will not work, will not lower themselves to do "blue collar" type work.
Thus more jobs will move.
We already have hundreds of thousands of white collar workers out of work. Many of the jobs that were filled were filled with workers on Visa's from other country's. More of these jobs were just out sourced though and will not return.
Pay will remain stagnant.
Workers that are out of work will continue to go to lower paying jobs than they had before.
Prices will continue to rise. Because fewer people will be able to afford to buy the products more workers will be out of work. To get the needed profits prices will rise more due to less volume.
The players at the top will continue to get salary's in the tens of millions, and bonuses in the millions.

Eventually Mexico and the US will have the same exact economy. We will probibly drag Canada down with us as well.
Eventually they will have what they invisioned origionaly with NAFTA, and they will be able to have one currency.

 

Well, I'm just going by what I'm told by those born there. Perhaps you are describing some limited enclaves of progression in the country, rather than statistically what is dominant?
When I have a guy who was a teacher that had to walk over 2 mountains every day to work, shooting squirrels and rabbit for food, while making $27 a week - and others living much like him - I have to wonder just how much credence I should give to what you said. OTOH, it could be the other way and MY guys are the anomoly, but if that were so, they wouldn't be here.

 

I completely agree with ya Chrome.

 

Monterrey is the richest city in Mexico according to what I've heard on the news, so I don't know if it can be representative of all Mexico. It may be like saying Beverly Hills is representative of the U.S.A.

Except for a month or so here and there back in the U.S., I've been living since Feb. 2006 in Cuernavaca, which is about 55 miles south of MExico City. There are some rich folks here, but I'd say the great majority don't earn a lot. The jobs I've seen listed offer on average $4,000 to $6000 pesos a month (it's about 12 pesos to 1 U.S. dollar right now), so figure $333 to $500 dollars a month. The official minimum wage here is about $5 dollars a day, but I don't know anyone who works for that.

There are new cars here on the road, but also some clunkers that would never pass U.S. standards. I saw a VW Thing (remember them?) yesterday in not so good condition, and as I write this a couple of guys are outside trying to start a rusted out piece of junk (it's parked next to a late model Chevy Cavalier).

I'd agree you can get pretty much anything here as in the U.S. The one thing I've noticed is it's hard to find larger sizes in clothes. I'm a pretty big guy nd in the U.S. I have no problem at any store finding my size (about XXL, sometime XXXL). I can't find that here, even at the Wal-marts. And I see guys my size or larger here, so you would think they'd be sold somewhere here.

There are some new buildings here, but most are older structures. There's only one mall that I know of that could be called modern, and a couple of modrn plazas. The majority of people here can't afford those places though and stick to the "mercados" or small stores.

The sad thing is a lot of kids here don't seem to take education seriously. The local paper here reported a few days ago that about 60% have no future (by that they mean they'll have jobs as waiters, dishwashers, etc.). There are a lack of jobs here, and a lot of kids don't see the point in school if they're no opportunities afterward.

I can't speak nuch for outside the cities, but I did spend a month at a small ranch with my girfriend's family. If you like tranquil and peaceful you'll love it, but nothing at all in the way of jobs at the ranch. A horse or donkey is as common transportation as a car. No malls, walmarts, fast food chains, etc. A couple of very small stores, an Intenet cafe, and that's about it. I really enjoyed it, and could live there, but if you like the action of a city then you'll go nuts. It really depends on where you are here, but ask any Mexican and the overwhelming majority will tell you there are a lot of poor people here.

 

In spending time in southern CA, and southern parts of the S.W., I can say that the border towns are not safe at all, on either side of the border. However, there is no doubt that the Mexican people are good, hardworking folks. ...Now if I can just get our frigg'n mayor to celebrate our Independence Day (July 4) with the same vigor as he wants to pretend to celebrate, for political correctness sake, Sinko de Myo, a holiday in a foreign country for crying out loud!!!

 

Except for maybe the state of Puebla, Cinco de Mayo really isn't that big of a deal here in Mexico from what I've seen. Where I live nobody really pays any attention to it. It's probably bigger in the U.S. than in Mexico. http://www.mexonline.com/cinco-de-mayo.htm

 

Most of what you said seems accurate.

Mexicans are able to often get by on their salary but not get ahead. Much of Mexico is monopolized by a handful of families (Slim, Salinas-Pliego etc) and the cost of living in Mexico isn't all that much cheaper than in the US but the pay rates are much lower.

There are no high-paying blue collar jobs as in the US. Nurses make about $5,000 pesos per month (about 400 bucks and some change in dollars).
Police often make about $4,000 pesos per month. Profesions that require a college degree often only pay $8,000 pesos per month.

Education is not a priority in Latin America.

Most Mexicans toil in the "underground" economy where there are no benefits, no safeguards and no pensions or medical benefits of any kind. They are often paid on a daily basis and can lose their employment at any time.

Mexicans that have limited opportunies often see migrating to the US (without papers) as their best chance to get ahead. And considering that they would otherwise work in the informal economy (in Mexico), the fact that they do so without bennies or other things which the American worker is accustomed to, are not all that strange to a Mexican laborer.

The question of "legality" matters little when you're from a rural community that might be lucky to even have an elementary school. When all the grown-ups and your older relatives talk about their time in el otro lado (the other side) and how much money they made and the adventures they had, it takes on a larger than life kind of appeal. Of course when the next crop of migrants comes of age (15-25) and they cross the border, they all too often find that much of what was told back in their pueblo (small town) were half-truths and hard-luck stories told to make the tellers sound as if they had a great adventure when in reality they endured daily hardships, backbreaking labor, getting shortchanged or not paid at all, being chased by the Border Patrol, risking their lives to cross deserts, always being afraid of deportation, loneliness etc.

It's amazing that 2 countries with such an intermixing of history, culture, people and trade could be so distant and remote from each other.

How little does the average Mexican or American know about the other's country, people, customs or language.

Neighbors with a shared interest in the destiny of North America and with common goals such as a better life for people, ease of movement for trade, tourism and migration, improved education, a need for greater security and to cooperate on a host of cross-border issues means we should be trying to work together instead of throwing about abusive slogans, hate-filled rants and telling lies based on complete ignorance.

 

Also true. Cinco de Mayo is more of a Chicano holiday.