There is so much wrong with Ruben’s latest post that I am surprised he put it up. For example….
1.”…about 8,000 Mexicans have died as the result of a war against people like Guzman….” That figure is tricky, as it inclues the bad guys as well as the good guys, so don’t imagine that it means 8K killed by the cartels. Does Ruben mean Mexicans, both thugs and honest cops, are to be mourned equally? Evidently not, for if you rate Mexicans solely on their wealth, Ruben implies strongly that Guzman the billionaire does not qualify on ethical grounds to be included on that list (that’s a goofy position, but let it go). So could it be that the figure of 8K should be inflated by the additional deaths of a lot of the assassins, thugs, enforcers and genuine bad guys? I would say so, but Ruben…well, I dunno whether he wants to cops to kill the murdering villains.
2. Mexicans are “angry at the hypocrisy of Americans who criticize Mexico for drug violence while buying the drugs and supplying the guns that produce the violence.” That’s three separate groups, not one, and implying that it is a single group, and therefore hypocritical, is a filthy trick. Look at it rationally: the addicts are not hypocrites, the smugglers who supply Mexico with firearms and grenades are not hypocrites, and neither group criticizes Mexico — in fact, both depend on it and tacitly approve of its degenerate condition. The third group, US types who criticize Mexico, is entirely separate from the first two. So where’s the hypocrisy? (Yes, I know the firearms come in from the Caribbean and southern smugglers’ routes, and not from the USA. I also know that Mexicans are Americans, along with Costa Ricans, Argentines, Canadians and everybody else in the New World.)
Ruben turns a phrase well, crushing facts into untruths and crafting slogans that almost pass examination. He’s a slick propagandist, not an analyst. He is part of an element in the mass media that has long practiced deceit in its attempts to manipulate the electorate.
The problems of Mexico are rooted in a stubborn, traditional tolerance of corruption that ignores criticism, and the real concerns of the USA are poorly defined. US policy on drugs should be harm reduction, and immigration policy should begin with the firm requirement that everyone obey the law. If the USA were to adopt rational programs in accord with those principles (which it absolutely has not), Mexico would be insanely furious with its neighbor, Ruben would need tranquilizers, and we would begin to make some real progress.
The problem with a rational approach: it is late in the game. Large criminal conspiracies, if deprived of drug money, would move on to kidnapping, hijacking, large-scale robbery, extortion and invasion of the private sector. Ideally the drug cartels should be exterminated, not just put out of the drug business. Too bad, but that’s what you get when a breathtakingly stupid drug policy meets a national political apparatus for hire.
(When are we gonna get a “Preview” feature here??)
