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10/19/2003 Archived Entry: "The Decline and Fall of Mexico (Chapter One)"
It would be an understatment to say that my surprise was great when I read in the excellent Guns, Germs, and Steel that Mesoamerica was one of only three regions of the world where writing was independently invented. This is an amazing achievement that will forever remain to the credit of Mexico's earlier cultures - and one that can be used to gauge the decline of this country (I do not dare to use the word "civilisation").
Several hundred years ago, the Aztecs were the most advanced and populous human group in the region, with a food package (corn, etc.) and society organisation superior to anything found on what would become the United States. What would have happened if the Aztecs had engulfed the vast expanses of North America and had been given a few hundred years to develop in isolation from the rest of the world? The Conquistadores would have faced an Empire of colossal strength, and might have been repelled. A native American power could exist today, one that would have absorbed Europe's inventions to its benefit, like Japan did, retaining its roots and culture.
Today, Mexico is a poor, third world, country where a majority of the population is more or less illiterate, a nation that is unable to independently develop sophisticated technologies, where the surest road to wealth is through corruption, not through entrepreneurship.
How could Mexico fall so low despite such a proud past? Is it a legacy of the Conquistadores? But in that case why is Brazil capable of designing and manufacturing airplanes (Embraer), mastering the power of the atom and creating modern drugs while Mexico's main industrial claim to fame is limited to assembling parts received from the United States and shipping the finished product back (the maquiladora industry) to the great market?
My experience as a high tech entrepreneur in Mexico has been one of utter frustration, pushing me more than once on the verge of tears (probably to be shed at my own blindness not to have recognised the country's true nature before moving here). I would like to understand how Mexico became such a hopeless laggard in today's world economy, why so many Mexican "decision makers" seem to suffer from a full lobotomy, and why the Mexican population itself complacently keep on partying while their nation sinks into disgrace. Oh proud Aztec fathers of Mexico, aren't you ashamed of what has happened to your great land?
Photo credit: Carol Schlitt
Many readers have found offensive my comment about the illiteracy of people in Mexico. However, literacy today is not only being able to write your name or read the telephone directory. The OECD conducted a study entitled "Literacy Skills for the World of Tomorrow" (PISA 2000) where Mexico ranked 7th from the bottom of a list of 40+ countries. Only 1% of Mexican students could "manage information that is presented in unfamiliar texts, show detailed understanding of complex texts and infer which information is relevant to the task, and critically evaluate and build hypotheses with the capacity to draw on specialised knowledge and concepts that may be contrary to expectations". For the purpose of competing in the global economy, most Mexicans require a better education and are illiterate by 21st century standards.
