Don't Declare War: Opine!

It is very interesting to note how someone responds to what I've written about Gringolandia and its inhabitants, Gringolandians. Almost without exception, the usual screed in response to what I've always proclaimed as just "my thoughts, my opinions, my editorializing on my life in central Mexico" come in the form of personal attacks on me, the author. I cannot say I've ever received even a handful of responses in which people have bothered to at least try to offer some sort of well-reasoned counter-argument. That's all I've ever asked: if you disagree, then fine and dandy. But, please try to offer me something in return that resembles an attempt to attack the issues. Do not attack me.

A reader once told me that if I can't handle the feedback, I should not write about the issues. An interesting comment. If the majority of the comments I get from readers are any indication of what's become of the ability of Americans to reason, and these readers identify themselves as Americans, to think, perhaps it is time to panic: America is in deep doo-doo.

When my wife and I first moved to Guanajuato, the only town in Mexico in which we've lived, our intention was to write fiction. However, this desire was sidetracked because of a phenomenon we never once considered even existed, much less one in which we would be involved: Gringolandia.

Though time could be spent arguing whether Gringo, Gringolandia, and Gringolandians are words used to deride foreigners by Mexicans, that would be time wasted. The fact is that though the usages of the terms were originally pejorative, they no longer are. Most of those who inhabit Gringolandias take umbrage at the use, mostly because they cannot verify from the Mexican community at large how the word is used. Most of those Gringolandians do not have the linguistic skills to find out. And, when they claim all their friends are Mexicans, what they mean is they have a very limited scope of friendship with a very different class of Mexicans who may or may not communicate their biases.

I once got a comment from a Gringolandian who claimed she and all her Mexican friends thought I was an embarrassment and should leave Guanajuato. This woman does not speak one word of Spanish, though she's lived here for a number of years. Well, need I comment further?

Someone asked why I resorted to such "heavy-handedness" about the issues of Gringolandia in the books I've written. Believe it or not, I did take into consideration whether I would be alienating those to whom my writing was slanted by the manner in which I communicated the issues. However, when I tried sweetening things up a little, I began to find myself writing in such a way as to avoid responses that would be hard to digest. But, then what came roaring into my conscience like a freight train is that if I did that, tried making everything sound all "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice", It would be to be untrue to myself.

You can find plenty of "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice" in 99% of the expat material on the market today. Tickling someone's ears, stroking their egos, creating an illusion of something that is only one side of the coin and maybe even patently not true, fills too much of our lives. We need truth. We need someone's editorializing to throw the issues down on the table and examine critically so that we can make a better decision, a more informed one, and not be swayed by something created by people with less than honest motives.

What we need more in this world is people who will "Count the Cost and be Willing to Pay the Price" in the decisions they make in their lives, don't you think?

But, you can't Count the Cost if you don't have both sides of the coin to have a look at.

I've never professed to be an expert in anything nor have I had the delusion that people should listen to me. Folks contemplating moving to Mexico should read everything they can find on the subject. They should read the Sugary Prose that makes you feel all warm and cozy. They should also read the prose that might not be as flattering about living in Mexico or the effect Gringolandians have on the culture.

All I've ever said is that I have a point of view and have sought to communicate that view as clearly and as vigorously as possible. Take what I say as one person's view, attack my premises, and give me a run for my money on the issues in my essays.

But, don't write me and threaten the safety of my life and the life of my wife.

I've addressed Gringolandia and Gringolandians as a Concept. Never have I addressed individuals by name within that Concept, nor would I. But, what I have done is sharply criticize the idea that Gringolandias are harmless little groups of Extranjeros who gather together for mutual support and fellowship. I think that's what most within the Gringolandia community thinks it is.

What many do not know is that in the Prime Living Locations, the neatly organized Gringo Infrastructure was no accident. Opportunities were seen and seized to create an enormous moneymaking machine to get Americans, Canadians, and anyone with the money to buy real estate. In these cities, and particularly in San Miguel de Allende, the Mexican culture has been replaced in favor of the invading one to the extent that the social scientists examining this cultural morphing have come to say that San Miguel de Allende is no longer Mexican. It has hybridized. It is something different and new. Mexico is gone.

A Gringa friend from San Miguel once told me that what the Gringos want in San Miguel, the Gringos get. They go into the mayor's office, close the doors, and deals are made.

The point of all I've sought to say is that I am not the only one making these observations now.

In an article in the L.A. Times, a lady who visited San Miguel de Allende made this comment:

“It was at this point that I realized that if I really wanted a taste of Mexico, I might as well go home to Echo Park. The tour wasn't so much a backstage pass to aspirational cultural immersion as it was an English-only how-to guide for getting away from it all without giving anything up. Each dwelling was mostly notable for just how thoroughly the householders had managed to bring the comforts of the north into the wilds of the south.”

Sheila Croucher, a professor of political science at Miami University in Ohio and author, most recently, of Globalization and Belonging: The Politics of Identity in a Changing World, made these observations about San Miguel de Allende:

· San Miguel de Allende attracts one of the largest foreign populations in Mexico.

· “Most do not learn the local language and reside and socialize within an isolated cultural enclave. These immigrants practice their own cultural traditions and celebrate their national holidays. Grocery stores are stocked with locally unfamiliar products that hail from their homeland.”

· American professionals largely work illegally in San Miguel and pay no taxes.

· They typically do not pay the Social Security taxes for their servants as required by law.

· The illegal businesses run by the American gringo community rips off the local San Miguel de Allende government in excess of four million pesos a year in unpaid taxes.

· Some Americans are actually illegal aliens and do not bother with proper documentation.

· Some are even involved in the Illegal Drug Trade and take drugs across the different Mexican state lines.

(Professor Croucher's essay was the one meant for non-social scientists to understand. I am told she has done a more academic paper for the brainiacs.)

Two days after I received a threatening post on one of my articles, one in which our lives were threatened by someone who anonymously identified himself or herself as a Guanajuato Gringolandian, an uninvestigated fire mysteriously ignited outside our bedroom window in a parked taxi. A chain reaction was imminent because of the combustible butane tanks and other substances near the fire. Were it not for the illness from which I suffer and my being awake at the ungodly hour the fire occurred, we, and several of our Mexican neighbors, surely would have perished.

And yet, as is the Guanajuato's Gringolandian's custom, this event was marginalized into being regarded as a lie.

Their delusions are so strong that even though police and fire personnel responded to this potentially life-threatening emergency, the consensus in the Gringolandians is that I've lied.

Gringolandia is a moneymaking venture. They are a group bound by no American laws and few Mexican ones. The Mexican laws governing building permits and paying taxes to the Mexican government are obeyed by those with the ethics and principles to do so. Verifiable stories abound about how Gringolandians wiggle out of Mexican laws applicable to them. Gringolandia, as the Concept it is, is Lawlessness.

Here are two rare and very welcomed comments by two readers who read my Escapeartist.com piece entitled, Want to be an Expat or a Fakepat?

I am a Canadian expat living in Culiacán, Sinaloa. My wife and son are natural Mexicans. I read your article about fakepats in the Escape from America Magazine. I totally agree your comments on the ignorant nature of many of the foreigners (us Canadians included) who come here expecting to find a Fantasy Island welcoming party. I don’t want to infer that adapting to life here is easy or should be; a really humble effort has to be made to assimilate into Mexico’s enduring culture. However, it would be great to see foreigners (especially wealthy gringos) make some effort to treat the nationals as peers instead of viewing them with condescension. The parasitical occupation of Mexico by gringos is really not helping to create a better understanding between the cultures and equates to the “apartheid” of Mexican (and other) immigrants living in the US who are criticized for not assimilating. If this trend continues will Mexicans start to feel the same as Iraqis and react the same way? Does anyone remember the Cuban revolution?

The second comment was from a Latino. I am very proud about what he said:

I just read your article on living in Mexico titled expat or fakepat. I applaud you. This is the kind of advice I have been writing to authors who I think have given a less than accurate account of living in Mexico. I have spent my entire career launching fortune 100 companies throughout Latin America; this is the first time I have read something which was unvarnished and straightforward about living in Latin America. -- Suerte, Juan-Manuel

That's all I've tried doing all along…give a more accurate account of living in Mexico!

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