ENERGEIA

A friend sent me this link today. It talks about how criminal organizations are helping terrorists reach their goals…for profit.  http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/3445-the-d-companys-role-in-the-mumbai-attacks.html This one talks about how one organized crime group named the “D Company” helped organize the terrorist slayings in Mumbai, India, in order to make some much needed cash. His point is that soon this same thing may be happening in the US as crime groups branch out the services they offer — for money, of course.

His International Criminal Organizations professor said that US Federal law enforcement officials are worried about these types of groups in Mexico helping Al-Qaeda and Islamic terrorist groups plan and execute terrorist activities in the USA. The “simple fix”? Close the borders with Mexico.

I agree with the sentiment “close the borders with mexico”, but I admit to having mixed feelings about it. From a US perspective, I wholeheartedly agree that we need to protect that border now more than ever. We have laws, and they need to be enforced. I don’t know how “simple” it would be (as claimed), but it is a simple thing to say.

On the other hand, from a more compassionate point of view, or perhaps empathetic point of view, I can’t blame the guys for trying to get across the border to find a better way of life. Sure I wish they would do it legally, absolutely. And I am not against prosecuting repeat offenders or human traffickers. But I lived in Mexico for 2 years, and I met many people down there that can’t feed their families on mexican wages.  Often when they do have jobs they get treated like animals. One guy I met, named Juan, worked at a natural gas container facility 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. He got paid about the same in a month as I was making in a few days when I got home and started a part time job at a dental laboratory making dental devices. I wish I remember the exact wages he earned – but I can’t. Maybe I wanted to forget.

One of his compadres had two fingers cut off during the machining process one day. He wrapped the hand in a towel and kept on working. If he went and complained or spoke to the foreman, they would just kick him out and he’d lose his job…so he kept on plugging away. By the way Juan was a middle-aged man with a wife and three children, and he couldn’t read. He was forced to work at a young age in order to help support the family he grew up in. The Mexican government is raping the land of its natural resources and pocketing the profits, with the big telecom, gas, and other industries “nationalized” by the Gov’t. I have a friend, Carlos, that did an internship with Vicente Fox’s government in Mexico City a few years back. It’s such a pork party down there — just get in with the right guys and you are taken care of. But if you are not in…you’re out. I met people that have been paying taxes for YEARS and yet they have no running water, no sewage lines, no paved roads…and let’s not even talk about the rigged elections. Or the cops that get paid so little they take bribes in order to survive. I ask you: if you lived in a country like this, what would you do?

My point is this: Yes, I believe we need to fix the border problem. For sure. But if I were a Mexican citizen, trying to fight City Hall, and they kept laughing in my face, would I rebel? Start an insurrection? The government swiftly puts down even hints of talk of unrest with their active military, so you’d better be as well armed as the drug cartels if you are going to survive that. It’s not like the American Colonials that had their Mother Country thousands of miles away and the seeds of liberty were sown for decades before England noticed and permanent troops arrived. Mexico has M-16 toting soldiers all over its state capitals — at least four that I have been in — in the North. So what would I do? I would try to get across the border in order to support my family — no doubt about it. And, if I would do that in order to taste a little bit of freedom and justice, have a decent job where I could provide for my wife and children, I can’t really blame them for trying to do the same no matter what the cost…because I know I would do it too.

The solution is for Mexico’s government to change. They need to adopt and live more principles of freedom and liberty for their nation and people. Trust me, if the Mexicans that are pouring over our border knew that they could live and thrive in Mexico — even slightly better than current standards — they would choose to live in Mexico hands down. Since returning from Mexico I have made it a point of talking to Mexicans (and Central Americans from Nicaragua and El Salvador) as much as I can all over the western United States — California, Oregon, Washington, Utah — and they all have one story in common: They are just here to make some money and help provide for their families, and “one day” they are going to return to the “happy life” in Mexico. The “happy life” they are all hoping to return to is not the scenario I just painted of corrupt government, horrible jobs, and poor education. That is why they are here. The thing that they want to return for is the culture of community, of brotherhood that they don’t find here (obviously, as they are foreigners), but also one of non-Consumerism, slower paced, and sunny.

I wish there was something we could do in order to change their laws and government…cuz if you ever wanted to see a mass stampede heading South of the Border…that’s all it would take. Gee, I wonder if our CIA is busy tomorrow night…it’s not like they haven’t toppled regimes that are detrimental to the health of the US in the past…. Or, a simpler suggestion: Close the border. Let anyone into the USA that can pass an electronic thumbprint/electronic ID. If you have a felony or bad record, you don’t come in. If you don’t have a record, we get your thumbprint, issue an ID, and you can enter if legal.