Bill Gates may have lost the "wealthiest man" title

[snoopy369]

Because the rich white guys don't have any particular reason to feel bad for the poor mestizos and therefore don't do anything to help them out, instead just hoarding all the money for themselves?

Or maybe it was something else, who knows.

[VetLegion]

What would be better if mestizos were in charge?

[Master Zen]

As a Mexican, there's nothing more shameful than knowing that one guy owns like 6% of the country's wealth. If we add the value of Slim's companies I would dare say it's no exaggeration that 10-15% of the country's money passes through his hands one way or another. As one person already said, yes, this was an institutionalized monopoly created by the privatization of the formerly-national telephone company, Telmex, during the tenure of Carlos Salinas (1988-94).

As to race issues and power, I think the 10% white figure is grossly overestimated. A lot of Latin Americans for inferiority complex issues tend to classify themselves as white when they aren't. I'd say that the proportion of true whites is no more than 5% and the other 5% being mestizos who are far more white looking than indian looking (i'd classify myself under this standard for example). That said, I also think the 30% figure for indians is grossly exaggerated too, I'd say it's more like 15-20%.

Whites definitely have a hold of economic power, although political power is another thing entirely: the grand majority of legislators are mestizo rather than white (except in the ruling party, PAN, which has a higher proportion of whites since they represent the business class but still it's nevertheless a minority). Mestizos have, historically, been the politically dominant race in this country even if the wealth has been monopolized by the white minority.

Why is this sad? Because indeed it leads to racism and to a national inferiority complex. I'd say the grand majority of mexicans are ashamed of their origins, for example, the slang term for a white-skinned or blond person is "güero" which is universally taken as a compliment. The slang term for a dark-skinned person is "prieto" which is usually taken in a derogatory manner. There's even a saying that when a mestizo/indian marries a white he or she is "bettering the race". Race is quite evident on the streets: go to the trendy nightclubs and it's nearly all white. Go to the street markets and I dare you to find a blond person. Funny thing is that in the US you see every day a greater percentage of minorities in ads, television, etc. but here it seems the country gets whiter by the minute. Good luck trying to sell something in a magazine if there's an indian-looking person in the add (again, the inferiority complex since the grand majority of people looking at that ad will be indian-looking). Walk around in the business districts of Mexico City and the well-dressed executives: yep, white.

Perhaps it's sadder here in Mexico because whites are a minority unlike, say, Argentina or Uruguay or even Brazil where they a significant portion of the population. Fact is they have a tremendous advantage in terms of job and education opportunities, being born white in Mexico is pretty much a guarantee of prosperity, being born indian is a ticket to a life of poverty. And of course, nobody seems to care. It's taken as a fact of life and nobody really does nothing about it, or even recognize the fact: hell, most people here will say that there's no racism in Mexico, that we're one big happy family (the census does not collect race data, for example, which I find preposterous: it means there's no info whatsoever on how to tackle the problem). You know, maybe there is more racism in the US or in Europe but at least as societies, they have opened up to admitting the problem. Not here. We're in a blissfully ignorant limbo and it's tearing the country apart.

-MZ

[Master Zen]

Originally posted by VetLegion
What would be better if mestizos were in charge?

Lemme guess: trying to weasel out an argument that having a white dominant majority isn't so bad?

The answer is both yes and no. Just having mestizos/indians in charge doesn't change anything. The problem is solving the cultural and structural system of injustice by which one race is given preference in opportunities over another. This will not change until this country manages to provide equal opportunities to every one of its citizens, not just the privileged ones. But 1) there's no will whatsoever to do this by the current ruling party and 2) there's a psychological resistance to equality. I'd really like to see the look on an upscale white blond mexican driving an Audi and having an indian with a Jaguar drive up beside him. I bet he'd go home and shoot himself out of shame. Sadly, those are the attitudes which are least conductive to change.

[VetLegion]

Perhaps it's sadder here in Mexico because whites are a minority unlike, say, Argentina or Uruguay or even Brazil where they a significant portion of the population. Fact is they have a tremendous advantage in terms of job and education opportunities, being born white in Mexico is pretty much a guarantee of prosperity, being born indian is a ticket to a life of poverty

What about the Chinese minority? Are they also guaranteed poverty?

[VetLegion]

Originally posted by Master Zen
The problem is solving the cultural and structural system of injustice by which one race is given preference in opportunities over another.

What is the emphasis mestizos and natives put on education? How many mestizos have University education compared to whites?

[snoopy369]

It is unfortunately difficult to have a focus on education when you are dirt poor and must work from age 14 (or younger...) 70-80 hours a week to keep your family fed.

Racism and inequality in Mexico is unfortunately dramatically different from in the US. Although I was not around in the early 1900s, I would venture to say that from the evidence at hand, racial inequality in Mexico today is literally worse than it was at any point post-reconstruction in the US. The number of african-americans who did well for themselves in the early 1900s (and far more so in the mid 1900s) is far higher than the number of mestizos in Mexico who are doing well for themselves now.

More than likely that in part comes from Mexico's less successful economy than ours at any point in the last century (more jobs giving more opportunity for people to improve themselves); but the attitudes are also a lot more negative there than were here, even in the early 1900s from what I can tell.

[Master Zen]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Racism and inequality in Mexico is unfortunately dramatically different from in the US. Although I was not around in the early 1900s, I would venture to say that from the evidence at hand, racial inequality in Mexico today is literally worse than it was at any point post-reconstruction in the US. The number of african-americans who did well for themselves in the early 1900s (and far more so in the mid 1900s) is far higher than the number of mestizos in Mexico who are doing well for themselves now.

I think you mean indians. Not all the rich are whites: there are a lot of mestizos who have a lot of money and like I said earlier, mestizos have and still hold on to political power which also equals money.

[LordShiva]

Indians

[Dr Strangelove]

IIRC this Carlos Slim guy challenged other rich Mexicans by offering up to 30 billion dollars of his fortune as matching funds for charitable works. Evidently there were few takers, but then if you have $ 30 billion available to offer for charity should you really need others to match you? What he should have done is to take the lead by plopping down say a couple billion for a public school funding program, then offered the challenge to Mexico's other wealthy.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Master Zen


I think you mean indians. Not all the rich are whites: there are a lot of mestizos who have a lot of money and like I said earlier, mestizos have and still hold on to political power which also equals money.

Sorry yes, I refer to the Indians and the indian-esque mestizos who are 'less white'.

[Master Zen]

Originally posted by LordShiva
Indians

Not those

The term "indian" here is Mexico is not deemed politically incorrect, the most proper word would be "indigenous" though. Some people do use the term indian as an insult something I personally find despicable since most of the people who say it have indian blood in them.