Some chronology for John Joseph Ray -- 1975


My Crepe Myrtles in blossom



Mexico and the Importance of Culture

A side trip I made from Los Angeles on my first visit to the U.S.A. was to Tijuana in Mexico.

Crossing the border was one of the worlds greatest lessons on the importance of culture. I went from a concrete paved 8 lane American interstate highway onto a barrelİlined Mexican dirt track.

The landscape was the same on either side of the border and Mexicans who migrate to the U.S.A. are quite successful economically so obviously they have the potential. Why, then, is it not realized in Mexico? Mexico has a thirdİworld standard of living while sitting beside one of the wealthiest countries on Earth.

How come? culture. It is the only answer. The Protestant, honesty-valuing individualistic culture of the U.S.A. is obviously vastly more conducive to wealth creation than is the Catholic and institutionally socialist culture of Mexico where dishonesty is less important because it can be forgiven at the confessional.

The Catholic countries that have done well recently (Italy and France) both have very vigorous anti-clerical (i.e. critical of the clergy but not anti-Catholic) traditions and movements which perhaps fulfil some of the functions of Protestantism.

Additionally, both Italy and France have been dominated by conservative, pro-capitalistic governments since the war, unlike Mexico's entrenched Institutional Revolutionary Party, which for many years supported capitalism only insofar as it was corrupt.

Although it all seems a bit airy-fairy at times, culture really is important, as that borderİcrossing brought home to me.

A conservative Protestant culture or a Confucian (Japan, Korea, Hong Kong etc) culture seem to be the best at promoting efficient utilization of resources and thus material affluence.

One of the few vivid memories I have of Mexico is when I offered a brass band in Tijuana a quarter (25c) to play "Guantanamera". They accepted but Joy was mortified. She felt that I demeaned them. I suppose on that view it would have been better to give them nothing. I doubt if they would have liked that idea!



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E.&O.E.

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