In this book, Beezley explores some cultural manifestations of the Mexican society during the thirty-five years of dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz. The relatively young new country found itself in a defining moment regarding modernity and progress under the leadership of Diaz. But while the elites and high-class families of the main cities embraced enlightenment and technology, the countryside families lingered in poverty and backwardness, as they did since the colonial period. This contrast between economic classes was visible in daily expressions such as religion and traditional customs. Tradition was an enemy of the dream society for the progressive late nineteenth century Mexican oligarchy. The representation of modernity was visible in the governmental institutions and the entertainment practices adopted by the powerful groups. For example, the use of bicycles for both men and women represented a technological mentality exported from Europe, but also the internalization of a healthy life style. Also, sports like baseball, American football, soccer, boating, …show more content…
and polo were adopted as common practices for the elites. The actions executed in solo or as a group were a statement of power and wealth, and commonly copied from modernized western nations. Meanwhile the powerful families enjoyed the economic and social benefits of a modern state the low-income families (also described as non-white) did not have access to playgrounds or parks in their regions.
In the second chapter of the book, Beezley explains the substandard living conditions that the most of the population had to deal with on a daily basis. Rudimentary tools, simple cooking and construction methods, and traditional clothing were some of the observations from foreigner scholars and journalists. There was even a discussion from several international investors regarding the reasons of the deep poverty in some areas of the country, considering the influence of the Catholic Church and the land tenure issues inherited from the Colonial period. Nevertheless, those impoverished families represented tradition and backwardness, concepts that clashed with the expected modernity of the Mexican
state. The dichotomy between the elites and the pueblo is better explained by using a bullfight scenario. Just the fact that this explanation uses a Spanish tradition adapted to Latin America is kind of ironic. However, the bullfight example portrays the complex identity of a post-colonial country, which popular culture captures the Spaniard influence and the indigenous legacy. At the bullfight, everybody could find its place: “los de arriba” includes those under the shade, wealthy, powerful, and well-connected, while “los de abajo” is constituted by those who struggle, who work, who don’t mind standing under the sun. Seems like a new and literal distribution embraces all the colonial castas, simplifying the social positions and creating a perpetual polarization between those who have it all and those who have nothing. While the book explains in detail some parts of the flamboyant life of the raising oligarchies, it lacks some further reflection on the role that “Los de abajo” played in the acquisition and custody of the rich lifestyle. Under the Porfiriato, Mexico turned into an example of progress, but only for a part of the population. The emergent powerful families depended on low-class workers inside and outside their residencies, for their business and everyday activities. Therefore, the modern image projected to the outside had a weak support in the traditions and poverty hidden in the countryside of Mexico. But after all that pressure and mistreat, the next chapter in the country’s history was about to start with the Revolution. It was time for “los de abajo” to share some shade in the bullfight arena.
Judas at the Jockey Club, written by William H. Beezley, is used as a tool for those observing Mexico’s history during the Porfirian Era. This supplemental text addresses the social and political issues that were prominent during the Porfirian Era under the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz; whose goal was to lead the modernization of Mexico. Porfirio Diaz was the president of Mexico in 1876; he made a false promise to resign in the Creelman interview in 1908 but did not officially resign until 1911. Beezley displays an analysis of the segregation between the common people and how they attempted to deal with an oppressive government. Judas at the Jockey Club is important to this Latin American course because of the extensive background Beezley provides to shed light on the tensions that allowed the socioeconomic gap to exist.
Deverell presents a clear analysis of race and labor segmentation of Mexican men to work in the brick making industry, which paid poorly. The workers and their families were confined to ethnic borders around the company town. Many of the worker’s homes were in poor conditions, none included gas, plumbing or electricity; not until the 1930s did electricity arrive. Rent for the houses was three to four dollars a month. Adobe (brick consisting of straw and mud), an antiquity to the Mexican people, was replaced by brick. According to the Anglos, brick was a symbol for their
Chapter six of Blown to Bits by Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen, and Harry Lewis focuses on the availability of bits via the internet and how easily they can be stolen. They discuss how companies attempt to combat this issue and potential issues that this can present. Throughout the chapter, the authors contemplate the effects that the internet has had on copyright infringement and legislation surrounding that. They discuss authorized use and rulings surrounding it. The overarching theme of the chapter seems to be that the internet was made to share information, however; in that process, information can be stolen easily, and that issue is not easy to combat.
Alfredo Corchado — is the author of the book named " Midnight in Mexico:A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness”. We are, probably, all interested in finding out the facts, news, and gossips about Mexico. This country was always associated with something mysterious. For me personally, the title of the book seemed to be very gripping, I was interested in revealing the secrets of life in Mexico, thus I decided to read this book. I was really curious, what can Alfredo Corchado tell me about the life in this country, the country, where the constant massacre is the picture, people used to see. In his book, the author tells the reader about the real situations, which took place in Mexico, reveals the secrets of the people’s lives and tells the story from the “inside”. He describes the way he lives his life, and does his work. The " Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness” is a memoir. Author tries to transform his own experience into the story line. Corchado shows the reader the darkest episodes of Mexican society, while relying on his own experience.
Teja, Jesus F. De La. A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguin. Austin: State House Press, 1991.
Culture is our way of experiencing our daily lives. Dominican Republic’s culture is very complementary to mine, we respect our family dearly. Although it is peculiar for the housewife to be the bread winner of the family, the father is usually the one that will provide for the family. A Large family is infrequent nowadays, most families could have up to six children. A big family also plays a big role in financial problem. Junnot and his family leaves in a very poor neighborhood since it was just his mother that is basically feeding everyone in the house. The amount of income parents makes will determine the type of neighborhood they might live in, or the type of school the children might go to. “It is not as if the robbery came as a huge surprise. In our neighborhood, cars and apartment were always getting jacked.”(385) Majority of the immigrant lives in a poor neighborhood full of delinquency and crime due to poverty. Poverty level is based on the family circumstances. There is a higher chance of poverty with the newly immigrant, and they live in this condition because they are still new to the county. Education also plays a big role in this, because the more educated a person is the more they are likely to make it and become successful quicker. This might be a little different with the children, and there is a high
Ooka Shohei named the last chapter of Fires on the Plain “In Praise of Transfiguration.” Through the whole novel, readers witness the protagonist Tamura transform from an innocent soldier to a killer. Readers watch him go from condemning the practice of eating human flesh to eating human flesh for his own survival. At the end, Readers see Tamura’s redemption as he shot Nagamatsu who killed and ate his own comrade Yasuda. What was the difference between two men who both killed and ate human beings? To Tamura, the guilt of eating human flesh distinguished himself from Nagamatsu who cold-bloodily killed Yasuda. As Tamura recalled, “I do not remember whether I shot him at that moment. But I do know that I did not eat his flesh; this I should certainly have remembered.” (224) The fact of him shooting at Nagamatsu had no importance to Tamura. However, his emphasis on not eating
The author of Mexican Lives, Judith Adler Hellman, grapples with the United States’ economic relationship with their neighbors to the south, Mexico. It also considers, through many interviews, the affairs of one nation. It is a work held to high esteem by many critics, who view this work as an essential part in truly understanding and capturing Mexico’s history. In Mexican Lives, Hellman presents us with a cast from all walks of life. This enables a reader to get more than one perspective, which tends to be bias. It also gives a more inclusive view of the nation of Mexico as a whole. Dealing with rebel activity, free trade, assassinations and their transition into the modern age, it justly captures a Mexico in its true light.
As far back as Rigoberta Manchu can remember, her life has been divided between the highlands of Guatemala and the low country plantations called the fincas. Routinely, Rigoberta and her family spent eight months working here under extremely poor conditions, for rich Guatemalans of Spanish descent. Starvation malnutrition and child death were common occurrence here; rape and murder were not unfamiliar too. Rigoberta and her family worked just as hard when they resided in their own village for a few months every year. However, when residing here, Rigoberta’s life was centered on the rituals and traditions of her community, many of which gave thanks to the natural world. When working in the fincas, she and her people struggled to survive, living at the mercy of wealthy landowners in an overcrowded, miserable environment. By the time Rigoberta was eight years old she was hard working and ...
Many people at one time or another will face some-sort of economic hardship; however it is safe to say that many people do not really know what extreme poverty is like. The Treviño family knows first hand what it is like to work in tedious, mind-numbing jobs for a very little paycheck. The life of a migrant worker is not anything to be desired. Simple things that most would take for granted like food variety, baths, clean clothes, and beds are things that Elva learned to live with. “We couldn’t have a bath every day, since it was such a big production. But [mom] made us wash our feet every night” (125). A simple task to any normal person is a large production for a migrant family that doesn’t have any indoor plumbing. People living in poverty do not often have a large wardrobe to speak of which means that the few clothes they own often remain dirty because washing clothes is a production too. “Ama scrubbed clothes on the washboard while the rest of us bathed. She took a bath last while the rest of us rinsed and hung up the clothes she had washed. This was the only oppor...
The history of political instability in Mexico and its need for revolution is very complex and dates back to the colonization of Mexico by the Spaniards in the 1500s. However, many aspects of the social situation of Mexico when the Revolution broke out can be attributed to the thirty-year dictatorship of President Porfrio Diaz, prior to 1911. The Revolution began in November of 1910 in an effort to overthrow the Diaz dictatorship. Under the Diaz presidency, a small minority of people, primarily relatives and friends, were in ...
According to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Mexico has high scores of Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Masculinity. We can tell from the scores that Mexico is a hierarchical society that people tend to work and live in orders, which means that there are levels among people and they try to fit into their own positions; people try to avoid unknowns and unwilling to take risks; and gap of values between men and women does exist in Mexico, competition, achievement, and success are emphasized in this society so people want to be the best instead of liking what they do. With low scores of Individualism and Long-term Orientation, Mexico is considered a collectivistic society with a normative culture. It emphasizes loyalty and strong relationships
...sted prior to the Mexican Revolution. Susana San Juan is Rulfo’s acknowledgement that the Revolution did provide an opportunity for the lower and middle classes to better them self through urbanization, but Juan Preciado details Rulfo’s insight towards those that chose to remain within the ghost towns that the conflict created. Rulfo uses these characters in combination to reveal the shortcomings of the Revolution, mainly its failures to lift the entire middle and lower class out of poverty. He believes that all that the Revolution accomplished was to provide an escape for these groups of people, not the redistribution of land that was initially envisioned.
The ethnic- Mexican experience has changed over the years as American has progressed through certain period of times, e.g., the modernity and transformation of the southwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, the labor demands and shifting of U.S. immigration policy in the 20th century, and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Through these events Mexican Americans have established and shaped their culture, in order, to negotiate these precarious social and historical circumstances. Throughout the ethnic Mexicans cultural history in the United States, conflict and contradiction has played a key role in shaping their modalities of life. Beginning in the late 20th century and early 21st century ethnic Mexicans have come under distress from the force of globalization. Globalization has followed the trends of conflict and contradiction forcing ethnic Mexicans to adjust their culture and combat this force. While Mexican Americans are in the struggle against globalization and the impact it has had on their lives, e.g., unemployment more common, wages below the poverty line, globalization has had a larger impact on their motherland having devastating affects unlike anything in history.
A major theme displayed in Steinbeck’s novel is the difference between the standard of living for Mexicans and that for Europeans. The Mexican people of La Paz are very poor, most of them living in brush houses that contained only one room (Ariki). In Kino’s hut, the single room is used as the kitchen, the bedroom, and Coyotito’s nursery (Johnson 181). Their poverty is further displayed by the dirt floor covered with ants and other insects (Johnson). “He slipped his feet into his sandals and went outside to watch the dawn” describes his morning routine (Steinbeck 3). Kino’s daily breakfast consisted of corncakes and pulque, which is an alcoholic drink (Johnson 182). Since the Mexicans can’t afford utensils, they have to use their hands to eat their food. This is ironic because the Mexicans were the ones who worked the hardest for their living (Johnson 181). Around midday, Kino and the others would go to the sea in their canoes and dive for pearls. Since this was their family’s only source of income, t...