Mexico Then and Now
Learning about Modern Mexico, I would say the Revolution does have legs. The Mexican Revolution began on November 20, 1910, and has continued today. Can notice similarities between the past and the present. Mexico’s politics has always seemed corrupt. Although the general perception is widely used at all levels, bribes as an unofficial payment for official services remain a mainstay.
Health and Welfare
Rural areas have a higher mortality rate than those living in urban areas. Poor and indigenous Mexicans suffer from illnesses associated with unsafe water supplies, infections, and physical violence. Medical care is available to those who can afford it. Housing is one of Mexico’s most serious problems. Although standard accommodation is visible in the urban area, living conditions in rural areas are unhealthy. Makeshift housing, often discarded or unused materials, living in unoccupied land along the edges of cities. The colonies lack such essential urban services as water, electricity, and sewage.
Mexican Society
Mexican Society is divided by income and educational levels. In 1934, Lazaro Cardenas became president and reestablished the ejido system, establishing communally shared farmland. The system benefited both the citizens as well as the economy. As a result, Mexico’s population has increased, but the distribution of wealth remains imbalanced. It mainly consists of the wealthy, well-educated elite and the urban and rural poor, who have the mass majority. In the neglected legislature, the poor are unable to improve their social status. Widespread rural poverty is a severe problem. The rural population depends on day labor, often making less than minimum wage.
Economy and Politics
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has increased financial ties between the United States and Canada, but the Mexican economy remains fragile. The impact of the Revolution was varied, “Informal social change, unplanned and unlegislated, was more significant than formal change.” (Wasserman, 22). Those who benefited, reform usually carried the price of political obedience.
Family
Family is an essential element of Mexican Society. Family is everything, and often houses are filled with many generations living under one roof. As a result, it is not uncommon to find all ages attending celebrations. Weddings and quinceaneras are some of the most lavish family-oriented events in Mexico.
On one level, the Mexican Revolution can be a success simply because it survived — it molded a new political generation and made a significant impact on the future of the Mexican state. Revolutions that do not survive very long generally have much less of an effect. However, such an assessment is simplistic. Alan Knight tries to assess ‘success’ regarding its seeming impact on liberalist politics and social tensions (such as aggregation reforms, labor, and economics). He does so cautiously, noting the danger of suggesting that everything that happens post-revolution is directly related. To level the playing field, therefore, Knight ends with counterfactuals as a way to assess possible success or failure. What if the Revolution never happened? How different might Mexican civilization have been? Knight ends with the equally troubling question: was it all worth it? Again the answer is far from straightforward.
