>AAlso, thow yung women in the wshow, high school students, were >praised for rallying around anti-consumerism, after a visit to Mexico. The poor >Mexicans were poor but they were so gracious and seemed happy. Well, how they >would know that the poor Mexicans were happy is a mystery the show did not >bother to explore. Homeless people are often very nice to me, but I would not >say that they were happy. This excerpt from the show reminded me of an argument >we had with one of my wife's sisters. She said that the poor folks on the >Bayou in Louisiana were happy because they got together every sunday and played >music. She wished she could be like them. We suggested that she was welcome to >live poor if she wanted, but we doubted she would. > >michael yates > I think this is a little unfair. It doesn't seem to me implausible to state that some poor communities have stronger bonds and a greater sense of solidarity and mutual help than found in the american suburb, which is all I took the young women to be saying. I've been to Mexico and worked in poor communities and had the same conclusion myself. True, I wouldn't stretch that to say they were "happy" or endorse the living conditions there, but there <was> a different cultural ethos. The comparison with homeless people in the US is not at all apt. Thad Thad Williamson National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives (Washington)/ Union Theological Seminary (New York) 212-531-1935 http://www.northcarolina.com/thad
