I watched and listened to an interview with Michelle Bachalet (the President-elect of Chile) on PBS this evening. I don't know why it did not occur to me that she speaks English; I knew she had lived in Washington, DC for awhile as a child before Pinochet killed her father and tortured her and her mother.
Anyway, I was impressed with her ideas and attitudes; if only she were the one governing our country. She is, of course, a politician but she is not the slick, slimy, untrustworthy politician commonly found in the halls of power in the U.S. She was careful to avoid landmines of political philosophies, but she clearly articulated her own personal philosophy; she believes in individual rights, in social and societal responsibility, and in respecting and honoring diversity. So utterly, completely, and thoroughly at odds with the current U.S. administration.
The U.S. media is painting a picture of clouds on the horizon as it talks about a growing left-leaning political culture with Evo Morales in Bolivia, Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, and now Michelle Bachalet in Chile. I think our media should explore exactly what it is they are harping about. "Left-leaning" is viewed as dangerous, zealous, and at-odds with our culture. Horseshit! "Left-leaning" is simply a media and right-wing code-word for a political point of view that puts corporate greed, fanatic super-patriotism, and outright imperialism on the defensive.
The odds-on favorite to win the Mexican presidency this summer is another "left-leaning" politician (in this case, I do have my concerns...but for other reasons) who will, if elected, give Washington yet more reason for paranoia and, I shudder to even think it, military posturing.
I've been exploring, albeit only half-heartedly because my wife is far more concerned with financial stability than I, selling out...getting rid of the house, selling the business, selling much of the excess crap we have accumulated, and moving to a country like Mexico or Chile that I find far more appealing than the U.S. My very, very poor Spanish and my wife's complete absence of any knowledge of the language give me pause, but I'm growing increasingly disgusted with the U.S. I have come to understand that the U.S. and its position as a superpower will...not may, will...become increasingly irrelevant, probably in short order. I have come to understand that China, Latin America, and probably (for the relatively short term) the Middle East will rise above the U.S. in terms of power and ability to demand our traditionally middle-class lifestyle.
OK, enough prosletizing (bad spelling, I'm guessing). It's after 7:15 and time for dinner.
Oh, my thanks to a writer, known well to me, for his comments on this blog about his experiences with a Guadalajara taxi driver...completely different from mine with the bottom-feeder cabbie who stole my camera!
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