Communists in the Streets
Occupying a long series of some of the most beautiful streets in downtomn Mexico-City, the partisans of the left-wing loser of recent presidential elections have for the last six weeks organized a permanent camping. Under giant tents covered with marxist slogans, posters and placards, musicians and peddlers attract passers-by, while propagandists with loudspeakers either shout slogans or teach the socialist catechism to small assembled classes.
Though this occupation of the streets is by no means legal, legality is a murky concept in Mexico (not always for worse) and the omnipresent police forces tolerate it as long as no violence is done against passing people or surrounding shops, and will only intervene in case of aggressions or acts of vandalism. Security officers are probably right that if not let to demonstrate peacefully, the communist activists would take pretense to act violently and things would be even worse.
The occupation obviously costs a lot: not just the tents, the furniture, the cars, the camping toilets, the audio hardware; but most importantly the time spent by all these people, sabotaging other people's minds instead of being at work. Not surprisingly, this cost is born by the citizens through taxes, since the funders are the usual institutional parasites: civil servants, unions, parties, government agencies, public and parapublic institutions. Of course, it is quite attractive for people living off taxes and monopolies to adopt socialism, the religion that tells them they are not parasites but gods -- and for the same reason, it is attractive to socialists to find a way to live off taxes and monopolies. And so it is not surprising that even when voluntarily funded, such events are mostly paid by the robbers with their stolen money.
In the eyes of activists, you may see an interesting mix of intelligence and fanaticism -- these people know they are right: their ideology tells them they are blessed by the Holy Spirit, the Will of the People, and so of course if they didn't win the elections, there must have been a fraud. Interesting concept of democracy, that should make you shudder when you think that these people will eventually win the presidential election.
I wondered if those who display portraits and slogans of Marx and Engels know what these authors wrote about Mexico and how to treat inferior races. These comments ought to be widely circulated in Spanish: they could possibly help a few souls avoid getting lost in communism. But they probably won't save any of those already lost in religious fanaticism.
In any case, there is something very positive to be said, despite this avalanche of communist propaganda: the very fact that people in the street may write everywhere that the current president, his elected successor and the electoral tribunal are traitors and enemies of the nation, and be not imprisoned but protected by the police, proves that Mexico is a free country. At least it still is now -- it probably won't be anymore if and when such leftist scum gains power. You may remember the old joke:
- In America, we're in a free country: anyone can criticize or insult president Reagan and not be sent to jail.
- Why, in the Soviet Union, we're also in a free country: here too, anyone can criticize or insult president Reagan and not be sent to jail.