JULY 1ST, 2012 (PT. I)

July 1^st is a date to mark on our calendars, for responsible citizens will be marching out the door to head to the polls and vote for our next President of Mexico, and other representatives such as senators, members of the congress, city mayors and governors.

Probably, from this day forward I will address this matter more than once, but no worries, for I will not do it to lobby for/ trash a particular candidate or anything of the sort. I believe that is up to each and every one of us to be able to decide and I am no one to tell people what to believe in, politically or otherwise.

Never mind who is running this year, I want to talk about us, the people, who have an interest in improving our country, to make changes for the better. Or, are we? I can’t decide, really. I know I want to live in a safer country, not worry for how this economy is affecting me on a personal level, and to know I have equal opportunities as anyone to make a better living for myself, to name a few things. I know everyone else wants these things too, not just for themselves, but also to provide a better country for the children who will take over the reins of our country in the future. Yes, those are all fine ideals, but, how exactly do we plan to achieve that?

Apparently, the answer we all come up with is that our representatives are the only responsible people for this. We even feel disappointed in them for not making anything about our current situation. Whether said disappointment is justified or not isn’t the question, it’s the fact that what little we can do we seem to be too lazy to even accomplish. For instance, a few blocks away from where I work there are several government buildings, around which parking is prohibited, by law. Signs are very clear on that point. Nevertheless, on my way to work as I pass through these buildings parked cars are abundant. And yes, those vehicles are from people who perform in political activities and such. One would suppose they are familiar with abiding to the law, right? But just because they are the ones doing this doesn’t exempt the rest of us for not being able to obey another simple law (one of the easiest ones) and read a STOP sign in the street, comprehend what that means and execute what is proper driving protocol instead of the usual “I bet if I floor it I can beat that car that’s 30 ft away and closer”. I know, this is a little reminiscing of a previous post, but this is to prove a point that this is the way this country operates, from the highest level of politics to the lowest echelon in the economy pyramid. “If I can beat that other guy, by all means necessary, regardless of what is ethical and get ahead, you bet I will do it”. That is done everywhere, not just in the congress, or in politician’s offices, but out in the streets, by us, by the ones no one elected to be anything representational of our nation. And because we weren’t chosen for diplomatic affairs we seem to think we are excused of following such “little” and “insignificant” directives. I’m not saying that everyone falls into these temptations of disregarding regulations, but it’s safe to say that more people than I care to count do.

So, whenever we want to ask why our politicians can’t change the status quo, we should really ask ourselves, what are WE doing to upgrade our country? Because you know what? We can’t expect our representatives to abide by any law at all if we won’t do it ourselves, even for the small contribution that is to halt at the sight of a STOP sign like we are supposed to do.