Why is it that people like Lou Dobbs and Bill O’Reilly who constantly complain about the actions of Mexican drug cartels (bringing drugs across the border, shooting at border agents) never mention the fact that the vast majority of the drug cartels’ funds come from Americans who buy the drugs? It is not the Mexicans or the Mexican government that is most at fault here. It is the Americans (and their cartel agents who basically work for Americans). Why don’t they mention the devastating effect that Ameican drug cartel funding has on Mexico? Why is never mentioned that without the support of Americans these cartels would not exist?
You really expect two post-modern muckrakers to be more sober in their analysis of current affairs? Why, if they did that, they’d have to move their respective shows to PBS. And nobody wants that.
What devastating effect?
Bashing Mexicans drives up ratings. The Fox News audience doesn’t want nuance and it certainly doesn’t want any self-examination. It wants black and white moralism with easily indentifiable bad guys and with America only shown as good. Fox News panders to tribalist impulses which make its audience feel morally superior. Moral ambiguity makes them uncomfortable. They don’t watch to get informed, they watch for the self-righteous endorphine fix.
I expected better from you BG.
No, seriously. If Mexican cartels are exporting drugs to the U.S., the “devastating effect” of that on the U.S. (while overly hyped) hardly needs to be explained. But what is the “devastating effect” on Mexico? The only thing that comes to mind is feeding a culture of public corruption – but in Mexico, that is an old, old problem, long predating independence, let alone the emergence of foreign drug markets. Otherwise, the trade pumps dollars into Mexico’s economy.
Certainly the drug money is a boost to the economy. But it also makes it very diffilcult if not impossible to change the culture of government corruption. Another problem is the flow of weapons south and the violence between the cartels.
According to local news sources, tourism this winter (winter is the high season for foriegn tourism) has fallen off substantially throughout the country. The negative press in the US the drug wars have generated is thought to be much of the reason. I should add that it also negatively influences potential foreign investment.
BG asked a legitimate question.
#1. It makes it easier to facilitate a culture of corrpution. I’m not saying you can blame the USA alone for Mexico’s culture of corruption, but our war on drugs isn’t helping. In part, politicans might accept bribes because it’s easier to take them than it is to fight the drug traffickers. “So I could take this $1,000,000 and live easy or I can fight them and risk my life or my family?”
#2. The war on drugs helps contribute to violence. You have groups of people making money hand over fist and will do anything to defend that business.
These problems were especially apparent in Columbia. They practically had a civil war between the govt. and the drug traffickers until the govt. finally cried uncle. The US lead in the war on drugs hurts a whole lot of people in other countries. Though, I would not say that this is the fault of the U.S. alone.
Marc
Well, we can’t be having a negative balance of trade, can we? 
Another problem caused by the immense flow of drug money into Mexico is that it’s almost impossible for an honest and hardworking Mexican to start a legitimate business, since he’s going to be in competition with people who don’t care whether their hotel, travel agency, drug store, or whathaveyou makes money; all the narcotraficante wants is a business that lets him easily launder his drug profits. Also, given the character of the people in the drug trade, if they do happen to care about profits and think that the straight guy might compete wiith them, they have no compunctions about cutting his throat. And his familiy’s.
If only drugs were legalized . . . never mind.