# Mexico is a poor country! ORLY? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 14, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100 "2010-06-14T04:26:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100/41 "2010-06-16T17:29:53Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Mexico has been around a lot longer than the US. It’s obviously the culture there that needs changing. The best thing that could have happened to Mexico economically is that the US had annexed it when they grabbed the land in the West (granted, Spanish claims were weak, as has been pointed out). But it didnt, so we’ve got this basically retarded country on our southern border flooding us with unwanted workers. I am sure Mexico will get around to fixing its problems … manana. I agree, except that “basically retarded” doesn’t really address or describe the actual problems Mexico has inherited and/or created and which it is fixing/trying to fix/ignoring/making worse, and I would disagree that the people who are illegally entering the US are “flooding” the country or are “unwanted”. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100/42 "2010-06-16T17:30:46Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Like reminding the Anglos that slavery\* really was\* illegal in Mexico. (Of course, the _empresarios_ brought more than Anglos to Texas. There were German & Irish settlements, where the right to own slaves was not so ardently desired.) > > Of course, after the Texas Revolution, the Anglos began ensuring that _Tejanos_ were forced out of power. (But they didn’t manage to get rid of them entirely.) I agree with both statements. Both things were bad. I simply do not consider the Texas revolution to be bad, nor that Mexico had any serious claim to the region. Of course, as far as the Mexican-Texans, there were hardly enough of them to have a significant impact on the state after the immigrant (mostly Anglo) population grew so far, so fast. Whether they were specifically repressed, I do not know. it would not surprise me, but I would also wonder why anyone would bother. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100/43 "2010-06-16T18:52:49Z")
> [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > Do you actually need someone to explain in detail how difficult it is to move country? Even with completely ignoring emotional attachments (like say, friends and family) it isn’t just a case of getting up and going. Millions of mexican peasants seem to manage that move quite well. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100/44 "2010-06-16T19:54:25Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Millions of mexican peasants seem to manage that move quite well. Most do go back, however. I am told it has become something of a right of passage for many - an adventure which lets them earn some decent money before settling down. Of course, they have big opportunities in America, illegal or no: small business ownership not the least of which. So it’s no surprise many come to stay. Americans going to Europe would face worse, not better, economic prospects. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100/45 "2010-06-16T23:38:32Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > The actual Spanish population was minimal at best. In fact, I can’t actually find any significant records, an indication of how sparse settlement was in most areas. remember too, that it’s easy to put Spanish names on a map, but those “cities” were then little more than missions or forts. For example, in the entirety of Texas, there were fewer than _8, 000_ Mexican citizens before American settlement. So what? It was still part of Mexico. Leaving Texas aside, so was the land we actually stole, which (debatably) includes Texas between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. You’re simply attempting to justify a war of conquest on the grounds that we could make better use of the land. Regardless of that, it was a war of agression intended to intended to take land, and it was bitterly and strongly opposed as such even at the time. I certainly don’t support giving the land back at this late date, and I certainly agree that the U.S. has made good use of much of it, but you’re justifying an unwarranted and unfair war on the grounds that, “We wanted it; we took it.” That’s a pretty weak justification. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100/46 "2010-06-16T23:45:12Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > You’re simply attempting to justify a war of conquest on the grounds that we could make better use of the land. Regardless of that, it was a war of agression intended to intended to take land, and it was bitterly and strongly opposed as such even at the time. I believe what I actually, plain wrote, was that the war was unjust if anything. Reading comprehension is your friend. What I specifically said is that the land was “Mexico” in name only. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100/47 "2010-06-16T23:53:59Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > I believe what I actually, plain wrote, was that the war was unjust if anything. You said you “might agree” that it was unjust. Or, you might not. > [@](#): > > What I specifically said is that the land was “Mexico” in name only. You did say that. It’s nonsense, and you said it. ---
**Author:** ![put\_down\_the\_sabre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/da6949/32.png) [@put\_down\_the\_sabre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/put_down_the_sabre)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100/48 "2010-06-26T15:54:31Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Tens of thousands is slightly lower number than millions. And whats stopping em? European countries don’t want them and won’t allow them to settle. pdts ---
**Author:** ![put\_down\_the\_sabre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/da6949/32.png) [@put\_down\_the\_sabre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/put_down_the_sabre)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100/49 "2010-06-26T15:55:45Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > With an hour’s drive you can go from where people live in marble halls to communities with dirt floors. The contrast is jarring. Sounds like North Carolina. pdts [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-is-a-poor-country-orly/543100.md?page=2)