La Jornada: Octavio Rodríguez Araujo*
Translated by Helena Redman
How should we take the news that Mexicans, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), are happier than those living in thirty-something other countries? The OECD carried out a study to find out the “Better Life” index of different countries, gauged by eleven different factors. The worst factor in Mexico was security, given zero. And the best? Life satisfaction.
The annual income per capita for Mexicans is less than 13 thousand dollars, just over half of the average for the other countries investigated. We also came in at second place for inequality; only Chile was found to have a greater rich-poor divide. Only 36% of Mexicans between the ages of 25 and 64 have a high school degree, while the overall average for all countries in the sample was 74%. Air pollution is above the average for the OECD countries. We are also below average in mathematical, scientific and literacy abilities, as well as for life expectancy. And as if that weren’t enough, Mexicans work an average of almost 500 hours more than workers in the other countries of the organization.
However, 85% of Mexicans say that they are satisfied with their lives – this is above the average for the OECD countries.
Personality? Religion? Ignorance? Conformity? I don’t know, but this seems contradictory, and it doesn’t seem likely that masochism could contribute so much among millions of Mexicans.
Many of the workers I know hardly earn enough to live, but if they need to baptise a child, or organize a first communion, or if it’s the community’s Saint Day, they spend what they don’t have and fall into debt. They stop work for one or two days, depending on the length of the fiesta, and after this they radiate joy and satisfaction. Any reason is good enough to have a fiesta and Catholicism, much more than other religions, encourages this because it brings in money – the money of the poor, because I don’t know any rich people who throw a party just because of their child’s first communion. At most, grandma and a few uncles might come round and toast the blessed child. Is a fiesta a way for poorer Mexicans to get away from their problems? A kind of catharsis? Quite probably.
In Chiapas I met communities where women in particular voted to convert to Protestantism, but men, what with all the Saints’ fiestas (which Protestants don’t have), would drink what they earn and buy holy candles, fireworks and, of course, alcohol. In some Protestant denominations, as well as in Islam, they drink little or no alcohol, and this small detail not only saves a lot of money for families who earn so little, but it also stops men from losing their jobs due to drunkenness. Incidentally, alcohol and drugs were the first things to be banned by the Zapatistas, as much for its army and military bases as for its communities. They knew, as does anyone who goes to San Juan Chamula, for example, that alcohol is the downfall of many (though let me be clear, I am not a moralist).
However, it is true that in some more developed countries, at least as much alcohol is drunk per capita than in Mexico, though they do have a much higher average income and in some of them the majority of the population is Protestant (for example, in the United States). Could it also have to do with food? Perhaps – it is well-known that alcohol affects a full stomach far less than an empty one. This is just something I read; I don’t know if it is scientifically accepted.
Is this the tragic meaning of life and death? Someone once sang that life is worth nothing, and I thought that this was just in Guanajuato, only to discover later that it is a widespread attitude in rural areas and marginalized parts of cities. People will risk their lives for anything and it doesn't seem to matter to them. In the upper and middle classes, life is seen as valuable and people defend it like property, though generally without actually risking their lives – not as much as in poor areas where daily life is already like the Hell that Christians fear so much. Perhaps this is another reason why many Mexicans feel happy: because they defy the death that is so close to them. Maybe those who are religious thank their god and their saints that they are alive, even healthy.
It makes sense that some criminals, especially those involved in drug trafficking, worship “Santa Muerte” – Saint Death. Nobody says so, but this worship probably dates back to pre-Hispanic times, long before the fiercely Christian conquistadors brought them celebrations for All Saints Day or for all the faithful dead. It is syncretism like few others. However, in other cultures, including older ones, there was and still is some veneration for death, maybe stemming from fear or in order to exorcise it. We cannot necessarily put Mexican happiness down to this.
So could it be conformity? I wouldn't be so sure about that, either. We are a people who have fearlessly thrown ourselves in the way of death in many revolutions and rebellions. Or perhaps this is why: many died, normal people, and the survivors got very little out of it. Most of the poor stayed poor, and things are likely to carry on this way. Perhaps it is better for them just to conform, then – to be patiently resigned until it all explodes, because when it explodes they challenge death, and the supposed civilization of the comfortable classes (mystifyingly called “decent people”) is forgotten by them or comes to occupy second place or is even made a last priority.
There could be many explanations, but I just cannot see how Mexicans, on average, can be satisfied with their lives. It can’t just be attributed to still being alive. Surely the study was carried out carelessly, because I did a little survey, and nobody told me they were satisfied with life. Spanish original
*Octavio Rodríguez Araujo holds the doctorate in Political Science; he is Professor Emeritus in the Political and Social Sciences Department of the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico).