#aualtbreak

When people join together, identifying with a group that shares their ideals, change is possible. This is one of many encouragements I brought back from Mexico, and ever since my mind has whirled in an avalanche of thought and realization. How does the market system that I have always been shaped by affect others? Do we have any other system? Would it work? The current market economy leaves out so much of life, what it calls "externalities," from work at home to the side effects of production such as a poisoned environment. Floating in comfort, I was trained to think about the "well-being of the market" as if it were a living being controlling our lives. No doubt the economy does affect us all, but we affect the economy. What I thank both those from the organizations and the community in Mexico most for, is planting the seed in my mind of alternative thinking. Being raised to think in right and wrong, yes and no, how could I think that there could be multiple ways to reach a positive end?

Ever since I returned from Mexico, my critical self has grown. Every person on earth would learn much by analyzing the choices they make, their reactions to others, and others’ arguments that initially seem foreign. I have a hunch that one of human’s greatest challenges is to be able to step out of itself for some time, reflect, and come back to do better. Pretty transcendental stuff, I know. But I am a believer in us. Our environment shapes us, and if we can better understand these inner-workings, across borders, between communities, and between two individuals, our world will progress to a more healthy state.

After considering the perceived failings of capitalism in Mexico, participants responded to the following prompt by again putting themselves in the shoes of our Mexican compañeros:

Why is the cooperative model a valuable and viable alternative?

It takes away the “bosses,” and the idea that any person has power over another. It also means that profits are shared, so the people that work hard are given fair pay and better working conditions.

The government does not take action for the people suffering, so we the people have to take action instead.

It’s a viable alternative because it focuses on the community and people working together for each other instead of focusing on the individual.

It makes sense because it reaches for equality in voice and value between all.

In the cooperative model, everyone works to help each other while helping themselves in order to benefit everyone involved. Opposed to capitalism, this system prevents the opportunity of exploitation and manipulation to arise.

Because it puts the direction of policies and benefits of success in the workers’ hands as opposed to a select few at the top. More people benefit equally.

It is a model that utilizes the strength of the collective group, where all have equal parts and equal voice; this ensures rights and benefits for all.

Because our social cooperative has strong support, it can inherently sustain itself through member support and outreach.

It allows for workers to obtain rights and a sense of dignity that capitalism doesn’t afford. It helps to increase wages and reduce profits by eliminating exploitation.

While on our trip, participants were prompted to think of the worldviews that we had been learning about, which at times were vastly different from our own. After hearing from compañeros involved in Mexican social movements, we pondered the following question and answered from their point of view:

Why is capitalism bad for Mexico?

It is exploitative and leaves power to few people, leaving many without a say.

It is a system with clear winners and clear losers. Mexico’s population has largely been exploited by capitalism, providing a lot of the work and production that leads to success without actually getting the benefits.

Capitalism doesn’t support the poor, and allows them to be abused, especially in the workplace.

It exploits the people, turning them against each other while destroying previous values.

Because it exploits the cheap labor of already marginalized and impoverished Mexicans, which reinforces the wage gap and keeps the rich few rich, while pushing the poor further into poverty. It does this in the interest of the rich business owners and such and the government does not curb their power.

Capitalism creates the gap between the rich and the poor bigger. It’s all about money, so society only respects those who are wealthy.

Capitalism focuses on money, and once money is involved people get selfish and money-hungry, which creates a lot of problems.

It is a, by nature, exploitative system. There are millions that live in poverty here, and capitalist companies/the system in general creates a system of oppression and exploitation of the poor by the rich. For example, companies will offer very low wages, which the poor will accept because it’s some money instead of none.

If the capitalist system is unbalanced, unregulated or only in favor of the people with money and power, then it will create an endless cycle of poverty for the masses with only a select few who live well on the backs of the poor. The social economic divide will forever increase.

In Mexico’s capital, graffiti and wall art are the preferred method of advertisement. Striking examples of this form of communication and expression glared at us during our many forays out into the city, and the numerous anarchist symbols and rebellious pintas we passed were evidence of many Mexican people’s discontent. During our meetings, we often found ourselves surrounded by Zapatista and communist posters whose powerful messages also resounded from the walls. Che Guevara and even Mao Zedong were common idols who are esteemed for their values and ideals – a very different side of history from the stories of totalitarianism and human rights violations that encourage us to dismiss such leaders in the United States. Immersed in such an environment, we were constantly challenged to question neoliberal capitalism and how the model has affected our countries in very different ways.

In the struggle for a more equitable and just world, it is not uncommon to become disillusioned by systematic corruption and impunity. On our Alternative Break to Mexico’s Federal District, our group was confronted with innumerable stories of oppression, abuse, and violence committed by government officials and police. Yet, the theme of our trip was not to compare the vices of the United States and Mexico, but rather to make connections in the global struggle for social justice and dignified lives, and to learn how communities take action in response to injustice. Not only did we live in a vibrant housing cooperative whose members actively participate in a strong social movement, but we met with community organizers, protestors, human rights defenders, indigenous activists, student occupiers, and advocates for the cooperative model. For example, in meeting with the Frente Auténtico de Trabajo (F.A.T., or “Authentic Labor Front”) and La Coperacha, a cooperative media company, we learned about the work that is being done to support successful cooperatives across the country. Cooperatives are seen as a tool for a new economy.

The opportunity to meet with such articulate, dedicated individuals and learn about successful cooperatives was the highlight of my experience. I am passionate about bottom-up, grassroots initiatives for social change, and am also very intrigued by alternative economic models to counter the social and environmental ills produced by neoliberal economic globalization. One of the most outstanding examples of this phenomenon is Wal-Mart. While studying abroad in Costa Rica in 2013, I undertook a social responsibility research project on Wal-Mart and its subsidiaries in the country. During our time in Mexico this winter, I was not surprised to pass numerable Wal-Mart owned stores, such as Wal-Mart, Bodega Aurrera, Superama, and VIPS (learn more about the corporation’s presence here, and more on a scandal that came to light in 2012 here). On a few occasions we even had to shop at said stores, while at the same time seeking to support the local cooperatives we visited. This trip further strengthened my resolve to stand in solidarity with Latin American people and dedicate my career to better transparency and accountability for human rights in the public and private sector.

With only a few more days remaining before our long journey home to the United States, and all of our heavy talks with various organizations now behind us, we found ourselves relaxing on a boat floating through the canals of Xochimilco. On a boat painted with bold colors which represented the vibrant atmosphere of Mexico City, we picnicked on traditional Mexican dishes such as tamales and quesadillas, while enjoying the views of farms and wilderness that we passed by. The two-hour boat ride gave all of us ample time to reflect on the previous two weeks’ experiences, and to allow all of what we have learned to sink in.

One topic that was still on my mind was our meeting with the sex workers union, Brigada Callejera, the day before. It was amazing for me to see how a cooperative group effort could be so successful in supporting the rights and safety of those who are often deemed undignified in the public eye. Throughout our journey in Mexico it has become clear how successful grassroots organizations can be when they are organized properly and are lead by people who care deeply about the cause.  It is clear that the organizations we have met with such as F.A.T. are formed by individuals that truly care about the work they are doing, and have strong desires to make a positive impact in their communities. Meeting and hearing from organizations such as H.I.J.O.S. and the Black Cross, has really inspired me to find ways to participate in grassroots organizations back home in Washington, DC.

Last week, during our first trip into el centro of Mexico City, we visited the Plaza of the Revolution. As soon as we arrived we saw a large group of makeshift tents and tarps. What we stumbled upon was a peaceful occupation of the plaza by the country’s primary school teachers. For more than 6 months the teachers have joined together to protest a new education reform that not only affects the education system, but also, more directly, affects their livelihood. Thousands of teachers from all across the country, rural and urban, are fighting against the reform. We struck up a conversation with some of the teachers and were told that the reform is a teacher reform disguised as an education reform. As this labor reform carries major changes to their work, the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE) has been standing with them and leading their legal battle. This is a very strong labor union, but so far no real progress has been achieved in the effort to repeal the reform. The teachers claim that it is simply stripping them of their benefits (like tenure) and further decreasing their democratic involvement in the system; just like how they were not involved in the creation of the reform itself.

“Education is supposed to be for the people and, thus, the decision making and changed should come from the people”, said one of the teachers.  The schools remain open across the country while many teachers have been rotating in and out with their compañeros in Mexico City to protest through marches and occupying city space. Many others are also taking up the fight in the home states. The encampment we stumbled upon was actually the second location of the protest in the city. They first coordinated and began their protest last August in the Zócalo (heart of the historic center and one of the largest public squares in the world).  However, they were forcefully removed from the plaza by the federal police to make way for the winter “ice skating” rink. They bandaged their wounds and later reorganized in the Plaza of the Revolution. During our talk with the teachers, one compañero pointed to the monument to the revolution and, in an emotion filled voice, said, “Where is the monument to the teachers? Here it is, this monument.”  This past weekend, the Federal Police moved in under the cloak of darkness and again violently removed the teachers from the Plaza of the Revolution. They claimed that the local business owners had complained and wanted to them gone. 

This week we visited the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and learned about, among other things, the student strike in 1999-2000. The strike was in response to a history of severely undemocratic policies, a refusal of student involvement in university matters, and, the final straw, a decision to begin charging a nominal tuition fee. It was a direct and intentional step, in a series of efforts, towards the privatization of this storied public institution. The students organized and took control of all the buildings on the vast campus. Through 10 months of the strike the students coordinated, collaborated, voted and put forth many well-formed attempts to dialogue with the university administrators.  Their attempts at opening a line of discussion were refused and the strike ended with a special military force that attacked the students and jailed almost 1,000 people involved in the protest.

Social protest in Mexico has a tumultuous, and often painful, history. As our contacts in the Centro Prodh (human rights) have documents, with the return of the PRI political party to the presidency in 2012, Mexico City in particular has seen a sharp increase in violent repression of social protest. On our trip we have learned a great deal about social protest in Mexico as a vital means of the Mexican people to create awareness and combat government led injustice. This form of dissidence is one of the few tools that Mexicans are able to utilize in their society, which is dominated by an authoritative, corrupt government system; a system that continues to suppress human rights while promoting their pro human rights efforts to world. A motto from the UNAM student strike was, “We close the school today so that it may be open tomorrow.” Will this need to be the next step for the teachers in their fights against the new education reform?

Here we are in Mexico City immersed in a unique land with unique people. We eat street tacos and cart tamales. We wake up to Spanish music and the people stay up all night crowding the streets. They live largely outside of their cement block shacks that rest haphazardly on top of each other like scattered boxes. The city rolls over hills and halfway up mountains. There are many signs of life packed into the tight spaces between.

Metro hustlers and abused sex workers are now our friends. Political revolutionaries and the smoke of flickering red flames fill our ears, our lungs, and our minds. The people beat at the walls of oppression and inequality like a piñata, hoping it will burst open and justice will rain down like dulces for their children. There is a constant struggle as people claim and conquer the pieces of a dignified life before they are stolen or sold behind their backs.

We are alien to this existence of bucket showers and glass-laden cement soccer lots. Here are people engaged in struggle. We learn from them and slowly adopt their tough spirit little by little, until we love our cold hard sleeping mats and laugh at our shed weakness. Their children seldom cry and their old women stand guard duty. The people here work to survive and value every peso earned. They live surrounded by government threats and amidst the wild nature of desperation.

We hope to take our vetted bodies back home to our soft pillows and working toilettes to show them our broken chains of dependence. Our minds sharpened like machetes ready to cut the thick jungle we face in our journey through life and our perspectives are broadened to embrace humanities many faces.

Over the course of this trip, I've taken on a few roles. For one, the note taker, because I'm constantly scribbling in my notebook during our meetings and I worry I'll run out of notebook space before we leave. Also, the token feminist. While many, if not all, participants could be described as feminists, I seem to be the loudest and am thus labeled as such by the group (to their credit, when I saw a poster saying "alto a la femicidio," I screamed, "my people!" (with my fist in the air). 

Looking through this lens, it has been difficult living in Mexico. Mexico's known for a "machismo culture," similar to the US, and I find the effects of that displayed so much more overtly here. For example, it is impossible for single women to get credits for housing from the government, so many have problems paying for housing. You look at the front of a newspaper, and on the front page there's some story about death or some important event, and then a picture of a woman in a bikini or her underwear (sometimes the picture of the women is bigger than that describing the news page). Women on the news are wearing tight dresses that make them appear more like sex objects than professionals.

Men stare at us on the metro or on the street. They whistle at us as we walk. Some guy thought it was okay to stare are our female trip leader for 10+ minutes while making awkward hip movements, refusing to budge when an elderly woman tried to get past him, only stopping when our male trip leader sat next to her.

Of course, there are movements for change. Matt (our staff advisor) pointed out on the metro a sign calling for employers to not discriminate against females for whether or not they get pregnant, stressing that it is their right to choose if they do or don't. Communities like Los Panchos lobby so single women can get those credits, and ensure that single women can live in their communities if they meet the normal criteria. There are also female and children-only cars so women are not molested on the metro. However, all of these things exist because there is a need for them. There is discrimination against women by the government, employers, and in general, Mexican society. That's what's hard: understanding and seeing that there is need for change.

Disclaimer: I understand that many of the problems exist in the US, and I do take issue with them everywhere I find them.