Two days ago on my return walk to the boat I passed an old man sitting on the sidewalk sawing pieces of bamboo into short lengths. I walked past him before it occurred to me what he was doing. I had noticed some small baskets at his feet. I turned back and asked him "Que esta haciendo?" He pointed to the baskets and although I didn't understand his mumbled reply I knew he had told me he was making baskets. I bought one for 50 pesos and asked if I could take his photo. As you can see he posed proudly holding one of his baskets.
This morning I passed a man I've been watching as he works alone on one of several houses in a small development that seems to have come to a veritable halt. (The Mexican economy is suffering some of the same setbacks as it's large neighbor to the north). This day he was standing on a plank plastering the brick on the second story facade.
We all see things differently. Images are filtered through lenses constructed of the past events in each of our lives. That's probably why I saw freedom in both these scenes. Both men were productively employed, making something more out of something less. And neither one was burdened by the extra expense of a parasitic non-productive regulator.No one told the one man he couldn't ply his trade on an unused piece of public sidewalk. No one told the other that he couldn't risk his own neck, using his own sense of self preservation to determine whether the plank he was standing on would bear his weight and the weight of the bucket of mortar (which he lifted and carried on his shoulder). Both of them were enjoying freedom.
Why did I see the freedom of these men and someone else might only have seen their poverty? Perhaps because I've dealt with authorities and their regulatory dictates most of my life. Anyone who lives in the U.S. has, but more so when that one owns a business.
As a handbag manufacturer it was an OSHA inspector insisting I install another toilet in my women's bathroom to meet their required minimum. At my first home show in Fort Collins the city mandated that I have two firemen a supervisor and a fire truck on site, at my considerable expense. At the "Mayport Bikefest" in Florida it was a Lieutenant with the Sheriff's Office telling me I couldn't park motorcycles in what was any other day of the week a parking lot because I hadn't specified it as such in my plan.
Yes, Mexico is a poor country, and that may be the reason for it's relative freedom from regulators. Their economy can not afford unproductive parasites. Regulators are a luxury. With luck it will be a luxury America will one day no longer be able to afford.
From Mazatlan,
Mike
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