I once met a man named Antonio from Leon, Guanajuato who made me think about emigration from Central Mexico and the reasons associated with migration. The easiest assumption is that they are unemployed and looking for an opportunity. But I'm not sure that holds merit because when people are unemployed they rarely have the money to move. I see my buddy Ruben whose been unemployed, walks and takes the bus everywhere because his car gave out and cannot afford another one. My other unemployed friend Rodrigo survives only because he lives at home but as he has stated, "I can't afford to move to another state, I only get $32 per week from unemployment" and he has a Master's in Chicano Studies. I could go on here but I hope you catch my point, no money, no movement.
Thus as Antonio and I continued talking, I asked him why he moved north. Did he have a job, did he have feel he had to move for an opportunity when his answer surprised me. Antonio stated, "I had a little welding shop in Leon, was self employed doing well for myself, then one day I went to the bank and I saw this woman in front of me with a bundle of dollars. My eyes got crazy, I said to myself, I want what she had, I wanted those bundles of dollars. At that moment I said to myself I'm heading north, and I closed my shop and left and here I am 30 years later. Doing the same job that I did in Leon, welding. Those dollars drove me wild"
Then he further told me he settled in Long Beach because there was a community of Guanajuato people and was constantly employed as a welder and was able to purchase a condo with his wife. At that moment I wondered why people much poorer in my Mexicali, Baja California visits who lived in quite humble conditions never attempted to move across the line while somebody 1200 miles away did. And Antonio was not the only example but it lead me to conclude that what drove him was the simple desire of greed because he wanted more than what he was earning though by his own admission he had a comfortable business, something my friends wont have access to even though they might dream about it and they are Americans in the birth and paper definition sense.
In a strange way this bothers me because this attitude is a negative source of energy because this person moved without having to and all because of greed while people in Baja would settle for what they have and the guys I know find themselves victims of the current recession and truth of the matter they will probably never own a home because their job prospect is nil and they dont have enough money for anything else. Immigrant Mexicans have better opportunities than any one will admit and they don't always come because they do not have a employment, they just want those bundles of dollars because of greed. And that attitude is not positive for our society because all they think about is me me me. How many do not say they have an empty home where they come? From our US experience none of us have homes period except for one guy I know whose mother left him her home because he was the only offspring alive. And he's the one who travels between Vegas and Los Angeles for his job because he can afford to.
Some will say that this is one example and holds no validity for the majority but his reason for coming is not about the majority but him and yet if you believe you need examples, the Pew Hispanic Center last year published a report that stipulated that since June 2009, foreign born Latinos gained more employment by 600,000, a 1/3 were undocumented so it doesn't matter when referred to status while US born Latinos 9/10 are Mexican Americans in California, 3/4 in US are also Mexican Americans and they lost 1.2 million jobs. Hence that attitude or desire of wanting more does hurt, has hurt Mexican Americans because they confront more numbers competition, more attitudes of greed and "me, me, me" along with other people who have arrived and US born themselves of any color.
Antonio's attitude was troubling for me because I hate greed and that attitude permeates greater Los Angeles into many different aspects of a non community because the sense of collectivity never develops exist for new gold rush people who want a quick rich scheme and as Dr. Lopez stated about other newcomers from Jalisco into his beloved East LA they think they are better than us which really destroyed my neighborhood.
And I remembered once with my beloved Baja California apa, grandfather Matiaz visiting the Colorado River near Algodonez just across from Sonora. He told me he once worked in this area in the 40's, even in Winterhaven but that was all he wanted from the US side he never thought about crossing and he could have because he had relatives born in the US and his own father had lived in Redondo Beach area in the 1890's. When all of a sudden, two males approached us with their backpacks and their lost gaze of being in a new country eventhough they were still in Mexico when they asked us for a few pesos and told us they were trying to cross over and had traveled on the train. We gave them a few pesos and my apa told them to becareful and I thought to myself, "you haven't crossed yet and you are already begging for money, why travel".
My apa knew better and was enchanted with his humble home which he didn't even own. Too bad the US didn't have his gentle non greedy spirit.
