People adapt to disfunctional governments in ways that accentuate both good and bad in people. The place always fascinated me, I had the sense of a machine in which a lot of the moving parts are right there in plain view, that in the US you maybe aren’t aware of anymore.
If you live in a medium sized city it was quite livable (but already it was to the point that everyone I met from DF had been mugged and I mean everyone). Truckers servicing our client were being regularly hijacked, sometimes for the contents of the trailer, sometimes just for parts off the truck, it was already getting dangerous for truckers. People didn’t like to travel between cities at night for fear of the highway patrol.
Members of the federal government, or relatives, were being gunned down in broad daylight for reasons you could surmise but not know. But at least at that time foreigners weren’t targeted, and I still had the sensation of it being as you say a peaceful, but lively, fun place. I always assumed this is where I would retire someday, I always liked the country and the people.
I’ve been re-thinking that plan, though. There are other places where the people are just as nice, the country’s moving parts just as fascinating, the beaches and town squares and music and food, well maybe not the food, but you know what I mean.
Yes, I wouldn’t move to Mexico either. Once upon a time, they might have mugged you (if you were another Mexican) but they wouldn’t have killed you. Heck, I got mugged in New York, even though I grew up there and lived much of my life there. Still, it’s not pleasant, and people get way too tolerant of dysfunction.
But I think there’s much more behind this violence than anybody is admitting. I think it has to do with the radical left, and one of the reasons it has accelerated is precisely because the left feels very empowered now because of Obama’s sympathy and because they really and truly hate Calderon for having won the election and daring to attack them.