My wife is from Mexico, and I've noticed many of the same things as in this article. We are supposed to be the free country, but as for the dignity of doing what one thinks is right for one's self or family - Mexico is head and shoulders ahead of us in practical terms. Now, of course, I don't live in Mexico and wouldn't ever want to - and neither does my wife. There IS a deep corruption like we don't have here, the place is mostly as poor as dirt, medical care really sucks (even if you can walk down the street and get your antibiotic of choice without a scrip), and crime is awful. As a gringo - forget it, you wouldn't last a week outside of the tourist traps. Oh, and you can't legally get a gun - on THAT score, the Mexicans are about as bad as NYC or DC.
One thing that Reed didn't mention: the reason for this apparent freedom in Mexico is simple: there's no money in it for the authorities to be repressive, certainly not as repressive as the laws in Mexico allow them to be. However, if there's a way to relieve someone of their money, rest assured that the policia will find it. There's little wonder why one of the past police chiefs of Mexico City amassed a fortune of something like $12 million on his annual salary of about $8,000, or why one of the past presidents of Mexico is worth well over $1 billion. If Mexico was a richer society, I promise you that it would be far more repressive. That's probably the reason that we have to get permission to do just about anything here: the application/permit costs money.
I've heard traffic court in America referred to as a "sheep-shearing conveyor belt", and after experiencing it once first-hand believe our bandoleros in blue have found a way.
I called "911" after a burglary years ago and the responding officer was little more than bemused and bored as he filled out a report for the insurance company.