As we seem to be in the limelight of this pandemic currently, it’s kind of mind boggling to think of how and why we got to this point. We had all the warning signs. Most importantly, we had the opportunity to watch other countries go through it before us. We watched as their infectious rates went up, followed by their death counts. We also got to see how they fought against it and although it seems a bit too early, we got to see China begin to win.
Our own first world country is now struggling to fight off this corona virus and it’s apparent that our own leaderships blatant disregard for our safety is to blame. I could write papers and papers about how our president is the number one suspect of showcasing ethnocentric behavior front and center. However, instead of putting my personal bias in the way, I would rather talk about Mexico and how they somehow are following in out footsteps.
Mexico for some odd reason has also decided that this virus is not a real threat. Their own president is quoted saying, “Live life as usual” in a video uploaded to Facebook on March 22, as well as, ““If you’re able and have the means to do so, continue taking your family out to eat … because that strengthens the economy” (Ward). Not only has our president said things scarily similar but it seems the trend is that our economy comes first, and the people second.
I am merely 28 years old and in good health, so if I contract the virus, I have a great chance at fighting it off. My concern is for my parents, specifically my father who is turning 79 this year. I live across the country from him as he is in Michigan and I’m in Idaho. My brother on the other hand is currently living with him and thankfully his work is allowing him to stay at home. My biggest fear is that he contracts it and I won’t be able to even visit. It’s a real shame that so many of our leaders worldwide such as our own in the United States, Mexico, and even Brazil are not taking preventative measures and would rather a fire start to put it out, so to speak. I’m grateful that my family has not been directly impacted and I hope that any of you who are will be able to pull through.
Reference:
Ward, Alex. “Mexico Could Become The New Italy Of Coronavirus — Or Worse”. Vox, 2020, https://www.vox.com/2020/3/26/21193823/coronavirus-mexico-andres-manuel-lopez-obrador-health-care.
Erik,
Hope this post finds you and your family well. As a resident of South Jersey, I can tell you the residents here are not taking it seriously. Many flock to Walmart or anything open just to not get bored. Though I agree with you our president does not, in my opinion, possess the leadership qualities of former presidents. He is a major factor as to why we are seeing such high numbers of infections in the US. When comparing China and our response to the pandemic the people of China actually stayed home when the government told them to do so. In my opinion, it was their culture that saved them. Compare their culture to ours. Just last month Clearwater, Florida got criticized for allowing their beaches to stay open. Businessinsider.com tells us, “Clearwater, Florida, received heavy backlash this week after videos showed it was packed with thousands of beachgoers” In this video, we hear a spring breaker say “if I get coronavirus I get coronavirus it’s not going to stop me”. Though China is a communist country their culture mixed with its government has aided in controlling the level of coronavirus cases. As of today, the US has 284K+ cases of the virus when compared to China(https://www.bing.com/covid?form=COVD07). The high level of disregard from the American people should be the primary concern.
To put it into perspective, the company I work for, Wawa, has decided to stay open for the community. Though my store makes roughly 5K daily it is not enough to pay the working employees nor are we essential enough to stay open. The community I work with has seasonal residents coming down from New York and Pennsylvania to open their summer homes. States of which have high levels of infection. We have seen a slight incline in foot traffic through a stay at home order is strongly suggested.
To bring it back to the readings of the current module we find that, both India and China are similar with regards to power distance. That fact indicates that both countries’ cultures do not mind having inequality between the powerful and less powerful within the culture. However, there are exceptions in quite a few cases. Another way to interpret this is that social hierarchies such as bureaucracies are preferred to more ambiguous social structures in which it is not clear who is in charge, but in certain situations flatter, more equal situations are okay” (PSU, n.d.). In relation to how things are being handled here in America and in China the power distance between both countries is very dissimilar. Though this is a mere observation there are many factors as to why the pandemic here in the US has reached such high levels.
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-spring-break-florida-south-padre-bahamas-college-kids-partying-2020-3
Penn State University. (n.d.). Lesson 10: Asia: Focus on China and India OLEAD 410, 001 Spring
2020. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2041071/modules/items/27977820
Hi Erik,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Mexico and leadership’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. I hadn’t really heard much about the way Mexico has been dealing with coronavirus until reading your post. Interestingly, our country has a more individualistic culture, and yet an economic stimulus package has been negotiated to assist our economy during this crisis. Mexican President Lopez Obrador has not laid down any plans for a similar package (Sherman, 2020). It seems his plan is to expand social programs, assist the state-owned oil company and avoid taking on additional debt (Sherman, 2020). In line with Mexican collectivist culture, he says, “An economic model that only benefits minorities does not yield general well-being, but on the contrary engenders public misery and violence.” (Sherman, 2020). He has urged businesses to avoid lay-offs and that only workers in essential business should continue to work while others should stay home and continue to be paid (Sherman, 2020). His plan has been criticized by Mexican businesses as they claim it is idealist and provides no resources for them to combat the Covid-19 crisis (Sherman, 2020).
Resource:
Sherman, C., & Associated Press. (2020, April 6). Mexico’s President: More social spending, no business bailout for virus. Retrieved April 6, 2020, from https://www.ksat.com/news/world/2020/04/05/mexico-more-social-spending-no-big-business-bailout/
Erik,
I completely understand your concern for our neighbors such as Mexico! Seemingly as this virus swam across the pond and reached the Americas, none the leaders on this side were taking this issue seriously. For my blog post I learned about Brazils president and how he completely admires and models after Trump, therefore, did not take the coronavirus serious and still does not. Which is incredibly scary due to Brazil size as a whole in South America.
Your post provoke to search up on Mexico and how they’re currently doing admist the pandemic. Erik, you might be interested to know that Mexico’s delayed reaction to COVID-19 might have something to do with their drug cartel. If watching countless episodes of Narcos on Netflix taught me anything, is that drug cartels have a lot of power. A recent online article states, getting illegal substances into the United States has become much more difficult. “Five days ago was the last time we brought something across the border. Just three kilos,” said a smuggler from Mexicali, speaking to blogdelnarco, a platform covering Mexican organized crime. “We have arrangements with border police and our smugglers know which borders posts to use. But now, many crossing have surprisingly been shut. That makes our business much more risky.”
The article goes on to mention that there has also been a rise in looting in recent weeks. And turf wars have broken out once more in Guerrero and Michoacan state between different drug cartels. Javier Oliva, a professor of political science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, expects tensions between cartels to grow amid the coronavirus lockdown, and also predicts a spike in street crime and burglaries.
I feel fortunate the part of the United States most of us reside do not have to endure violence around us due to a pandemic. Fortunately, our main concern is saftey, food and shelter.
Reference
DW (2020, April 5). How the coronavirus lockdown is Mexico’s drug cartels.
Retrieved from https://www.dw.com/en/how-the-coronavirus-lockdown-is-hitting-mexicos-drug-cartels/a-53001784