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Mexico: The Struggle for Peace and Bread
Book by Tannenbaum, Frank
- GenresHistory
293 pages, Hardcover
First published June 15, 1984
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August 4, 2014
This is one of the best books I've ever read on the thorny and confusing subject that is Mexico and its history.
Tannenbaum gives a refreshing outside look into the state of affairs following the Mexican Revolution, especially when it comes to the deep issues that have affected this country since the Spanish came along: the unbridgeable gap between the natives, the newcomers, and the mestizos, the political upheaval that didn't settle down until Presidente Plutarco Elías Calles became the power behind the throne, so to speak, and the unfair economic play between wanting to be an industrialized nation but leaving the majority of the population in the dark (literally,with no electricity).
Tannenbaum gives some very important background on the making of Mexico, with an interesting chapter called "A Short View of a Long Subject", where he explains, in a brilliantly summarized way, what Mexico was and how it was organized before Spain laid claim to it, and he poses what will become in the end this book's leit motif: the strength of Mexico lies in its local communities (even if he is dreaming --but in the right-- when he says that Mexico should look to Switzerland and Denmark instead of the US as a model for empowering the thousands of little communities by making available all that modern science and skill has to offer, in order that they become truly self-sustainable instead of having to be at the mercy of a national market).
Tannenbaum understands Mexico and is even a little too forgiving of it, not wanting to lay the blame on thick on the poisonous corruption that has always plagued us.
He also shows blatant displays of naïvete when it comes to the USA's history of involvement in other countries' political and economic affairs, stating over and over again how his country has always been upright and just when it comes to meddling internationally. He even goes so far as to write the following: "That war did not occur was owing to the essential pacifism of the American people, their opposition to aggresion."
This WAS written in 1950 and I'm inclined to give Tannenbaum leeway in believing his country was guided by good intentions and the wish for world peace and maybe at that time this seemed to be true (the Korean War was just beginning and the memory of WWII was still fresh) but today it makes him sound like Bush's mouthpiece.
Apart from that one blemish, I enjoyed this book immensely and wish someone would write as comprehensive a history of Mexico and its present- day economic situation.
Tannenbaum gives a refreshing outside look into the state of affairs following the Mexican Revolution, especially when it comes to the deep issues that have affected this country since the Spanish came along: the unbridgeable gap between the natives, the newcomers, and the mestizos, the political upheaval that didn't settle down until Presidente Plutarco Elías Calles became the power behind the throne, so to speak, and the unfair economic play between wanting to be an industrialized nation but leaving the majority of the population in the dark (literally,with no electricity).
Tannenbaum gives some very important background on the making of Mexico, with an interesting chapter called "A Short View of a Long Subject", where he explains, in a brilliantly summarized way, what Mexico was and how it was organized before Spain laid claim to it, and he poses what will become in the end this book's leit motif: the strength of Mexico lies in its local communities (even if he is dreaming --but in the right-- when he says that Mexico should look to Switzerland and Denmark instead of the US as a model for empowering the thousands of little communities by making available all that modern science and skill has to offer, in order that they become truly self-sustainable instead of having to be at the mercy of a national market).
Tannenbaum understands Mexico and is even a little too forgiving of it, not wanting to lay the blame on thick on the poisonous corruption that has always plagued us.
He also shows blatant displays of naïvete when it comes to the USA's history of involvement in other countries' political and economic affairs, stating over and over again how his country has always been upright and just when it comes to meddling internationally. He even goes so far as to write the following: "That war did not occur was owing to the essential pacifism of the American people, their opposition to aggresion."
This WAS written in 1950 and I'm inclined to give Tannenbaum leeway in believing his country was guided by good intentions and the wish for world peace and maybe at that time this seemed to be true (the Korean War was just beginning and the memory of WWII was still fresh) but today it makes him sound like Bush's mouthpiece.
Apart from that one blemish, I enjoyed this book immensely and wish someone would write as comprehensive a history of Mexico and its present- day economic situation.
Displaying 1 of 1 review