Opinion Archive

What to Make of Social Cannon Fodder

February 25, 2009

In World War I, soldiers who were considered to be expendable were known as "cannon fodder". The idea behind this denigrating military term is that there are people who can be ordered to do anything. This same phenomenon can be seen among civilians, as well, as interest groups "enlist" the ignorant and the poor to create social credibility behind their objectives. As the economic crisis worsens, the ranks of the disaffected rise, putting society in general at risk to the whims of organized interest groups and demagogues.

These past weeks have seen the use of social cannon fodder taken to a pathetic extreme along our US border. According to news reports, criminal organizations used poor women and children to "protest" alleged abuses by the military and the federal police. With the popularity of the troops' presence running above 70% among the general population, these gangs are trying to pressure the government to remove their antagonists by organizing these demonstrations using the marginalized.

There are about 40 million people in Mexico who are defined as living in abject poverty. Often, they don't care if they are in the pay of narcotraffickers, or multinational corporations; they are bodies for hire. In Reynosa, we saw women even stop safeguarding their babies, waving them in front of armed soldiers and tanks. How could a mother do that to her child? Because the potential danger of gunfire is much less real to them than imminent hunger. Having nothing to lose is a sure sign of one's vulnerability to being used as social cannon fodder.

Of course, poverty is not the only handmaiden of such manipulation. Ignorance and pent-up feelings of victimization often work just as well. The urban lower middle classes often succumb to siren songs of "social justice" from cunning demagogues. Wanting to believe that their hard lot in life is the fault of someone else, it doesn't matter what the rabble-rousers say as long as they define it in terms of "us" versus "them". Anger overcomes a minimum amount of civic prudence and pretty soon you're handing out blank checks for perpetual power to raving populists, like just happened in Venezuela. As The Economist pointed out recently, it was the middle classes who, frustrated by the economic downturn, turned to Hitler in 1930s Germany.

Lincoln once appealed to the "better angels of our nature". People who turn the poor and the desperate into social cannon fodder appeal to the worst in us: anger, jealousy, vindictiveness and just plain opportunism. As the world economic downturn continues, people will be ever more intent on finding someone to blame. Others, like the "protesters" in Reynosa, will simply be even more willing to do the bidding of anyone who will throw them some scraps. All in all, a truly sad state of affairs that we all need to be more vigilant of.

Mexico is cheap again

Ah, the magic of devaluations. The 40% fall in the peso during the last few months is bolstering the country's tourism and manufacturing industries.

During the last couple of weeks we have seen reports of foreign visits to the interior (non-border) areas of the country on the rise. This is remarkable for two reasons: first, because Mexico's image abroad has probably never been worse due to the incessant coverage of the country's problems with narco-violence. Second, because our primary market, the US, is having serious economic problems.

What seems to be happening is that individual resorts have been able to project their image as destinations in themselves, decoupling from the generally bad news. Further, the fact that the country is an inexpensive destination again (after about eight years) has meant that people who would normally travel further afield are staying in North America for personal financial reasons.

In manufacturing, two icons are succumbing to the lure of our cheap currency. Nissan is moving the manufacture of some small cars to this country from Japan and Hershey's is shifting production of confectionery to Monterrey. This includes the iconic York Peppermint Patty, whose traditional advertising highlights an arctic image not usually associated with Nuevo León.

One of the key ingredients to export-led growth is a "competitive" (read: undervalued) currency. Mexico never really implemented this. In the aftermath of the "Tequila Crisis" of 1994/1995, the peso was allowed to rise in-line with the large inflow of foreign currency from rising oil prices and flourishing remittances. Thanks to the fact that it did not "tap out" its export potential by interfering in currency markets (unlike Asia), Mexican manufacturing could now actually benefit from its new competitiveness in the slump. The tradeoff is that a cheaper peso also means that inflationary pressures will rise across the board.

For the latest thought-provoking article by Agustin Barrios Gomez please go to our Opinion Column page

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