Tortilla Crisis shows Cheesy Politicians will do Anything to Maintain Power Except fix a Problem

Exerpted arty: No Cornucopia in Mexico

Tortilla prices have tripled or quadrupled in some parts of Mexico since last summer. On Jan. 18, Calderón announced an agreement with business leaders capping tortilla prices at 78 cents per kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, less than half the highest reported prices. The president’s move was a throwback to a previous era when Mexico controlled prices — the government subsidized tortillas until 1999, at which point cheap corn imports were rising under the NAFTA trade agreement. It was also a surprise given his carefully crafted image as an avowed supporter of free trade

It would be laughable were it not rather sad.  In a country the size of Mexico there should be adequate corn.  Are our liberals down there with trucks feeding the people they have helped to drive up corn prices on?  Anyone with business sense including me was predicting last summer that corn prices would be going up.  The predictable arbitrage in corn came and now Mexican tortilla prices are up.   There is nothing wrong with this per se.  Its the free market at work and will busily stimulate corn production.  However it is a bit artificial because for every 1 unit of hydrocarbon fossil fuel energy put in we get out around 1.2 units of energy from the corn.  This is simply not good enough for our heavily mechanized society. 

So now the authoritarian government of Mexico is attempting to dictate to the tides to rise and to what level.  You may not see it that way. Maybe you think you can dictate to millions of people what to do but that’s not how it happens.  Millions of people hide behind one another thankfully and ignore your lib / authoritarian dictats.  In groups of people as large as ones that make up “economies” their behavior is largely statistical and mimic many behaviors of physical systems. Not even Stalinist Nancy Pelosi or President of Mexico can command gravity to cease to be a law.   

Lesson: Politicians and government do not create GNP of any type!  Most of their “solutions” make problems worse!  In this particular case the authoritarian nature of the Mexican government has made the Mexican economy so fragil it can’t even cope with corn prices going up.

For my part I hope the Mexican corn crisis is alleviated soon because I have found the poor in Mexico to be very friendly people that I have a good place in my heart for.  On the other hand its only realistic to assume that until Mexico gives up this lib / authoritarian / dem style way of governing their country that their people will be trapped in fragil circumstances that lead to this sort of situation where something as simple as the commodity corn can cause a crisis.  Socialists / authoritarian / Dem / lib policies seek to stifle business and free enterprise.  Business, Free enterprise they are only synonyms for natural human behavior that happens when people are free and happy.  They are only called business and free enterprise when someone in government seeks to tax them.  It takes the human out of the equation.  De-humanizing someone is the first step to convincing one group to take advantage of another group.

Many poor Mexicans, Gálvez said, have been substituting cheap instant noodles, which often sell for as little as 27 cents a cup and are loaded with less nutritious starch and sodium.

I live in Arizona. I have been to Mexico many times. In the town of Sonoyta you can see the short older indian women standing around a round frying table making tortillas.  You can not imagine how good fresh tortillas are.  For a Mexican with a good yet very simple life this food is a great deal of your joy in life.  Hell I even think alot about how good they are! ( I only can get the derivative white-asized version here in Phoenix if I do not want to drive to the border).  Put yourself in the Mexicans place. They’re going to be suffering as they eat these cheesy Top Ramen noodles.  For you soft pudgy Americans who lack imagination its like you’re addicted to video games and the power goes out. You jones to play your game, no joy at all.  Er well except in this case you get hungry too. 

As a side note this situation really contrasts what is wrong with libs.  They think they are Princes and Princesses.  They think they can dictate outcomes with a flick of their pinky.  This flagrant egotism of the libs is criminal.  The outcomes are bad.  They are the ones that pushed for ethanol.  All for their Environmental Religion. 

Backgrounder on authors position

1) I am a right winger.  Many libs would try to make the case that I am anti-poor.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact I am poor as I trying to start my own business,  I do without health insurance etc.  ( by USA standards, and in fact I do not complain to anyone about it! Whiners are Wusses ! )   I think conservatives are the only true advocate the poor have ! 

2) I love latin american for the warm hearts of the honest peoples that live there.  I disinclude their abundant criminals by saying this.  The emotional nature results in a fraction of the people being able to justify anything.  In fact I am working towards living in Brazil.