Chapter 9: Capitalism and Modernity
America Through Foreign Eyes
The United States has always been a source of fascination — both attraction and repulsion — for the people of France, Mexico, China, and African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Sudan. "America Through Foreign Eyes" is a rich, interdisciplinary, international course that features Rice University faculty from a variety of disciplines and area studies. Focused on perceptions of America abroad, the course is a cross between World Cultures and American Studies. The course features four modules, each covering the perceptions and interactions of particular regions with America, Americans and Americanization.
America Through Mexican Eyes
The United States has always been a source of fascination for the people of Mexico. Mexican observers and travelers are rarely indifferent to American culture and people. This module, “ America Through Mexican Eyes,” examines historical and contemporary perceptions of America, Americans, and Americanization through the lens of Mexican writers, artists, politicians, intellectuals, and public opinion. Taught by Dr. Moramay López-Alonso, a professor of History, this module will cover the four themes of the course: Democracy and Modernity; Globalization and Capitalism; Racism and Immigration; and Intellectual and Cultural Life.
economic life of the United States that has caught the eyes of Mexicans.
We will discuss capitalism and its links with globalization.
Then, we will talk about democracy and US foreign policy.
The perceptions and
the issues changed over time as the economies of both countries, and
commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries evolved.
Politics and economics cannot be separated.
It is important to know that capitalism in both countries
predates the national periods.
North American capitalism can be traced back to the silver booms that took place
in Spanish North America.
While maintaining it's capitalist economic model, Mexico started
falling behind the United States economically since it became independent.
Mexico went from being the richest colony of the Spanish empire at the end of
the 18th century, to a new country impoverished, indebted, and
threatened by foreign powers in the 1830s.
Mexico did not attain political stability until the 1880s.
In the meantime,
the United States expanded it's territories from coast to coast.
Became an economic power through agriculture production and
vigorous industrialization.
The United States became a capitalist giant by the end of the 19th Century.
This divergent trends called the attention of Mexican elite travellers going to
the United States, who regarded their neighbor as a development model.
One of the distinctive capitalist features of Americans
is their relationship with time and money.
To Mexicans, Americans have a fixation with making money.
And these motivations induce to live in a hurried lifestyle.
Physically and metaphorically.
One of the first Mexicans to notice this was Lorenzo de Zavala in 1831.
He described Americans as being hard-working, business oriented,
land-owning, and self-confident.
In Zavala's eyes, Americans knew how to invest their money,
whereas Mexicans owned very little and seldom took care of what they had.
He drew a critical comparison with his fellow nationals.
Zavala's described Mexicans as lazy, ignorant, superstitious, and vain.
He also highlighted some unflattering American attributes.
Zavala accused Americans of not being interested in establishing relationships,
or starting conversations with other people,
unless there were some business opportunities involved.
Decades later,
Guillermo Prieto noted that Americans consider that money should not be idle and
it should money should be invested in a productive venture at all times.
Time was money and people had no time to waste.
Justo Sierra commented that Americans were not in the habit of just standing in the street.
He joked that the only ones who stood in streets were statues.
He also stressed that Americans lived in constant motion,
motivated by their love of dollars.
In the 1920's, Daniel Cos�o villegas noticed the same thing, and
as a joke, on Saturdays in Boston, he would just stand in the street,
in what he defined as motionless, idleness.
People walked by and looked at him as a weird character.
Other more charitable people would ask if he was lost.
In 1903, Federico Gamboa wrote about Americans'
urge to move from one place to the other in haste.
And to live their lives in urgency.
He had pity, not admiration for this lifestyle.
Because he thought it precluded Americans from experiencing life in a more
meaningful way.
He recognized that this tendency to rush would make them more productive and
prosperous but it would not necessarily lead them to a more gratifying life.
He felt that Mexicans knew how to relish life and lead a more fulfilling existence.
Another defining feature of capitalism, American style, is that of consumerism.
Americans attach much importance to owning their land,
their homes, and the things that were in them.
In 1877, Guillermo Prieto explained that Americans could be thrifty
in their spending to maximize their profits, but they were eager to acquire
utensils that would save them time and make their lives more comfortable.
He also noted that Americans had many things for different purposes.
To maintain hygiene on their homes, to ventilate and
heat their lodgings, and even to purify air and water.
He was convinced that Americans were looking for
ways to substitute men with machines.
He wrote, their knives are an extension of their fingers and
their carts are an extension of their arms.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, Mexicans
also perceived American consumerism as one way to indulge in pleasure.
Some of our observers argued that American women were the perfect spending machines,
as Gamboa did in 1903.
Justo Sierra commented on the colorful window showcases in department stores
in New York and how they offered a world of shopping possibilities and fantasies.
Another thing Mexicans remarked upon, was the extended use of transportation,
even before the era of mass production of automobiles.
To Mexicans, Americans appear to have a special taste for cars.
Guillermo Prieto argued that the minute a yankee got past his humble means,
he was ready to purchase the best car he could afford.
Mexicans also associated American capitalism with modernity.
And modernity with technological innovation.
Innovation is intended to save time and maximum profit.
To Justo Sierra,
the slaughterhouse in Chicago was the quintessential example of this trend.
Another manifestation of American capitalism
is its close connection with the United States imperialist venture.
This connection became more evident towards the end of the 19th Century,
when American capitalists began to invest abroad.
Since the 1880's,
Mexicans have had ambivalent feelings towards this form of capitalism.
On the one hand, they viewed American investments in Mexico as a good way to
foster economic growth, modernize the country and promote prosperity.
it meant subjugation to the imperialistic whims of the United States.
Porfirio Diaz, the authoritarian president who brought political stability and
economic growth to Mexico at the end of the 19th Century, uttered a famous phrase.
Poor Mexico, too far away from God, and too close to the United States.
During his dictatorship,
he made sure that American investments were well balanced by European ones.
After the 1910 revolution, government authorities limited
the scope of action for foreign investors, especially Americans.
Mexicans allowed for
American multinationals to establish branches of their businesses in Mexico,
but always ensuring that Mexicans owned at least 51% of the businesses.
In the late 1930's, Mexico nationalized the railroad, and oil industries.
This, caused distress among American Investors.
They protested against the lack of respect for property rights but for political
reasons they did not punish Mexico the way they did other Latin American countries.
Towards the end of the 20th Century, the economies of both countries were
already so intertwined that, together with the Canadian government,
they agreed to sign a free trade agreement.
The North America Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, was signed in 1993.
For this, Mexicans had to open the economy and
their mentalities to free trade with the US.
Many intellectuals objected to this initiative because they were fearful
that this would undermine national identity.
on the other hand, saw it as an opportunity to obtain economic conversions
with the United States, or perhaps close the gap between both countries.
Enough time has passed since NAFTA launched, and we can argue
that the economic gap between the two countries did not narrow significantly.
The national identity of Mexicans was not undermined either.
One thing that did happen,
was that Mexicans had easier access to all goods for sale in the United States.
Ever since both countries began to enhance the networks of transportation and
communication, the average Mexican began to develop the same taste for
consumerism that Americans have had.
Mexicans began to admire American malls, the true temples of consumerism.
The moment they have the means,
elite and non-elite Mexicans venture to the US for shopping.
Shopping has become the main attraction for Mexicans who visit the US.
To summarize, Mexicans' views of American
capitalism are inseparable from the evolution of capitalism itself.