Dear Sir,
My wife and I live in western Colorado, in what most would describe as a quiet little town. Our community has the highest property crime rate in the state. It has had several murders in the last few years including one police officer, and averages almost one reported child abuse case each day.
We live in a country where there are on average 16,000 murders each year and has the world’s highest percentage of our citizens incarcerated. Our country has one of the worst percentages of crimes solved in the world. An average of ten bank robberies are committed each day. We consume more illegal drugs than anywhere in the world. We just recently gave the right to corporations to buy elections in secrecy. We buy guns at an alarming rate and sell many of them illegally into the hands of Mexican criminals. We have a two party political system that is frozen by petty bickering and special interest lobbyists. We are looking at huge financial shortfalls at every level of government. We have a failing educational system and a medical system that can’t even cure itself. We are a country where the wealthiest 400 individuals have more wealth than the least wealthy 200 million.
Yet daily I hear people in our little town ranting about the problems in Mexico. I say people in Mexico should count their blessings and though the United States needs your cheap labor, tax revenue, and shopping dollars, if I were you, I’d stay home.
Alan Bowers