Frozen Revolution essays

Mexican Miracle/Frozen Revolution essays Mexico: Frozen Revolution/Mexican Miracle Mexico, the United States neighbor directly to the south is a country of many contradictions. It is typically looked at as poor or third-worldly by many, yet it is has one of the most advanced public telecommunications network in the world. Its capital Mexico City is as cosmopolitan and modern as any city in the world yet its a megalopolis infested with poverty in almost every corner. These contradictions, however, are what have plagued Mexico for many years. The Mexican revolution in the early part of the 20th Century which called for political, social, and agrarian reform, lead mainly by revolutionary leaders by the likes of Carranza, Obregn, Zapata and Villa have accomplished many of its goals but at the same time oppressed the very people that was supposed to benefit from it. From 1940 to 1970 a class of tremendously wealthy industrialists emerged to accumulate vast fortunes as the Mexican economy expanded in size and complexity. On the contrary however, this rapid ec onomic expansion was also accompanied by one of the most unequal patterns of income distribution in the world. This inequality can be looked at as a problem that the Mexican Revolution has failed to solve. The revolution produced major changes in Mexico. The old political elite had been largely swept away, to be replaced by a new ruling coalition. The creation and evolution of an official party solved the recurring crisis over presidential succession. The revolution also launched labor and social reforms that have had a lasting effect on Mexican society. Workers and peasant farmers were given a greater voice in public affairs, although they were forced to operate within the limits set by the official party and the government (Hellman, Mexico in Crisis, p.20). A new constitution gave workers the right to organize and to strike, and established a minimum wage, an eight-hour wor...