THE NEW WORLD OF T H E COTHI C FOX
223
than ever before since the beginning of industrialism in the eighteenth
century, who want desperately to be embraced by the prosperities of in–
dustrial modernity. They mayor may not understand precisely what this
entails, but there is no doubt that it is w hat they want. This lends itself
to caricature. An overweight industria l capi talist who sleeps badly, is in
need of exercise and spends a fortune in medical attention, goes to
Paraguay and has a chat with a loca l peasant: "My good man, how I
envy you. You rise with the sun, work close to Mother Earth all day
long, arrive home tired, go to bed and sleep soundly. No alco hol prob–
lem, no drugs, no expensive diets, no crime in the streets, no stress, no
traffic congestion. H eavens above, how I envy you." To which the peas–
ant has only one reply, worthy of Sancho Panza: "Buddy, let's change
places."
An excessive emphasis on the melancholy plight of the urban poor,
or the overwhelming vulgarity of many COnSUITler goods, or the excesses
of a free market system that can deliver ep hemeral rubbish as well as last–
ing prosperity, may blind us to the realization that huge numbers of our
fellow human beings are quite undeterred by these tales of woe and
happy to take the plunge and emigrate to the countries afflicted by these
ills. Latin Americans have a keen appreciation of the valu e of famil y rela–
tionships, friendship, regional loya lties, and the like;
Cemeinsc//(/If
com–
munity is well and ali ve south of the border, especially in Mexico and
the Caribbean, and yet thousands upon thousands are willing
to
risk life
and limb to try and enter the United States where, we know, these
Cellleillsc/i(/ft
traits are among the very first casualti es of industrial moder–
nity. Would we have it otherwise? Of course. We would not be human
if we did not at least try to sec ure the material benefits of industrialism
without relinquishing any of the va lu es of traditional community, but we
have been trying to do this for many decades, with indifferent results.
Robert Packenharn:
Barbara Ward, the British economist, wrote an
article in the
Ne ill York Times Magazille
about thirty years ago, titled,
"We May Be Rich, But They Are Happy," about the third-world poor.
Her article is an exce ll ent example of the kind of thinking you're de–
scribing.
Claudio Veliz:
This is an option that exists only in the minds of intel–
lectuals, who enjoy the mobility and liminality denied to those who li ve,
as it were, in the hinterland, and who are willing to leave everything
behind and cross the Rio Grande or brave the Caribbean in flimsy rafts
to get
to
the promised land.
