Mexican Downers

Alberto Aziz Nassif has a thorough column detailing the prevailing Mexican pessimism about the state of the nation. From the World Bank to Consulta Mitofski, from Latinobarómetro to Human Rights Watch, everyone asking has some version of the same answer: Mexicans are not content, whether they are talking about politics, corruption, human rights, or freedom of expression.

And not without reason. As I said on Friday, Mexican pessimism doesn't exist in a vacuum. However, I can't help but wonder how much of this is organic and natural, and how much of it is nurtured by leftist skepticism of "the elites," defined as the right-of-center panistas and priístas who have governed for the last two decades. Aziz Nassif's writing fits pretty well into the common leftist critique of Mexico's governing class, both in today's column and in general. You see a lot of the same themes repeated by leftist politicians on the campaign trail. Any appearance by Andrés Manuel López Obrador has at least a handful of references to the mafia governing the nation.

Polls like those listed by Aziz Nassif seem to suggest a populace at the end of its rope, but other surveys tell a different story: the most recent Pew Global Attitudes Project showed that 62 percent of Mexicans were satisfied with their family income, and 76 percent were content with their lives, the highest proportion of any of the 47 nations surveyed. So while the discontent about certain elements of Mexico certainly exists, there is also a broad undercurrent of satisfaction. Given that, it's no surprise that politicians who maintain a basically optimistic outlook --Felipe Calderón being one obvious example-- tend to be pretty popular. After all, political cynicism is inherently exhausting. If I were a Mexican politician, especially one on the left, I'd work a healthy chunk of happy can-doism into my shtick.