April 20, 2001

3:41 PM

¿Headed south anytime soon?This fun, if somewhat depressing, little site is the work of the South to the Future gang. These wicked, evil folks have taken it upon themselves to try and educate the masses here in the SF bay area. What troubles me is despite the pervasive nature of the dang ol' Innernet on our everyday lives, I don't see a lot of people buying into causes of this nature. Maybe I am just jaded and exhausted from dodging SUVs all over town. I mean, there are a lot of hills in SF so why shouldn't people have monster 4X4s? On a lighter note, this seems to be a neat little side project of theirs.....
posted by donkeysuck (14 comments total)

I see you have to actually read the site to see what's going on here...

The very mention of these delicious and authentic Mexican dishes would make any gourmand's mouth water. Mexican food is rich and varied, combining both indigenous and colonial ingredients and cooking techniques....

Luckily, Playa del Carmen features few authentic Mexican restaurants....
posted by dhartung at 4:07 PM on April 20, 2001

beautiful....
posted by rebeccablood at 4:32 PM on April 20, 2001

Amazing, fresh from villianising the people that worked their guts out in the internet industry they are now turning their self righteous leftie bullshit on Mexico. Amazing.
posted by zeoslap at 4:45 PM on April 20, 2001

Ah right, zeosplap. Unless you're dirt poor, and indie to the core, you're not allowed to dislike the way business is done anywhere on earth. Got it.
posted by mathowie at 4:47 PM on April 20, 2001

I'm just tired of people complaining about how awful it is that business exists at all, the attitude that well fishsticks.com was awful and just ruining the neighbourhood but my cool little record store is ok. Puh-lease, and with regards Mexico so what if some big stores move in, they'll only be successful if people like them, why can't Mikey Mexico chow down on a Bagel like the rest of us ? Hmmm, answer me that. Lets think of Mikey here.
posted by zeoslap at 4:55 PM on April 20, 2001

What I'm saying is that it's not a black and white world zeoslap. Because someone hates globalmegacorp2000 doesn't mean they have to hate every other business on earth, and vice versa.

Whenever you see images of extreme contrasts with regards to economics, don't you think twice about it? Why are MBAs frolicking in the resort waters of the Caribbean and 100ft away the locals are working a field for $0.50 a day? If all these businesses come into a Mexican town, why isn't the standard of living for everyone (or most everyone) raised?
posted by mathowie at 5:15 PM on April 20, 2001

Zeoslap, in america we have been assaulted with McCulture for many years, and are only now beginning to get an understanding of the costs, psychic and physical, of this neon sewer we have built for ourselves. It is understandable, I think, to shudder when we see the same low-grade cultural virii that we have seen cause so much damage to our own people spread to previously less-affected parts of the world. 'Mikey Mexico' may like a Big Mac, but I think it is responsible and justified to speak up about the lessons we've learned and things we have lost during our experience with these psychic polluters.
posted by ztt at 5:18 PM on April 20, 2001

notwithstanding the self righteous leftie bullshit that does emanate from some pieholes in SF, at least the STTF folks are promoting more responsible behavior. not that anyone cares to listen or follow. but, the bullying hegemony of the US culture on our neighbors to the south(and the north ¡viva canadia!) is, more than likely, not welcome. it is unfortunate that those sureño cats are so desperate for dinero that they take anything we shove down their collective throat.

i could swear i was making a point there.....
posted by donkeysuck at 5:24 PM on April 20, 2001

zeoslap, check out this item from january 2000:

mcdonald's has begun experimenting with selling their wares in the slums of rio de janiero.

This little McDonald's kiosk - selling only ice cream and water - is part of an aggressive marketing move that may be duplicated in other impoverished cities worldwide. Until now, the conventional wisdom was that there was no money to be made in Brazil's favelas, or slums....

That logic is being tested. Having successfully opened a series of outlets in the working-class suburbs around Rio, McDonald's is realizing that people in the poor neighborhoods also have money to spend on hamburgers and french fries....

But Nascimento doesn't share the enthusiasm for the McDonald's venture. She has already seen a drop off in the sale of her pastries. "They'll create jobs, but many people will become unemployed," she says. "If they open a big McDonald's here we're finished."
posted by rebeccablood at 8:03 PM on April 20, 2001

Come on, guys. If people didn't like these big chains they wouldn't give them their money. Where do you get the right to tell people in Mexico or where ever what they can and can't do? Paternalism is so 1950.

Matt: I understand what you're saying. But there has never been a society on the face of this planet that has yielded the same amount of money for everyone (or even close to the same amount). Now, I don't have any complaints against trying to find one, but I think capitalism is the best thing we've got going right now.

Think of it. Now someone who is dirt poor can, through hard work and a little luck, attain a standard of living his parents only dreamed of. I know it happens because I've seen it. Not everyone makes it, but there is always that hope, that dream, that it will. I think this system is much better than those that have come before it and I'm hesitant to tear it down in order to move back towards a socialistic system.

I just realized that I diverged quite a bit from my intended comments and I'll note that this is not all directed at Matt and is not all in regard to the comments on this thread, but on several from yesterday.
posted by CRS at 6:28 AM on April 21, 2001

Ah, yes, another piece of brilliant social commentary from the same city whose government allows the shut down of the downtown area at rush hour once a month so some hippie-leftovers can ride bikes around and pretend they're making a difference... The sky is falling! The sky is falling!... Almost makes we appreciate Chicago's own ludicrous politics.
posted by m.polo at 8:39 AM on April 21, 2001

CRS: I didn't say I wanted a communist utopia, I just said that seeing extreme contrasts like some of those photos (precisely why the website picked them) is a bit unsettling. I didn't say everyone has to make the same amount of money, I meant that the gap shouldn't be so extreme. If someone brings money to a town, it's possible that it could spread to everyone working for services or selling services, or it can be concentrated on a single company or corporation. Of course the camera rarely tells the truth, and you could take similar photos in almost any US city.

Because I expressed why I agreed with some of the statements on the site doesn't mean I support an extreme opposite view of pure capitalism. I'd appreciate it if you didn't polarize every issue here.

ztt hit it on the mark, it's worth taking a second look at US corps going to other countries. There are downsides other countries should know about, instead of doing everything in their power to emulate us.
posted by mathowie at 10:10 AM on April 21, 2001

mathowie: Of course the camera rarely tells the truth, and you could take similar photos in almost any US city.

am I the only one this bothers? seriously, since I moved to san francisco, every time I walk into a store or cheap restaurant I look at the people behind the counter (and 95% of these workers are either latino or asian) and I wonder how they *live*???? how can they afford the rents? but I'm the only person I've ever heard expressing any discomfort with it....
posted by rebeccablood at 11:33 AM on April 21, 2001

Business Shmissness. If it's true that they are knocking down Mayan ruins in the name of development, doesn't that make the builders akin to the Taliban who destroyed ancient Buddhas in the name of Islam?
posted by caraig at 2:43 PM on April 21, 2001