Mexico’s president says that about 10,000 migrants per day are heading to the U.S. border, and he blames U.S. economic sanctions on countries like Cuba and Venezuela for the influx.
Mexico is a PRODUCER and DISTRIBUTOR of drugs, not a consumer. America is a CONSUMER. The cartels don’t sell much cocaine in Mexico outside of to US tourists. Why would they? The same kilo they buy for $2k only gets them $10k in Mexico City vs $30k anywhere in the US… or $100k if they cut it themselves. The US consumes 10 times more opioids per capita than Mexico and 4 times more cocaine per capita, too. So we pay 3 times more for drugs and use 4 to 10 times more. The biggest problems they have are getting the drugs into the US and getting the money back into Mexico. It’s honestly ludicrous that you think a country with a GDP of 1.4 trillion gives more of its money to illegal drugs than a country with a GDP of 25 trillion. If the cartels made most of their money in Mexico, why would they go through all the time and effort to smuggle drugs into the US?
Finally, “luxuries and sex” (which by the way makes you sound like a 14 year old or a 40 year old incel) are common drivers around the world. A culture of putting rich and powerful people on a pedestal is not just a Mexico thing and is common around the world. So if your theory is correct, why do the cartels not have the same power in most other countries? And if you think I don’t have the life experience to understand why people choose to make money, then you are kind of an idiot. Regardless, that doesn’t address my point. I will go ahead and concede the point that “luxuries and sex” are why people make money (ignoring power and self esteem and other drivers… I mean, why do Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk keep trying to make more billions? It isn’t luxuries and sex after your first billion), but you say “take those away, and people will change their behavior to get them back.” Tell me how does the normal Mexican citizen take those away? You say it’s cultural, but do you think women in other countries deny sex to cartel members simply because of their job? I mean, completely ignoring that cartels are also heavily involved in prostitution and human trafficking for sex which is how the lower level members are getting sex, if you have money then there is no country in the world where you can’t get sex. So again, what makes Mexico so special in that regard?
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/magazine/how-a-mexican-drug-cartel-makes-its-billions.html
https://www.kpbs.org/news/border-immigration/2011/05/23/how-drug-cartels-move-cash-across-us-mexico-border
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/drug-use-by-country
Mexico is a PRODUCER and DISTRIBUTOR of drugs, not a consumer. America is a CONSUMER. The cartels don’t sell much cocaine in Mexico outside of to US tourists. Why would they? The same kilo they buy for $2k only gets them $10k in Mexico City vs $30k anywhere in the US… or $100k if they cut it themselves. The US consumes 10 times more opioids per capita than Mexico and 4 times more cocaine per capita, too. So we pay 3 times more for drugs and use 4 to 10 times more. The biggest problems they have are getting the drugs into the US and getting the money back into Mexico. It’s honestly ludicrous that you think a country with a GDP of 1.4 trillion gives more of its money to illegal drugs than a country with a GDP of 25 trillion. If the cartels made most of their money in Mexico, why would they go through all the time and effort to smuggle drugs into the US?
Finally, “luxuries and sex” (which by the way makes you sound like a 14 year old or a 40 year old incel) are common drivers around the world. A culture of putting rich and powerful people on a pedestal is not just a Mexico thing and is common around the world. So if your theory is correct, why do the cartels not have the same power in most other countries? And if you think I don’t have the life experience to understand why people choose to make money, then you are kind of an idiot. Regardless, that doesn’t address my point. I will go ahead and concede the point that “luxuries and sex” are why people make money (ignoring power and self esteem and other drivers… I mean, why do Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk keep trying to make more billions? It isn’t luxuries and sex after your first billion), but you say “take those away, and people will change their behavior to get them back.” Tell me how does the normal Mexican citizen take those away? You say it’s cultural, but do you think women in other countries deny sex to cartel members simply because of their job? I mean, completely ignoring that cartels are also heavily involved in prostitution and human trafficking for sex which is how the lower level members are getting sex, if you have money then there is no country in the world where you can’t get sex. So again, what makes Mexico so special in that regard?