M
onsters and angels, good and bad—these are the separations that make our society feel comfortable. Seeing acts of crime and horrific violence perpetrated by certain groups of people, it becomes easy to create a mentality of disconnect between “us,” the morally superior community, and “them,” the violent monsters that appear only in our worst nightmares. However, it is not so easy to accept the realization that the line between angel and monster relies entirely upon one’s own perspective. Even harder still is the acceptance that the actions of angels fuel the reactions of devils. This metaphor of good coinciding with evil is perfect for the current drug war raging in Mexico.
The sheer scale of death from drug related violence in Mexico is almost unfathomable. Since 2006, there have been over 80,000 drug-violence related deaths in Mexico alone. To put that in an American perspective, there have been 7,528 deaths among coalition forces in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. In fact, Mexico’s death toll is on par with the amount of casualties in the current Syrian civil war. With numbers this devastating one would think that the American media would be making a bigger deal about covering the carnage and demonizing the various cartels. However, the policy of turning a blind eye to Mexico is in fact beneficial to our representation because a deeper inquiry reveals rather embarrassing information for the United States.
Here in America we love our illegal drugs. In fact, the United States alone accounts for over half of the world’s drug consumption. Because of this, Mexican drug cartels have been able to make a fortune off of their American customers. So much of a fortune, in fact, that as of September 2013, cartels were estimated to make anywhere from $15 to $60 billion in revenue annually. This number becomes even more astonishing when you look at the annual earnings of tech giant Microsoft at $60 billion. In fact, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the leader of the Sinaloa Federation, which is a large cartel in Mexico, actually made it onto the Forbes list of billionaires. The stereotype of these organizations being groups of mindless thugs is clearly false.
Many of the cartels themselves recruit soldiers and officers in the Mexican military in order to establish muscle for the brains of the organization. Given that the United States is the largest market for the cartels’ drugs, strategic distribution territory like that of land along the border with the United States as well as coastal ports is intensely fought over. The illegality makes traditional methods of transport impossible, so the cartels must resort to total geographical dominance in order to guarantee the safe transport of their products. This geographical dominance is often reached through acts of violence so extreme and so horrific that they leave not only carnage but crippling fear in their wake. This tactic of course is incredibly effective in creating lasting control in hotly contested areas. Additionally, given the importance of border position, violence tends to spill over onto American soil. Suddenly, the terrors of war that seemed like such an afterthought to most Americans come crashing into frame.
One would assume that Mexican citizens would be disgusted with the behavior of the cartels and that mass public outrage would be a given. Towns and cities throughout Mexico have, of course, began to call for an end to the bloodshed, however, support for the cartels themselves is not unheard of and in fact somewhat prevalent. Following a particularly intense encounter with Mexican police in a coastal town in the state of Michoacan, a large rally in order to establish peace was made up of an equal split in the amount of supporters for and against the cartels.
Why such loyalty and support for these brutal organizations? The answer is that given the poor economy and standard of living in Mexico, the cartels can essentially buy loyalty by providing basic services such as food and a steady paycheck. With the bureaucratic corruption and incompetence that has constantly held Mexico back from achieving its economic potential all while leaving its citizens at the wayside, is it really that stunning that one would side with the cartels? Monsters and men suddenly become intertwined.
Most Americans are incredibly uncomfortable with the prospect of legalizing the same drugs that we have waged a federal war against since the late 1970s. Continually, we instead live with the same failed tactics that continue to solidify the enormous worth of these drugs and the incentive to continue to sell them. Legalizing such drugs like heroin or methamphetamine is a hard pill to swallow for the average American. Yes, drugs are evil. They have and will continue to ruin lives, and developing an addiction to these substances is a serious possibility. But the war to wipe them from our society has failed completely. To continue to support legal policies that not only encourage cartel expansion throughout Central and South America but also promote horrific acts of violence simply cannot be accepted any longer.
I believe that through a policy of openness and education we can end the drug wars. By declaring these drugs legal in the United States, these cartels will be left to either disband or to begin legally selling product without having to kill each other for supply lines. If we do this we can finally start to rid our world of some of its monsters.
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