Red,White, and Green Makes Mex Blue

Sol de Toluca published a report today from a psychologist saying that the central government contributes to low self esteem among Mexicans so that they don't value their rights and become ripe for social, political, and economic "manipulation." The prime culprit appears to be education which fails, according to psychologist Claudia de Mendieta, to encourage students to be critics of the system and demand rights. Says she:

"La manipulación social es muy fuerte. Aunada, además, a las cuestiones prácticas de pobreza, sabemos que la manipulación es burda: intercambian un voto por una torta, pero muchas veces el intercambio del voto tiene que ver con una manipulación psicológica".

On a similar note, The Chronicle of Higher Education notes in the April 30th issue commemorating Kent State that student activism on campuses in the United States is at an all-time low. Education costs, lack of connection to community, technology, and entertainment all work as factors to isolate students from political action, argues Jerry Lembcke, a sociologist at Holy Cross. Campuses and economies have changed, argues Lembcke, not students.