BY ANNA
Both Mexico and the
U.S. rely on each other. The U.S. and Mexico need each other for trading and
economic purposes. One of the greatest economic systems that Mexico relies on is
remittances from the U.S. The Los
Angeles Times article, Remittances to
Mexico Rise in May to highest level since October ’08 states that, “The
uptick bodes well for Mexico, where remittances are the nation's second-largest
source of foreign exchange, behind petroleum sales.” A remittance is a transfer of money
by a foreign worker to his or her home country. This transfer of money is a large financial
influx and promotes economic growth. It contributes to communities in the receiving
country, for the most part, bettering it. With this flow of money, the families
who receive these remittances have more choices because of the increase of
money. This isn’t saying that these remittances make the families wealthy, but
it increases their “wealth” giving them more options and comfort. These
remittances are important to Mexico because they help not only the economy, but
the country as a whole. With money comes more possibilities and more safety.
Generally speaking, when there is more money for people, their opportunities
increase.
In the movie we
watched, The Sixth Section, Grupo
Union, which was a group of Mexicans living in Newburgh, NY for job purposes,
created a Hometown Association. This group was formed to help their native
home. They all strived to make as much money as possible, and be able to send
as much as they could home to their families. The remittances that Grupo Union
sent to Mexico, not only helped their families, but also made something
recreational for public use. They sent about $5,000 home to help with the cost
of making a baseball stadium for their hometown, a small desert town, called Boquerón.
With this stadium, they were able to increase the liveliness and economy of the
town. Because of the stadium, Boquerón was more identifiable, and people had a
reason to go. It was luring. Regardless of whether it cost money to attend a
game, money could still be made off of concession stands or booths selling
various items to the public.
The movie as a whole
represents what remittances do for the home country, in this case, Mexico. And
this portrayal could not be any more correct. According to The Los Angeles
Times article, “Remittances, or money wired abroad by immigrants, totaled $2.34
billion in May [2012], up 7.8% from the previous May.
Remittances are
incredibly important for a developing country, especially Mexico, which has a
great amount of people working in America (regardless of legally or illegally).
As seen in the film, “The Sixth Section,” the money the Grupo Union was making
was significantly improving their homeland. Though, the whole system of
remittances is not all good. The Mexicans who come to the U.S. to work so they
are able to send money home experience brutal conditions, racism and slave like
labor, in which they work much more than 40 hours a week, and are not always paid
what they deserve. In the end though, these people have a goal. They live in
the U.S. to help their families, and that is what they are doing. Do you think
the men of the Grupo Union would be as inspired and motivated to come to the US
in order to make money and send remittances home, if they did not have a
family back home in Mexico?
I like the way you used the movie we watched in class to explain remittances. You also made very good points on how remittances stimulate economies abroad and help make a difference in the "homelands".
ReplyDeleteYour post is very informative and shares a lot of comparison to the film which shows your attentiveness. You stated that with more money comes "more possibilities and more safety", but those that are working in America to create the remittances to send are experiencing unsafe conditions that may be worse than those in their home countries. Also, increased recognition is not always a good thing. Yes the building of the stadium brought recognition and people to the town, they left not to far after, and took the hype of the stadium with them.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very interesting how Mexico depends on U.S for a big portion of their economy. I also liked the way you used the movie to explain, it helped me understand it much easier. I find it interesting how if it weren't for group union their hometown in Mexico would not have many of the things they have today. I love the way they started by helping their families and ended up helping the whole community.
ReplyDeleteI like that you focused on the fact that remittances are an incredible economic part of the countries we leave behind. We often think that we are just send money to our families, trying ot help them out. But instead we are actually contributing to the economy of our country. .
ReplyDelete