The spread of disease

In this case, I’m not talking about actual disease; I’m talking about societal diseases. Poverty, crime, starvation, these are things that impact societies negatively overall. In parts of Mexico, these diseases run rampant. Drug cartels, gang violence, and starving citizens are huge problems throughout the country. The poverty is a huge reason why people pour into our country and cause some of the problems associated with it. In the documentary “The Other Side of Immigration,” many Mexicans who have migrated to the US say they do so out of the necessity, not out of a desire to do so. As far as criminals are concerned, much of that violence has already spilled on to US shores. The Southwest States near the Mexican borders many gangs have formed due to the drug trade with supplies coming from Mexico. There have been countless acts of violence against moth Mexicans and Americans on our soil as a result.

To me, even putting aside moral and ethical reasons (which, for the record, I do believe are valid), we have a duty to our neighbors to help them develop for our own benefit. Negative societal aspects rarely stay in one place, they move, and in this case they can and are moving into the US. The beast analogy I can come up with is that of Cincinnati circa the 1990’s and 2000’s. For the longest time, most the poverty and crime was extremely prevalent in only a few areas, Over the Rhine and Avondale and such. For the longest time the problem wasn’t dealt with, so it began to move other places, particularly west into areas such as West Wood, Price Hill, etc. Once they FINALLY started to revive Over the Rhine after the Cincinnati riots, it was too late, the issues were already spreading. I feel that there is a lot to be learned from this. If we deal with the problem at its source, ie: Mexico, then we can stop many of the other problems that arise as a result. If not, then the problems will continue and who knows if we’ll ever be able to stop them. Not to mention, if we help the country improve, then the massive migration tat so many seem worried about will hopefully become something of a moot point, since people will not need to come here to have a better life and feed their families. If it’s true that many only come here out of necessity, then the necessity will be gone and the influx will die down.

A simple objective look at the issue of helping Mexico shows that it’s something that the US must do to fix their own problems. When problems such as these are going on so close to home, you cannot ignore it or resist assistance forever.