Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Mexico - How is your conscience?

Si conoces a alguien que consume drogas ilegales, compra cosas piratas, acostumbra dar mordidas, no respeta las leyes, se ríe de los que sí lo hacen, busca siempre su beneficio sin importarle el de los demás, recuerdale de los 40 mil muertos en México y pregúntale si no le pesa la conciencia...


If you know someone who consumes illegal drugs, buys pirated goods, is corrupt, does not respect the law, laughs at those who do, looks for his own benefit without caring for others, I ask you to remind them of the 40 thousand dead people in Mexico's crime war and ask them if their conscience is clear...


I recently wrote this on Facebook, because I am sad, disappointed and afraid that people just do not care, that they feel defeated and think they are not the problem and cannot be part of the solution. I am afraid of the feeling of defeat that people are walking with. I believe we can start by changing ourselves to influence others and to make them believe that change starts from within.


People use to think that this was just a battle against drugs and the drug cartels, but it is much more than that. This drug cartels not only control the drug traffic and sales in Mexico, they also control piracy, human trafficking, government officials, and many other things.


So stop justifying yourself when you buy a pirated movie by saying they are too expensive, because if that is the case for you, then, it is not for you, you are not part of the target market. Stop saying that you buy pirated movies because the movie industry makes too much money, if that is the case do not buy the product, your biggest vote is with your money, and not giving them your money is better than stealing their product. Stop saying I'll just give money to a government official this one time to get out of a traffic ticket (this may not happen in the US and Canada but it sure happens everyday in Mexico), or to get a contract (construction, maintenance, goods, services, etc.) from the government. 


So ask yourself if your conscience is clear... And once it is, ask the same question to your neighbor.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Montreal is falling apart...

Yesterday morning a part of a tunnel in the Ville-Marie 720 highway in downtown Montreal collapsed, making that part of the highway another traffic hell for which Montreal is becoming famous for. There is the Mercier bridge, the Champlain bridge, the Turcot interchange and the overpass in Laval that already fell down, and now this.

After this I can't understand why is it so hard to find out who commissioned the construction, who the constructor was, what was the estimated lifespan of the construction, when should a new construction be planned and started by, who was supposed to be inspecting the construction and during the lifespan, who gave the green light, who was in charge of upkeep, etc. Then get all those people in court and put whoever is responsible for the damages in jail.

There are probably too many "friendships" and money on the table and changing hands under it to make this happen. Also, the blame game would never end, but I hope that at least the people that built, upkeep, inspect, commission all these constructions remember that they too will have to cross the Champlain bridge, go over the Turcot interchange and under the Ville-Marie tunnels, and hope that something does not fail when them or their families are on them.