Once again, it’s time to address your concerns, TDVers. As always, we take Friday’s to go through your letters, emails, messages, and missives in order to provide you with the answers you’re so desperately in search of. The answers you’ll only find at TDV.
On to the feedback…
PARTYING AND THE POLICE
Dear Jeff,
I was recently at a house party here in the USSA when the good ol boys in blue showed up to break it up. There were probably 20 people in the house, and yes there was pot and booze, but apparently the big offense was that a few of us were standing outside talking and laughing loudly. If it bothered any neighbors, they could have just simply asked us to keep it down. But instead the overseers came from out of nowhere and for all practical purposes they barricaded the house with 4 of the shiny armored dodge chargers (paid for by people like me). They gave the homeowner 5 minutes to clear everyone out and so we all promptly left having nowhere to go because we were in the middle of suburbia and mostly broke. When I left they left just barely enough room in the barricade for cars to squeeze and they had spotlights on everything. While nothing happened to me I’m still glad they chose not to raid the house and lock all of us further into the system.
From what I’ve read in your articles, it sounds like down in Mexico they haven’t molded to herd mentality. If I were at a simple house party in Mexico:
1: Would we even have to worry about the police showing up at all?
2: If for some reason they did show up, would they try to barricade everyone and threaten the homeowner?
3: If the first 2 scenarios came true, could it just simply be solved with a $100 bill and a case of beer?
Hal M.
Jeff’s Response:
First it sounds to me like the overseers didn't just show up. Odds are that one of your neighbors called the cops on you. The USSA is full of very uptight people, you now…and who can blame them? The place is like a debtors' prison. Americans like to think that they're richer than Mexicans, but Americans are drowning in debt and stressed to the max. Mexicans don't have as much debt — often none at all and they almost always buy things with cash, not on credit — and their culture is just warmer and more inviting period. They greet each other with kisses. They say warm hellos to strangers when they get on elevators. They won't lose their minds if their neighbors get a little loud because they are having a good time. It just doesn't even occur to them to be bothered. And they are certainly not going to call the police.
Mexicans — especially here in a fun-loving town like Acapulco — have a very different opinion of their neighbors' noise than do extremely prone-to-anger Americans living on their rigidly ordered streets and in their cemetary-quiet cul de sacs. Mexicans — and this is a big generalization, but probably completely true nonetheless — are simply happier than Americans.
To give you an example, I asked another TDVer who's lived in Acapulco for over ten years, "Do you think the cops would ever come and bust up a party here for being too loud or roudy or something?"
His reply: "Hahaha, no! During Christmas I will get NO sleep here because of all the parties. But that's the culture and I obviously don't mind. They don't care at all about noise. Just look at the big speakers blasting out on the pedestrians from the pharmacies and clothing stores and such in the street!"
But even if it was true in your case that the police just randomly rolled up on you without any neighbors having called, you can rest assured that that would simply not happen in Mexico! And don't forget that we are in lovely Acapulco. The entire main drag is one long party with various open-air beach bars and clubs pumping dance remixes till dawn. Even a half mile up the hill from the strip you can feel a gentle thumping from the party down on the strip. This is not the kind of place that police show up to harrass people for laughing too loudly on their lawns! And when you consider that everyone here can walk down the street and drink beer…and that Mexico recently legalized ownership of "small amounts" of marijuana…then you must get the impression that Mexico has a much more laid back culture. The cops are mainly for show and to shake down innocent people from time to time. Mexico just isn't like its rabid police state neighbor to the north. The police just don't harrass people down here like they do in the continent-wide US gulag. Just have the sense not to call the police in the first place — like your Mexican neighbors do — and you'll be just fine.
So put that $100 bill away, Hal, and join us in Mexico soon!
HOW TO TRAVEL GLOBALLY WITHOUT BEING EXPOSED TO CANCER-CAUSING AIRPORT (AND ELSEWHERE) BODY SCANNERS?
(We're amenable to manual patdown.) We're advised that even cruise ships use body scanners now! Suggestions?
Thank you.
RB, Gold Coast, Australia
Jeff’s Response:
We NEVER go through the scanner. We find it too submissive and always opt out. We hate the groping pat-down, too…but at least it gives us a chance to look our assaulters in the eye and convey our disgust. It's a little better than passively going into the scanner and standing there armpits-out while they ogle your nude outline from a safe distance.
Anyway, it will be getting harder to avoid scanners. The UK government announced almost exactly one year ago in November 2011 that opting out of the body scanner meant losing the "right" to fly. And in the good ol' USSA it looks like the TSA plans to bring the body scanners "to ferry terminals, railway and mass transit stations, bus stations, subways, highways, cruise ships…anywhere that 'transportation' happens (i.e., everywhere)." And they've been planning this since at least 2008.
Newer machines give a "gumby-like" portrayal of the body, like a chalk outline and unlike the transluscent and true-to-life nude image of the older machines. Even if the new machines aren't quite as humiliating (you still have to stand there in a "hands up" pose in public while government agents scan your body), they are probably still just as hazardous to your health. The debate has been raging for a while and we don't have room to gointo the science here. Basically on one side you have the government saying the scanners are just fine and on the other side you have scientists saying that the scanners are clearly a threat to health with repeated use over the long term. (Government officials love to tell you that the scanners aren't any more dangerous than simply flying at high altitudes where there is less atmosphere to filter out cosmic radiation. But that is not an accurate comparison. The scanners focus radiation on your skin an the organs closest to your skin.) The public mostly (except for the kind of people who read TDV) just go along and do as the nice TSA agent says because the government couldn't possibly be wrong or not care about public safety.
Just a few days ago, it was reported that the TSA has been pulling its backscatter technology scanners from New York City airports. Authorities claim the machines were safe and that they were removed to speed up security lines. But we wouldn't look at this one rollback to set any precedents. Expect the use of body scanners to increase in the coming years and for body scanners to pop up at more and more locations.
Sadly, you have to have your own sailboat, motorboat or airplane in order to get outside of all this…or live in a part of the world that is still years away from even considering this…like Mexico. You could drive or walk across the Mexican border and they don't even stop you much less irradiate you. Alternatively, you could live somewhere in South America or Asia for now.
If you can't afford your own plane or boat…and you're not ready to leave the Western World and its invasive scanning technology behind just yet…then tune into our new newsletter TDV Homegrown. Homegrown is dedicated to helping you find workarounds and coping strategies for your stay in the USSA.
GETTING AROUND CASH RESTRICTIONS
My question has to do with the new law passed concerning the restrictions on cash transactions. How are people coping/getting around this insane law?
I was considering San Miguel as a place to live, but this is just too much.
I think this is all part of eliminating ALL cash transactions and taking us to the chip so they can control everything. If you look around the world, so many countries are instituting these capital controls and bit by bit, they will eliminate cash.
Anonymous
Jeff’s Response:
You're probably right about countries trying to eliminate cash. Governments around the world would love to be able to force you to use their currencies electronically so they can track every single transaction to either tax it or to prosecute in case the transaction breaks one of their countless and insane "laws." But we're not too worried because the new perfect anti-state electronic medium of exchange, Bitcoin, is already becoming more widely accepted by regular folks around the world. You don't need to be an anarchist or voluntaryist or even a true free market capitalist to see the benefits of Bitcoin. I'll be writing about this a bit more next week.
Concerning San Miguel de Allende, our legal correspondent and San Miguel concierge, Jim Karger, is staying busy helping those interested in migrating to the place Conde Naste calls "the best city in Mexico." If you haven't joined the San Miguel de Allende Group at TDV, you should do so. All the TDV Groups in various parts of the world are available for free as a bonus to paid subscribers to our TDV Weekly Dispatch. Just click here to find out more about signing up to either the Basic or Premium service.
As to cash transactions, don't panic. Jim tells us that except for a few transactions, it won't matter to many expats. To that end, early next week TDV will be publishing an article by Jim about the new cash rules coming to Mexico. Be sure to look for it.
And be sure to keep those questions coming! The Feedback Friday fun can't happen without your feedback.
–Jeff Berwick
