Gerrymandering On A Whole New Scale

Apparently the ad below has caused some real anti-Absolut (anti-Mexican?) rancor:

Absolut on Flickr - Photo Sharing!, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

The Absolut ad appeals to the Mexican sentiment that Los Gringos stole a bunch of Mexican land in the bad old days, and wouldn't it be cool to get it back. Especially California.

Some nationalist idiots have actually called for a boycott of Absolut over this.

Yikes. Next we'll have to boycott Indian reservations' gambling casinos if they happen to mention that we stole the land from them, too.

It reminded me of the Jesusland map, made popular after the 2004 presidential elections.

The Jesusland map, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

Does remind you of the Civil War, doesn't it? Or some distant echo of it? Or maybe a map based on where people believe evolution is a scientifically proven truth as opposed to a harebrained theory?

Personally, I am hoping for a gerrymandering toward an EU-like balkanization of North America, perhaps toward something like this:

Nine Nations by Joel Garreau, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

A collection of regional economies, linked together in a larger network, sharing a common currency and various other agreed upon shared conventions, but where different cultures could have their own footing. Maybe one hundred years from now.

But if the democrats screw it up, and McCain wins, I really am going to become a Canadian, or emigrate to Europe.

Note: This is more the sort of post that I would have historically posted on /Ambivalence, but I will be consolidating /Ambivalence into /Message from this point going forward. I am confronted with the prospect of other blogs -- like the Workstreamr blog -- and I am going to remove some duplication. For example, I have been maintaining a Flickr stream of 'foodporn' -- pictures of food and drink -- so now I will will be keeping recipes and other food related stuff in Flickr. I am hoping that someone will create a blogging solution for musicians (or that I will discover one), and I will move my music from /Ambivalence to that. But the other societal grumblings and occasional hunk of poetry or weird stuff at /Ambivalence is going to be shuffled into /Message. Kind of a coming together of the two sides of my brain, which is maybe long overdue, anyway.

Comments

[The Red Pill]

Did you sleep through US History?

America did not steal any land from Mexico. That land was a part of the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo, which brought a formal end to the Mexican-American War.

Mexico started that war when it did not recognize Texas independence and Santa Ana crossed into Texas to take it back. His army was annihilated and he was captured.

Santa Ana was released with the signing of the Treaties of Velasco, which were supposed to recognize Texan sovereignty. But we all know how much stock the Mexican government places in a nation's sovereignty. They completely disregarded the treaty the signed. Mexico continued incursions into Texas, which was now a US state. US President Polk then declared war on Mexico.

That war raged on and the US pushed Mexican forces all the way back to Mexico City. US forces then occupied the Mexican capital. In order to end the war and remove the occupying troops, The US and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo. This treaty gave the US all Mexican lands north of the Rio Grande. Mexico recived $15 million, the US assumed $3.25 million in Mexican debt, and sent US troops home.

If it helps you get through your day to say we stole that land, then more power to ya. But then it will be you who is the idiot, not me.

[Jon Husband]

You'll be welcome in Canada.

I am not sure that Obama or Hillary can do all that much (or want to, actually) to change the longer-term arc of history upon which the USA seems embarked .. but that's just a personal opinion, of course.

[Avatar]

he considering the cool facts i bring on the why such ad exists:

1.- 10% of usa is now mexican or from mexican origins.
2.- mexican inmigrants have been the only thing avoiding the real state market to collapse because that is the section of people who buy more houses. (this reported by a real state agency in the usa)
3.-Mexicans go 3 times to 5 times a week to the supermaket. more than any other
4.-of the 35 million Mexicans in the usa, 10 of them live in california.
5.-all the candidates while looking for the general latin vote, have always given priority to all mexican orgs first in order to get the mexican vote.. i wonder why?, maybe because over 75% of the mexican who can vote in the usa, do so?.
6.- 3 of the top ten most desired women in celebrity list of the past year are from mexican origins. .

i could go on, but i think anyone can get the point. i reply not to you stowe, but to commenter's like "the red pill" .