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johnrossbowie · 4 years ago

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LEAVING TWITTER

I wrote this earlier in the fall, before the election, after dissolving my Twitter account. I wasn’t sure where to put it (“try up your ass!” – someone, I’m sure) and then I remembered I have a tumblr I never use. Anyway, here tis.

How do you shame someone who thinks Trumps’ half-baked policies and quarter-baked messaging put him in the pantheon of great Presidents? How do you shame someone so lacking in introspection that they will call Obama arrogant while praising Trump’s decisiveness and yet at the same time vehemently deny that they’re racist? How do you shame someone for whom that racism is endearing and maybe long overdue?

You don’t. It’s silly to think otherwise.

Twitter is an addiction of mine, and true to form, my dependence on it grew more serious after I quit drinking in 2010. At first it was a chance to mouth off, make jokes both stupid and erudite and occasionally stick my foot in my mouth (I owe New Yorker writer Tad Friend an apology. He knows why, or (God willing) he’s forgotten. Either way. Sorry.) I blew off steam, steam that was accumulating without booze to dampen the flames. Not always constructive venting, but I also met new friends, and connected with people whose work I’ve admired for literal decades and ended up seeing plays with Lin-Manuel Miranda and hanging backstage with Jane Wiedlin after a Go-Go’s show and exchanging sober thoughts with Mike Doughty. When my mom passed in 2018, a lot of people reached out to tell me they were thinking of me. This was nice. For a while, Twitter was a huge help when I needed it.

I used to hate going to parties and really hated dancing and mingling, but a couple of drinks would fix that. Point is, for a while, booze was a huge help, too.

But my engagement with Twitter changed, and I started calling people my ‘friends’ even though I’d never once met them or even heard their voices. These weren’t even penpals, these were people whose jokes or stances I enjoyed, so with Arthurian benevolence I clicked on a little heart icon, liked their tweet, and assumed therefore that we had signed some sort of blood oath.

We had not. I got glib, and cheap, and a little lazy. And then to make matters much worse, Trump came along and extended his reach with the medium.

There was a while there where I thought I could be a sort of voice for the voiceless, and I thought I was doing that. I tried very hard to only contribute things that I felt were not being said – It wasn’t accomplishing anything to notice “Haha Trump looks like he’s bullshitting his way through an oral report” – such things were self-evident. I tried to point out very specific inconsistencies in his policies, like the Muslim ban meant to curb terrorism that still favored the country that brought forth 13 of the 9/11 hijackers. Like his full-throated cries against media bias performed while he suckled at Roger Ailes’ wrinkly teat. Like his fondness for evangelical votes that coincided with a scriptural knowledge that lagged far behind mine, even though I’m a lapsed Episcopalian, and there is no one less religiously observant than a lapsed Episcopalian. But that eventually gave way to unleashing ad hominem attacks against his higher profile supporters, who I felt weren’t being questioned enough, who I felt were in turn being fawned over by theirdim supporters. If you’re one of these guys, and you think I’m talking about you, you’re probably right, but don’t mistake this for an apology. You suck, and you support someone who sucks, and your idolatry is hurting our country and its standing in the world. Fuck you entirely, but that’s not the point. The point is that me screaming into the toilet of Twitter helps no one – it doesn’t help a family stuck at the border because they’re trying to secure a better life for their kids. It doesn’t help a poor teenager who can’t get an abortion because the party of ‘small government’ has squeezed their tiny jurisdiction into her uterus. It doesn’t help the coal miner who’s staking all his hopes on a dying industry and a President’s empty promises to resurrect it. I was born in New York City, and I currently live in Los Angeles. Those are the only two places I’ve ever lived, if you don’t count the 4 years I spent in Ithaca[1]. So, yes, I live in a liberal bubble, and while I’ve driven across the country a couple of times and did a few weeks in a touring band and am as crushed as any heartlander about the demise of Waffle House, you have me dead to rights if you call me a coastal elitist. And with that in mind, I offer few surprises. A guy who grew up in the theater district and was vehemently opposed to same-sex marriage or felt you should own an AR-15? THAT would be newsworthy. I am not newsworthy. I can preach to the choir, I can confirm people’s biases, but I will likely not sway anyone who is eager to dismiss a Native New Yorker who lives in Hollywood. I grew up in the New York of the 1970s, and that part of my identity did shape my politics. My mom’s boss was gay and the Son of Sam posed a realistic threat. As such, gays are job creators[2] and guns are used for homicide much more often than they are used for self-defense[3]. I have found this to be generally true over the years, and there’s even data to back it up.

“But Mr. Bowie,” you might say, though I insist you call me John - “those studies are conducted by elitist institutions and those institutions suck!” And again, I am not going to reason with people who will dismiss anything that doesn’t fit their limited world view as elitist or, God Help Us, fake news. But the studies above are peer-reviewed, convincing, and there are more where those came from.

“But John,” you might say, and I am soothed that we’re one a first name basis - “Can’t you just stay on Twitter for the jokes?” Ugh. A) apparently not and B) the jokes are few and far between, and I am 100% part of that problem.

I have stuff to offer, but Twitter is not the place from which to offer it.

After years of academically understanding that Twitter is not the real world, Super Tuesday 2020 made the abstract pretty fucking concrete. If you had looked at my feed on the Monday beforehand – my feed which is admittedly curated towards the left, but not monolithic (Hi, Rich Lowry!) – you’d have felt that a solid Bernie surge was imminent, but also that your candidate was going surprise her more vocal critics. When the Biden sweep swept, when Bernie was diminished and when Warren was defeated, I realized that Twitter is not only not the real world, it’s almost some sort of Phillip K. Dickian alternate timeline, untethered to anything we’re actually experiencing in our day to day life. This is both good news and bad news – one, we’re not heading towards a utopia of single payer health care and the eradication of American medical debt any time soon, but two, we’re also not being increasingly governed by diaper-clad jungen like Charlie Kirk. Clouds and their linings. Leaving Twitter may look like ceding ground to the assclowns but get this – the ground. Is not. There.

It’s just air.

There are tangible things I can do with my time - volunteer with a local organization called Food On Foot, who provide food and job training for people experiencing homelessness here in my adopted Los Angeles. I can give money to candidates and causes I support, and I can occasionally even drop by social media to boost a project or an issue and then vanish, like a sort of Caucasian Zorro who doesn’t read his mentions. I can also model good behavior for my kids (ages 10 and 13) who don’t need to see their father glued to his phone, arguing about Trumps incompetence with Constitutional scholars who have a misspelled Bible verse in their bio (three s’ in Ecclesiastes, folks).

So farewell Twitter. I’ll miss a lot of you. Perhaps not as badly as I miss Simon Maloy and Roger Ebert and Harris Wittels and others whose deaths created an unfillable void on the platform. But I won’t miss the yelling, and the lionization of poor grammar, and anonymous trolls telling my Jewish friends that they were gonna leave the country “via chimney.” I will not miss people who think Trump is a stable genius calling me a “fucktard.” I will not miss transphobia or cancelling but I will miss hashtag games, particularly my stellar work during #mypunkmusical (Probably should have quit after that surge, I was on fire that night, real blaze of glory stuff I mean, Christ, Sunday in the Park with the Germs? Husker Du I Hear A Waltz? Fiddler on the Roof (keeping an eye out for the cops)? These are Pulitzer contenders.). Twitter makes me feel lousy, even when I’m right, and I’m often right. There’s just no point in barking bumperstickers at each other, and there are people who are speaking truth to power and doing a cleaner job of it – Aaron Rupar, Steven Pasquale, Louise Mensch, Imani Gandy and Ijeoma Oluo to name five solid mostly politically based accounts (Yes, Pasquale is a Broadway tenor. He’s also a tenacious lefty with good points and research and a dreamy voice. You think you’re straight and then you hear him sing anything from Bridges of Madison County and you want him to spoon you.). You’re probably already following those mentioned, but on the off chance you’re not, get to it. You’ll thank me, but you won’t be able to unless you actually have my email.

_______

[1] And Jesus, that’s worse – Ithaca is such a lefty enclave that they had an actual socialist mayor FOR WHOM I VOTED while I was there. And not socialist the way some people think all Democrats are socialist – I mean Ben Nichols actually ran on the socialist ticket and was re-elected twice for a total of six years.

[2] The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, “America’s LGBT Economy” Jan 20th, 2017

[3] The Violence Policy Institute, Firearm Justifiable Homicides and Non-Fatal Self Defense Gun Use, July 2019.

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enigmasalad · 7 years ago

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Of Benders and Bonding chapter 3

So it had been about two months since Virgil joined them. During those two months Roman and Virgil were insulting each other and argued a ton. To be honest Roman was getting frustrated with the youngest member. For instance the said person once threw a snowball at Roman to wake him up two hours too early. He also tended to be rather melancholy or negative. One time the shortest route to the nearest town was to go through an area known for the amount of bandits attacks. They were ready to go when Virgil stopped them and argued with everyone about going the longer and safer route even though everyone knew how to fight. It took them two extra and unnecessary days to get to the town. However it wasn't all unpleasant. In fact he learned a few things about Virgil. Only a few though. The punk was still rather secretive.

The first was that despite not remembering his birthday he knew how old he was by counting the winters. He was eighteen years old. That meant he was two years younger than Roman, five years and a quarter younger than Logan and one month short of six years younger than Patton. The next thing was that he liked to be alone when he could. When they needed supplies Patton and Roman volunteered to go with him but he refused and went alone. He came back practically dumping everything on his bed because it was too much, but he ignored the “told ya so”s. The thing Patton found out was that when Virgil did water bending he liked to take his shoes off. Virgil claimed he didn't want the feeling of soaking wet shoes if he was able to prevent it. His favorite thing to do was use ice in his bending. He could make a mini blizzard swirl around him as he and Patton sparred. Of course he practiced with normal water the most. He looked at the most peace when water would swirl around his thin, pale form. And boy was he flexible. He scared Logan once by bending all the way back and crawling like some sort of fucked up demon at him. Patton tried imitating Virgil but ended up having to be healed by the man since he pulled a muscle really badly. Eventually they just took the poor man to a doctor. Luckily Patton recovered within a few days. Roman now decided to keep an eye on Virgil just in case he pulled any more pranks. This guy was a total asshole sometimes.

Now they were in a middle of a festival of a bigger town. There was lanterns and music and men and women in special clothing dancing. Children laughed, played and begged their parents for sweets or to play games. Roman and Patton were definitely enjoying it but were stopped when they realized Logan and Virgil were missing. They looked for ten minutes before finding them in a more secluded area. Virgil was on the ground and Logan was talking to him.

“There we go. Good, good. Keep breathing like that.”

Patton rushed over and immediately asked Logan what was wrong. Patton tried to go hug the poor guy but Logan stopped him by gently grabbing his arm. Logan explained that as Roman and Patton went ahead he noticed Virgil was gasping and lagging behind. When he asked Virgil if he was alright he didn't respond. He just shook his head. Judging by the symptoms Logan figured it was a panic attack. He immediately moved Virgil to a street away from the festival and began trying to get Virgil to breathe.

“Why didn't you tell us?” Roman asked once Virgil calmed down. It took maybe fifteen minutes.

“What?” Virgil asked.

“That you get panic attacks. We would have tried to help you.” Patton said, worry on his face.

Virgil actually scoffed. He didn't say anything. Just scoffed. Roman knew it was a little early for him to trust them but woah! There's such thing as proper behavior. They returned to the hotel and left Virgil alone for the night. When daybreak came Logan made it aware that they should get supplies before they left the town. Of course Patton came to Roman and Virgil's room and asked if they wanted to come. Roman agreed because this was a new place. New places meant adventures! Plus they could possibly help someone in need. Helping people is what heroes and royalty do after all!

“Have fun. Don't come back anytime soon.” Virgil grumbled from under the covers of the bed he was in.

“Aw Virgil! Come on! This will be fun!” Patton encouraged as he came over and put a hand on Virgil's shoulder.

Virgil actually turned and hissed at Patton. He hissed like an angry cat. Roman wanted to laugh a bit cause it was kind of hilarious, but on the other hand this guy just hissed at one of his closest friends.

“Alright kiddo I'll leave ya alone. You need anything while we're out?” Patton asked.

“No.”

“Alrighty! Well we'll see you for dinner. Get some breakfast and lunch while we're gone okay?”

“Whatever.”

With that Roman left with Patton. As they walked to the place they promised to meet Logan at Roman asked Patton something.

“You called him kiddo? Are you trying to make him mad? He'll eat your soul!” Roman said with slight distress.

“I'm just trying to make him know we care! You catch more butterflies with honey than vinegar right? He obviously hasn't had many people care about him so..” Patton explained with a smile.

“...No more adopting kids. You already have many at home.”

“But he doesn't have a family! Besides Missy, Pranks and Story wouldn't mind a new friend. Everyone deserves to have a father figure after all! Also three isn't a lot.” Patton argued with a laugh.

“Patton, these are kids borderline teenagers. You'd be adopting an angsty teen slash adult. Four “kiddos” you'll look after.” Roman said with a sigh.

“And? Four is a small number Y'know.”

“Sometimes I am confused by your logic.” Roman said with a sigh but he had a slight smile none the less.

“You should be. Logan is the one with logic, not me!” Patton replied with a giggle.

Soon they met up with Logan and they explored the market and shops together. Patton tried encouraging Logan to buy some sweets but for once Logan managed to resist the puppy eyes.

“Patton lets focus on supplies for now. If we have enough left over I will let you have two pieces of candy. Only two.” he said.

“Can it be four?” Patton asked.

“Two.”

“Three?”

“Two.”

“Three so you get one and I get one and we each get half of a candy?”

“Two. I don't like sweets.”

“Okaaaaaay.” Patton sighed with a slight pout. However he wasn't sad.

“If need be I'll buy you five Patton.” Roman said while smirking at Logan. Roman loved making Logan furious just as much as he liked annoying Virgil.

“Yay! Thanks Roman!” Patton said as he gave his friend a quick hug.

Logan flipped Roman off when Patton wasn't looking. Roman in return was slightly offended and made a slight noise to show it.

“Wow. Rude.”

When they got to the market place they got to work. Luckily all of them knew how to get good bargains. Logan added the logic in things while Patton and Roman used their charisma to seal deals. Luckily quite a few of the merchants at the stalls complied. They were able to get needed supplies like dried and preserved food and medical supplies (by Logan's request.) Then they stopped for lunch at a tea shop. Roman knew that Logan liked tea quite a bit and would probably order something new and maybe request some for the road. However Patton didn't like tea at all and would probably just order water or some fruit juice. Roman enjoyed some teas himself so if there was a good tea on the menu he might order it. Soon a waitress came by and they ordered their drinks.

“Logan I told you ginger was a bit spicy!” Patton said with a laugh.

The man's face was burning red but still collected. However when he spoke he just coughed.

“So how does it taste Logan?” Roman asked with a smirk.

“Oh this is worse than alcohol.” he managed to say. His voice was kind of raspy and wrecked.

After a rather nice lunch they decided to check the weapons store. For fun of course. Weapons were expensive after all. Plus Roman was the only one who really used anything. Patton had a dagger yes but he seldom used it for combat purposes. Instead the air bender used it to chop up foods or similar+ things, much to Logan's dismay. As they walked they noticed a small crowd of people were running away screaming. They obviously were coming from..somewhere. Roman knew this meant danger so he pulled out his sword.

“C'mon! People might need help!”

He didn't need to tell Patton and Logan twice. They followed the opposite direction where the citizens were running from. This part of the market was kind of wrecked. There were shards of ice embedded in the ground here and there. However Roman did not expect to see what he saw. There were people in black masks and outfits with swords and daggers. A few were bending with fire and earth as well. A few injured villains were on the ground in pain or just unconscious. However the biggest surprise was who they were fighting.

It was Virgil.

Virgil's face was paler than usual and was enveloped in fear and anger. His finger tips had formed ice claws and he was swiping like an aggressive cat to the villains. He also had a pretty bloody cut on his cheek but it didn't look deep. The young adult used his skills in agility and flipped and twirled away from fire, rocks and blades. Even though he was fighting back a good amount the bad guys were just full of energy. Roman rushed in as a person behind Virgil was about to strike. He blocked the attack of the person's dagger with his sword and managed to disarm them.

“Wha-”

“Save it for later emo nightmare.”

Roman noticed Logan and Patton were also busy with their fair share of villains. Logan centered himself and flicked his wrist up. A dark chunk of earth and rock rose up from the ground with ease. He then round housed kicked it into three of the black masked people. They fell and Patton used that opportunity to force a massive blast of air to send the three into a stone wall. Then Patton leaped onto a column of earth that Logan had raised and spun around, creating a small windstorm. Of course the childish man looked pleased and was smiling while he did it but still. He could do some damage. Two more people were swirled around and hit the same wall their buddies had at least three times before going limp. They obviously weren't dead.

“Alright this is a little more than what we usually go against but we can succeed!” Patton encouraged as he wiped the dust from his hands onto his pants.

Roman took on a person with twin daggers head on. Good thing the person didn't seemed too experienced with those kinds of weapons so he easily parried the person into a corner. When the villain realized their situation they pounced at Roman with all they had. Unfortunately for them Roman had a trick up his sleeve. With one swift motion a blast of fire came out of his hand and sent the fool flying in to the air. To further this person's injury, a stray bit of rock from Logan came and crashed into them as they were falling, sending them into a wall. They were actually embedded in the wall.

“Geez Logan! Try not to kill them! We need information from them!” Roman said.

Logan just rolled his eyes and stamped his foot on the ground. It brought up another chunk of earth. Roman dodged the chunk as it flew into someone behind him. He noticed Patton and Virgil were working together. They used their skills in agility and bending and were utterly decimating the masked people. Virgil leaped over Patton and drop kicked an unsuspecting villain while Patton blew incoming rocks away with a defensive move. Roman decided to go help them since the majority of the enemies were over there. He jumped onto a chunk of earth Logan was raising and leaped into the ground of enemies with his sword above his head. He landed onto someone and as they fell he used the leverage to leap onto another person, who was going to (unsuccessfully mind you) use their sword on Patton.

“Aw thank you!” Patton said as he sent a blast of air into a couple of enemy earth benders.

Virgil rolled his eyes at the two and back flipped onto an enemies shoulders and leaned back, sending the unbalanced person backwards. However Virgil caught himself with his hands and used his legs to fling the person into one of their friends. Roman used that distraction to pick off the ones near by with simple fire bending. The last guy though got a special treat. Roman swung his sword skillfully and it sliced the person's chest. It was probably painful but the poor soul would live.

Eventually all of the black masked baddies were on the ground unconscious or with injuries that made them not able to get up. Patton, Logan and Roman briefly congratulated each other while Virgil stormed over to a person who was sitting against one of the stone walls.

“Who sent you? Why did you attack me?” He asked while leaning down.

The person grabbed Virgil's water bending necklace and tugged, obviously still wanting to fight. Virgil's face suddenly became a mix of panic and fury. He struggled for a second before kicking the man unconscious. He then backed away and was examining the piece of jewelry like it was his life force in an object. Soon he sighed in relief and turned to the other guys.

“I...think we should leave here. It's not safe.” he suggested.

“Huh? But we vanquished the villain!” Roman said.

Virgil shook his head.

“No. These guys are part of a dark network that Ringman is buddies with.”

Virgil looked really uneasy. Like he knew something. Or he was remembering something.

“You guys might be safer if I left. You don't deserve to be involved in this.” Virgil said.

“Wait what? No you don't have to leave.” Roman said in shock.

“It would be unwise Virgil. You were overwhelmed when we found you. If you left who knows what would happen. As a team we should come up with a more probable and realistic solution than that.” Logan added.

Virgil looked like he was going to argue back but Patton just put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him.

“We're a family Virgil. If there's a way to keep all of you safe I would happily take it. We help each other.”

With that Virgil went quiet. That seemed to be the cue to go back to the hotel room. The walk along the way was too quiet to be comfortable. Patton moved from having his hand on Virgil's shoulder to having his arm around the poor guy. It seemed somber and quiet before Patton suddenly stopped.

“We should go to Thomas! He'll get people to stop them!” Patton said with a grin.

“That...isn't a terrible idea Patton.” Logan said in agreement.

Virgil looked at Patton and sighed.

“You all would be safer if you left me behind. You would probably be killed before we even get to the fire nation.Besides I don’t want the Fire Emperor involved in this. Seems rather pathetic.”

“Nonsense! What do you take us for? Weaklings? Also Thomas is extremely caring to all people. All of them.” Roman said with a grin.

“Bu-”

“Then to the Fire Nation we go. There's no stopping us!” Roman declared.

Patton cheered and pulled Virgil into a hug. The other male was too tired to protest so he just let himself be hugged. That's when Logan spoke up.

“Wait how bad is the hotel room?”

#sanders sides #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfic #roman sanders #prince sanders #virgil sanders #anxiety sanders #logan sanders #logic sanders #patton sanders #morality sanders #prinxiety #logicality #Thomas Sanders

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cleopatrarps · 6 years ago

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As Mexico Election Nears, Call for Change Finds Wider Audience

AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico — If there is a case to be made for preserving Mexico’s status quo, the citizens of Aguascalientes would seem to be the ones to make it.

A new Nissan plant is hiring for the night shift, and trains loaded with mechanical parts clatter north to the Texas border and beyond. Factory jobs abound, the crime rate is low, and even in the long-neglected eastern heights, a glass-walled public swimming pool crowns a sloping ribbon of parkland.

But as the presidential election nears, the discontent driving voters in the rest of the country has spread even to Mexico’s central manufacturing belt, despite its buoyant economy. The national rage over corruption that is imperiling the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party has taken hold in Aguascalientes, and citizens who could once be counted on to vote conservatively now appear ready to flip.

That helps explain the changing political fortunes of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the populist presidential candidate. In his last two runs presidential runs, Mr. López Obrador barely registered here. This time, newfound support from voters in regions like Aguascalientes appears to be adding to his lead days before the July 1 vote.

Mr. López Obrador, 64, a former Mexico City mayor, has been campaigning on a vow to bring down what he calls the “mafia of power” and to battle Mexico’s entrenched inequality. The promises go hand in hand: His government will recover billions lost to corruption and waste, he vows, and steer that money back into social programs.

It is an argument that resonates with Martín González, 53, a worker at a German-owned plant in Aguascalientes that makes engine parts. He said he planned to vote for Mr. López Obrador.

Government help does not reach the people who need it most, Mr. González said. “What we see is that the only ones who benefit these days are those who work in the government — they steal it all,” he said.

Mr. López Obrador’s opponents argue that his policies would drive Mexico back to the disastrous 1970s, when populist presidents borrowed, spent and stole billions, plunging the country into debt and hyperinflation.

Given their source, though, those warnings ring hollow to many Mexicans. President Enrique Peña Nieto, who is limited to a single term by law, has led a government many Mexicans now equate with corruption — one that awarded government contracts to cronies and turned a blind eye to governors now accused of pocketing tens of millions of dollars.

The president’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI, picked a technocrat, José Antonio Meade, as its candidate because he was untainted by scandal. But he appears to be lagging in third place.

The conservative National Action Party, or PAN, which governed Mexico for 12 years before Mr. Peña Nieto took office, has suffered its own scandals and was seen as ineffective during its time in power.

Mr. López Obrador has offered few concrete details about how he will fight corruption. But he has convinced many that he will put a stop to the impunity, among them his supporters at the unionized engine parts plant.

“To be a politician was to be untouchable,” said Alejandro de Jesús Peña Ibarra, 32, a co-worker of Mr. González’s. “But if you start to place limits, then they will learn that they are no longer emperors.”

Francisco Abundis, the director of the polling firm Parametría, argues that anger over corruption looms over every other campaign issue. “The perception is that something has been taken from you,” he said. “You don’t know how, or how much, but you feel it.”

That leads to the suspicion that anyone who has climbed up the ladder may have benefited from questionable help during the ascent.

“It’s no longer a question of whether I am doing well,” Mr. Abundis said, explaining why a protest candidate has advanced in a region that is relatively prosperous. It’s “how is the person next to me doing — and what is the reason for it?”

State polling is poor, but one estimate by the election site Oraculus suggests that Mr. López Obrador and the PAN candidate, Ricardo Anaya, are running about even in Aguascalientes.

“We want a change now,” said Ana María Andrade, 31, a mother of two girls whose husband works in the plant. “The others have had plenty of opportunity and they did not improve the country.”

Neither she nor any of her 12 brothers and sisters voted for Mr. López Obrador in the past. Now, Ms. Andrade said, most of her family have thrown their support behind him. “Everybody is tired of the same promises,” she said.

That fatigue seems to be driving others who have switched allegiances.

“We are aware that López Obrador isn’t coming to save the world,” said Rosa María Romero Centeno, 59, a retired kindergarten teacher. “We just simply would like to teach the other parties a lesson.”

Mr. López Obrador has won support from retired and current teachers, she said, who are suspicious of a five-year-old education overhaul they believe was intended to cut jobs.

Her husband, Eduardo Antuna Villanueva, 63, a retired government employee, said that the failure of rule of law prompted him to support Mr. López Obrador, although nobody else in his social circle agreed with him.

“It’s a step towards no longer being so corrupt,” Mr. Antuna said, brushing off the allegations that Mr. López Obrador would create chaos. “He has matured.”

Other remains unconvinced.

“How many times has he run and how many times has it gone badly for him?” said Misael Salazar Macías, 42, a farmer in Pabellón, a nearby municipality where the city’s sprawl gives way to rolling cornfields. Mr. Anaya’s promise to lower the cost of fuel won his vote.

Mr. Salazar’s wife, Rosa Elena Macías Ramírez, 43, is still undecided. “Governments come and go, come and go,” she said. “They always forget the countryside.”

Some voters believe that Mr. López Obrador will destroy the economy.

“He is a socialist, he has communist tendencies,” said Francisco Gutíerrez Jiménez, 72, who sells raw milk from canisters on his pickup truck and plans to vote for the PRI even though “all politicians are thieves.”

If corruption is the campaign’s overriding concern — along with security in the hardest-hit states — the economy is also a worry.

Beneath the surface in Aguascalientes, there is a sense that the economic boom is leaving workers behind. Across Mexico, real wages have stagnated over the past decade, according to a study by El Colegio de México, and Aguascalientes is no exception.

A unionized factory worker may earn as much as $20 a day including salary and other bonuses. Savings plans, profit-sharing, free transport, subsidized meals and other benefits add to the overall package.

All the candidates have acknowledged that Mexico’s wages are low, but it is Mr. López Obrador’s arguments that appear to have left the deepest imprint.

“López Obrador would open many doors for us,” said Juan Carlos Álvarez Pedroza, 42, a worker at the parts plant, which pays more than most of the city’s many factories. “People would be valued,” he said, and “there would be an opportunity for better salaries and better benefits.”

Viridiana Ríos, a global fellow at the Mexico Institute of the Wilson Center in Washington, said that despite breakneck growth driven by investment from global automakers in Aguascalientes and the surrounding Bajío region, there were warning signs that helped explain voters’ discontent. “We have confused the term development with the term economic growth,” she said.

Ms. Ríos said: “I think the most important focus of the Bajío has been the game of a race to the bottom, to offer the auto industry the best conditions — years of facilities and tax exemptions — with this goal of attracting more and more manufacturing.”

Instead, she said, “we need to bring the investment we want.”

Job growth is a magnet for migration from poorer regions of Mexico, but that depresses wages. One third of the state’s wages do not meet the government’s basic standard for well-being, Ms. Ríos said. That is up from about one-quarter two years ago.

And in an ominous indicator, the homicide rate in Aguascalientes doubled last year, although it is still very low compared with most of Mexico.

If Mr. López Obrador has finally found support in the conservative Bajío, his campaign faces one additional challenge; persuading some voters to pick any candidate at all.

“Anybody who reaches the presidency will do the same thing — steal,” said Erandi Rodríguez, 21, a stay-at-home mother with a 2-year-old daughter. Ms. Rodríguez said she had made up her mind to cross out her ballot to show her disgust.

“El Peje could make a change,” Ms. Rodríguez said, using Mr. López Obrador’s nickname.

She hesitated a moment. Then her default mistrust returned.

“But he’s not going to do everything he says he will,” she said.

The post As Mexico Election Nears, Call for Change Finds Wider Audience appeared first on World The News.

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newestbalance · 6 years ago