
When I recently purchased my membership in the Mérida English Language Library, included in the first books I borrowed was Trozas by B. Traven. I had forgotten what powerful and haunting images this German author paints of the Mexican peon class.
Trozas are the trunks of felled mahogany trees that are shipped to manufacturers in Europe and the United States. It is a story of the awful lives lived by indentured workers who make it possible for someone to have mahogany in their luxury automobiles and in their homes. If you want to understand the Mexican psyche, read some of Traven for disturbing glimpses and understanding.
Whether it’s a widow borrowing 30 pesos from a local shark so that her husband can have a respectable burial which leads to her ten year old son going to the jungle camps to live and work to pay off her ever increasing debt or it’s a modern day young woman purchasing a $700 designer handbag at the company store now known as the Mall and using a loan shark now called Visa or MasterCard, the result is devastatingly similar. A growing enslavement that leads to a life of hopelessness and despair.
I regret deeply my past involvement is such systems, whether as a boss or an abused worker. I am determined to make better choices in my remaining years.
My name is Paul. I live in Mérida and I am a recovering consumer.



