In México, public attention for the security crisis often drowns in a cacophony of screams of over 450.000 murdered since 2006 and 120.000 currently missing people. This week, however, outrage and mourning is present across the nation: in Jalisco state, a citizen collective has found a clandestine “extermination camp” with bone remains and almost 500 personal items. Presumably managed by the Jalisco Nueva Generación drug cartel, Mexican media has begun to report on the carnage that occurred inside, including sexual assault, mass murder, human incineration, and forced recruitment of cartel fighters.
As a nation copes, members of the Mexican diaspora often have to do so in contexts where the country’s violence is not a concern— or, even worse, is romanticised and celebrated (like Hollywood did with Emilia Pérez). In fairness, in such a massive and eventful world, humans cannot possibly care about everything, everywhere, all at once. But a lack of consideration of other contexts may lead to complacency about one’s own, especially if one stands in a position of privilege.
An argument of this nature was made a couple of years ago by Slavoj Žižek, of all people, who asserted that the left should not disregard politics of “law and order”, lest they shun away poor people who are disproportionately affected by crime and violence. After all, if progressives (with the crucial exception of anarchists) celebrate the role of the state in providing public goods such as healthcare, why should it not be the same with public safety?
In political debates about public safety and beyond, it is not inherently wrong to speak from a position of privilege. But to be unaware of it is intellectual malpractice. For this reason, every once in a while, it would serve us all well to pay attention to countries like México.
Rodrigo holds a BSc diploma in Political Science and International Relations from Leiden University in The Netherlands. He is also one of the current editors at The Governance Post.
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