Concerns About Violence

“Prosper”?

In the 40+ years that I have had involvement in the area, I have seen continual “prosperity”. Children born then had little prospect for economic prosperity. Streets in Zihuatanejo were still cobblestone. Electricity was unreliable. Tele-communications were almost non-existent. Prosperity has made those limitations things of the past.

Thirty years ago, people felt secure in their own community, but were frightened by other communities. I remember 30 years ago people in Troncones being afraid of people from Pantla, only about 15 kilometres away. For that matter, people in Troncones and La Majahua were afraid of each other and those communities are only five kilometres apart. The prosperity of the past years has brought those communities together.

Children in Troncones and La Majahua effectively had no access to secondary education. Getting from those communities to the secondary school in Lagunillas was impractical.

Twenty years ago, families in Troncones and La Majahua were largely subsistence farmers, ranchers and fishers. Getting products to market was challenging. As small portions of land were sold for residential and small hotel development, transportation infrastructure improved. Now I see the combis picking up kids who have finished primary school every morning taking them to school in Lagunillas. Their lives are much more prosperous than those of their parents, many of who were functionally illiterate.

Families who had sold unproductive land could acquire equipment to be more efficient and effective in agriculture and fishing and prosperity increased. Children grew up to be not just labourers but business operators. And those who were labourers were able to attract higher wages. I remember working in my yard 20 years ago and a gringo asking, “Why are you doing that? You can pay someone ten dollars a day to do a better job.” Not any more.

I could go on, but I’ll leave it at that, except to say that “prosperity” has costs. When I started my move to Troncones, we had no electricity, let alone internet or telephone. Prosperity has brought cellular service and wifi everywhere. Adults, teenagers, and even children are texting and talking using WhatsApp everywhere.

There was no “road” between Troncones and La Majahua. There didn’t have to be. Neither I nor almost anyone here could afford a vehicle. Now we deal with the noise of cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, etc. from 6:00 a.m. until well after dark.

Prosper? I see and hear prosperity all around me. I might not like all of it, but it is here and I see it accelerating, not slowing.