The Traveler

How exciting--Hispanic Heritage Month... If there's sufficient time during one of the many panel discussions that will be convened during the celebration, perhaps someone can explain why, if Hispanic culture and traditions are so wonderful, then why virtually NO Hispanic nation in history has EVER provided either democracy or prosperity to its citizens? If Hispanic culture is so great, then why will literally millions of Hispanics risk their very lives in voyages of leaky boats or crossings of desert infernos--just to reach ANY nation founded by white, English-speaking, Anglo-Saxon men? If the United States is so enriched by Hispanic culture, then you'd better explain that to the law-abiding citizens of once-quiet and idyllic towns now plagued by the violent gangs that INVARIABLY accompany Hispanic immigration. While you're at it, please explain why a nation like Mexico, blessed with hard-working people, rich mineral resources, fertile farmland, a benign climate, access to the both the Atlantic and Pacific, and proximity to the world's largest market, is not a developed, prosperous, robust, stable democracy like the United States or Canada, but instead a backward, corrupt, impoverished cesspool that all its citizens wish only to flee? Given the narrow-minded atmosphere of "politically correct" intellectual totalitarianism that now prevails on college campuses, I'm not holding my breath in anticipation that any of the above topics will actually be raised during Hispanic Heritage Month, but these are questions that cry out for answers.
Philip Alan Thompson
B.S. 1976
M.S. 1986