Our New Anahuac

On State, Power, The Gringo and the so-called Latino

Putting aside different arguments about the definition of state (government, country, nation, etc.), its purposes should be clear to anyone who cares about the destiny of his or her own people.  The purpose of the state should be to create the conditions for its people to achieve their greatest potential in all possible ways.  The state must create the atmosphere in which the people may dare to aspire to what may seem impossible to them otherwise.  Then it must create the fertile soil in which those aspirations may germinate and grow.

All the resources of the state, or those powers with which the people empower the state, must be oriented toward creating the fertile ground in which the people’s potential, excellence and aspirations may bloom.

At the time the white man arrived in these lands, he already had mastered the concept of the state, of course for his own purposes.  This is one of the reasons why the white man, in both the case of the English and the Spanish, chose not to join or to even create true allies with the states that already existed here.  Those states, the Mexica, Iriquios, Inca etc. were all oriented toward maximizing the potential of their own people.  The white man was welcomed to share, to learn, to become civilized by and even to join these nations.  However, the white man knew that the orientations of these states would never change and would never reorient themselves toward the betterment of the white man. 

All the spheres of power in these societies, such as religion, dance, art, science, education and trade, were all oriented toward maximizing the potential of our indigenous ancestors.  Even with the force of a conqueror, the white man was not foolish enough to believe that he could reorient these spheres of power to benefit himself, nor did he want to.  Who would wish to be part of a state oriented toward the benefit of a different people?

Instead, he chose to remain separate.  Using different policies, he destroyed, enslaved, brainwashed, converted, but the grand strategy of all of these policies was to remain separate and to create or to perpetuate a state which would be oriented toward bettering himself.  He chose NOT to assimilate.  He chose NOT to learn the language.  He chose NOT to go to the established schools.  He chose NOT to become a part of the state in existence.  This has been the grand strategy everywhere he has gone, and look what he has for himself now: a state that has adhered to his own values of maximizing his own potential.

This is notable not because we should copy the white man or become conquerors ourselves.  It is notable because like it or not, the white man has certainly created a state which has allowed him to reach his greatest potential.  He has done so by staying separate from other nations.  It is most notable, however, because we are continually bombarded with message telling us that if we are only model citizens, if we only learn the language, if we only educate ourselves in their schools, we will succeed.  The gringo is advising us to do exactly the opposite of what lead to his own success as a people.

It would be disingenuous to argue that education, assimilation and these other things do not help the individual to achieve lofty things in this society.  In many cases they do.  However, when planning for maximizing the potential of OUR PEOPLE AS A WHOLE,  we must realize that the spheres of power which control the orientation of the state are out of the grasp of anyone who would orient them toward the betterment of our gente.

It is true that we have the power to vote, but that power is almost insignificant in orienting the society properly.  Power rests in the hands of the corporations, the military, the education system, the justice system, the media, and the government.  Without controlling all of these levers of power and more, we will be unable to create a society oriented toward our own excellence.  The people that control these mechanisms are not interested in our potential and our greatness, and they never will be.  When will we, like the white man, realize that societies controlled by others shall be oriented to the betterment of others, then we will be able to claim to have an intelligent view of our political situation.

It follows that we must create our own society and our own spheres of power to be able to create the social orientation which will lead to our highest potential and to justice.