Why Isn't Mexico a Global Power? 

*I think we can all agree that ''Made in Mexico'' sounds a lot better than ''made in china''*

I live in Mexico and there are 2 main issues here and they go hand in hand. Corruption ,and violence. Corruption is such a bit part of society and that it what needs to improve in order for Mexico to improve

Cartel presence in Mexico is no joke or stereotype. As a Latino who has lost family to cartel oppression I can tell you everyone who lives in Mexico is affected by the cartel’s oppressive rule and it is the first hurdle to the country realizing its potential.

I'm British but lived in Mexico for a while. Amazing culture and weather. Good, hardworking people with a strong love of their country and culture. Best food I've ever had was out there. Cartels are quite a big problem but I hope they eventually overcome it as a nation. Lots of love and wishes of prosperity from the UK.

I'm ok if Mexico isn't a global power i would be ok if we just had a good economy and a stable nation

I was born in the US, but raised in Mexico until I was around 9. Political corruption and the cartels are why they've remained stagnant. It's a shame cause I would love to make my second home down there.

I'm Dominican (born and raised in NYC to Dominican parents) and as a Latino, I love Mexican culture, food, music, and the people. I visited Mexico City in 2018 (the only part of the country that I've been to) and I feel in love with ginormous capital city! I plan to visit Mexico again (CDMX again of course and also Puerto Vallarta and maybe a few other places) in 2023. Mexican people both here in NYC and in CDMX are the friendliest and the most hard working of all Latino nationalities. Que viva Mexico!

As a proud American, I can wholeheartedly say I love Mexico, and I hope they achieve the greatest success! They are our brothers and sisters!

The main core here is their government. They really need to abolish the corruption! I wish Mexico’s bright future! Love from Indonesia 🇲🇽🇮🇩

So refreshing to see such a well informed video on Mexico and Latin America. Also really glad to see Mexico without its pre-packaged yellow filter.

our best latin brothers will surpass the issues with us 🇧🇷🤜🤛🇲🇽 Love from Brazil!!!

9:00 - 9:12 As a brazilian I'll say that yes, Mexico does have a notable influence in my country and sereval other latin american nations. In Brazil's case its influence occours mainly from the tv shows that many kids from my country grown up seeing it, such as "Chapulin Colorado" and "El Chavo", both from famous mexican comedian Chispiro. In adittion, Mexican telenovelas are also pretty popular here and mexican artist Fhida Carlo and Diego Riveira are very talked in art classes.

Mexico is a country with a lot of potential

I don’t think Mexicans care or want to be a “global power”. They just want a more prosperous and safe country. Mexico is a wonderful country that I really love. Shame it has the problems it does because the people there deserve better

As a Brazilian i think that mexico has the most beautiful culture between the Hispanic countries even more than their colonizer Spain, they mixed so we'll the Spain refined European culture with the badass aztec culture and formed one the most beautiful countries in the western world, loves from Brazil ♥️🇲🇽♥️🇧🇷♥️

Nice channel man, great amount of detail

As an American, I wish nothing but success for our neighbors to the south. Love you guys and I hope our nations can continue to be friends for years to come. ♥️ 🇲🇽 🇺🇸

If Mexico becomes a developed country it would more like Japan in the way of having soft power and influence by its culture and economy because we have very much potential and we are not in military problems with any county. Just having an army for self defense, as Mexican I would be happy if that is the future.

This is great. The channel Kraut covered this in a TON of detail. A like how you’re providing even more info on this.

Awesome educational video I learned alot from this. Great job

Mexico by far had the most stable upbringing in Latin America and that's saying something, it managed to avoid all those horrible military dictatorships. Update : (This comment is wrong and it's a shame I forgot about it so long ago the most stable countries in Latin America are Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Chile, Mexico is not even in the top ten safest countries in Latin America. I'd say their main challenge is to assert control over their own country and stamp out the cartels. Sorry for not checking my sources just didn't want to miss informing anyone now I know better. Still gonna keep the thread up since people are replying to it even now.

Mexican here. This was a completely accurate video. Scrolling trough the comments we all agree that we aren't really interested in becoming a global power, we just want violence and corruption to end, but it's really depressing to see how the most part of the population always blame the government without paying attention to themselves. Let's be honest, we all have seen someone stealing, doing bribery, breaking the rules. The way I see it is that the population needs a complete change of culture in all those fields, but it is almost impossible to achieve.

I wish mexico to be a more prosperous, peaceful, non corrupt and non violent country from zambia 🇿🇲❤️🇲🇽

This video was great THANK YOU 💚

Another subject I’ve noticed that has improved for Mexico is soft power. Last year, 2021, Tequila became one of the top 3 fastest growing spirits in the world. Mexican alcoholic brands became America’s most imported drinks in the nation, beating German beers and Ireland’s Guinness. Not to mention the recent success in international cinema with the 3 Mexican directors winning best picture and Coco.

During colonial times, Mexico was in charge of the Pacific trade route with China, for centuries it was the only country crossing the Pacific every year, Spanish and even indians from Mexico colonized the Philippines and a lot of stuff ingrained in Mexican culture arrived from this trade route (e.g. piñatas, fireworks, cockfighting, foods, etc.)

There's a lot of factors. Unfortunately _our_ founding fathers didn't think for the long run, this either showcases that they thought "yeah I don't want country I just want someone better to take care of us" or they thought Mexico wouldn't last. Whenever we got the chance of standing our ground, kinda like when our parents tell us to open a savings account instead of spending all our money at once, we didn't do it. You can actually see that example in almost every capital city, the roads and buildings were never meant to be expanded and upgraded but rather sold or demolished. We have a lot of natural resources that the US just doesn't have, yet, because of other needs that we so openly displayed to our imports we now have to kneel everytime someone else wants something, because we never stood strong in a commercial and political stance. We are a very hard working class, even the highest of the top social pyramid are very hard working, and about 80% of our population wants to get rich by working instead of finding a way to passively grow at large (again, because our culture favors the right now instead of the later on). If you go to Mexico and ask a random person "would you prefer $20k US dollars right now, or a guaranteed $150k in 5 years from now?" They will 90% of the time say "give me the $20k now". Add Cartels, a bad reputation for promising and dreaming big but never actually doing anything, and a very corrupted government (I say this because a lot of things that are laws are ignored, even in the day to day, simplest of things that should be enforced are ignored and optional for most citizens) and you got Mexico for the last 30 years (there was a time where the US dollar was at a historical low exchange rate, of $1 US for ~10MXN, today its $20 MXN) and possibly for the next 10 years or so. Luckily this could be fixed if the next generation of leaders and political candidates take advantage of our weaknesses and make stronger decisions on a political landscape where there might be a global crisis or recession. I yearn for the day that I say "I want to stay in Mexico" instead of saying "I want to move to Canada or Sweden, or somewhere else".

I know you say dessert in the whole north but it’s mainly comprised of valley closer to the mountain which makes the land fertile and everywhere you look around is green. It’s honestly really beautiful

I would love for Mexico to develop more, less corruption, more stability, and a good economy would be great for their nation. And I would love better Mexico-USA relations.

As a Mexican, I can say we do not want to be a world power, we just want more prosperity, more equality, zero corruption, zero classism, and more support for the health sector, and the education sector. We just want that.

As a Salvadorian I love my Mexican brothers & wish success for their nation.

What a nice video, good summary, makes me not so angry at the future of mexico

I'm a first generation child with both of my parents are immigrants from México. I will say México can have the potential to become the world leader but it comes down to removing the corruption of the government and the grip of the drug cartels.

Mexican people are literally some of the best people i've ever met and had the pleasure to work with. All my Mexican co-workers are down to earth, big hearted and hard working. I've never had any of them screw me over the past 12+ years that i've worked with them. God bless Mexico, hope to be able to visit the beautiful country.

I love my country 🇲🇽❤️ Viva México!

Love your videos! I hope, as an American, we can improve relations with Mexico

as a Colombian, it's very inspiring to see Mexico doing well, hope they can some day get rid of the Narcos, so we may hopefully follow the same path

As a Mexican I'm glad to see a video that goes beyond the surface things like corruption or poverty cause those are actually the symptoms of all the internal instability Mexico has gone through since it became independent due to other countries invading Mexico and its civil wars, and if you think about it, Mexico has been independent for less time than it was under Spanish rule, plus also missed the industrial revolution because of that and could start developing in that regard around a hundred years after the industrial revolution sparked

Hello! Mexican here. Beautiful video. We mexicans sometimes forget the greatness of our own land and it is heartwarming to hear all of this from someone abroad🫶

Can you do a video on Poland? Love ur vids btw

Mis mejores deseos para los hermanos mexicanos, abrazos desde España.

This is a great series. What about some lesser know African countries that have been improving a lot like Rwanda and Botswana?

As a Mexican this video gave me hope. Sadly I won't be alive when a good change happens.

Man, watching this video and reading the comments has filled me with hope, happiness and a bit of pride.

I hope that Mexico continues to improve, the culture is very warm and interesting, the cuisine is great also, helps living in AZ where we tend to get a lot of Mexican restaraunts, but I'd love to visit some time to get some fully authentic Mexican food. Not that our restaraunts aren't authentic, but I do know that the owners of such restaraunts do need to cater to an American audience here still.

While the jungle may be a limiting factor for a long time, I don’t see the desert as being as much of a geographic barrier as it used to be. Look at the USA, for example. The American deserts are now the fastest growing regions in the country, both by economy and population, as A/C has drastically changed living patterns in these regions. Nevada went from a population of 35,000 to over 2 million in the course of only several decades. Phoenix is now #5 in largest American cities; a few decades ago, it was hardly considered one of America’s great cities. Utah is the fastest growing state in America, with Salt Lake City becoming the country’s new tech capital. The same can apply to Mexico, especially with border cities like Laredo, Tijuana, and Ciudad Juárez positioned right next to major American cities. The border states are already Mexico’s richest and most developed, and Tijuana is already one of Mexico’s big economic powerhouses, especially in high tech industries, due to its proximity to San Diego. Mexico’s future lies in the desert: conquering it with A/C and more advanced dwellings, and using it to get closer to America and develop new high-tech economic sectors in Mexico. The desert is how Mexico can reach the ocean, cooperate with America, and grow into a world power.

Interesting. Thank you!

Interesting video and channel, suscribing

The Mayans didn't "went" they actually remained independent for centuries after the Aztecs fell, and still exist today

I went to Mexico last weekend (Tampico) and it was beautiful. My uncle is well established and his house was soooo pretty even if it was small. We went to Miramar and I already miss it. The people there are so humble, I helped out my grandpa in his little shop in Mendez and everyone claimed that I looked just like my dad when I was his age.

I really don't know how this will go for Mexico. I'm Mexican American and you just perfectly described my family history (parents immigrated during the expansion and now my young professional family members don't plan on moving from Mexico). I see more and more products made there (the push buttons Amazon uses and lots of metal manufacturing) in my years of working in warehouses as the world started to distance itself from China. I'd like to add the amount of investment China has made to Mexico to the point cartel leaders have been vocal about it. The video was able to center less on the cartel and corruption which is usually what Mexicans and Americans 1st think about being a drawback in Mexico; well done. Latinos are a HUGE demographic in the US and I don't see that changing anytime soon especially with them tending to have more kids than other ethnic groups. No one can predict what the future holds for the CUM alliance (we're doing the world cup together for fucks sake! We can no longer be ignored) but I am optimistic about the young Mexican population who is doing a lot better than I expected. They are educated, very conscious, and ready for the change that is about to happen. It helps that those on the other side are willing to help them with their studies and businesses as well as support the elderly so the young can go chase their dreams. Immigration is a heavy topic for Americans and even Mexicans as they grapple with newcomers from Haiti and Venezuela. Some Mexicans are bitter thinking "We were here 1st and have been here for decades, why are they getting asylum?" due to the hurdles Mexicans faced when coming here while others welcome them as fellow Latinos who speak the same language and came for the same reasons and wish to unite the Latino population so things are smoother for everyone involved. Personally I think America will become more strict as even my Mexican American relatives are starting to lose their Mexican identity (less and less speak Spanish and even less speak Otomi, Zapoteco, Nahuatl, or any of the precolonial languages) but I could be wrong as it will definitely grow and now American born Mexicans (who get citizenship through their parents or apply for dual) are able to live, study, buy property, and pay taxes to Mexico, not to mention will vote/act more friendly to the country conpared to the previous generations. Christianity has a firm grip in the culture so much that my father ceased doing traditional Aztec dances when he converted and the old ways and celebration being seen as "sinful" or 'demonic"something I am very glad the new generation is pushing back in, like I said I have high hopes for them. It will be a spectacle to see...if climate change doesn't wipe us out in the next decade.

There are way more indigenous tribes and peoples than the Aztecs so no it is not just a fusion of "Aztec and Spanish". There were the Maya peoples, Chichimeca peoples, Toltecs, and many other groups. Within those groups were subgroups like the Tlahuica were a subject peoples of the Aztecs.

I really hope to see Mexico prosper in my lifetime. I would love for North America to feel whole and safe, where everyone can belong

I pray Mexico will become powerful I greet from Poland 🇵🇱🤝🇲🇽

Solo quiero decir que me encantan nuestros vecinos y quiero lo mejor para las gentes de México. Soy de los estados pero tengo mucho respeto y amor para México ❤

This was recommended to me literal hours after turning in my final paper on the same topic

America and Mexico have had a rocky history but I hope our countries and our people are able to get along better in the future. Love from USA

Mexican and Native history is one of the most interesting histories to me because we know so much about European and Asian history I think that there is still more to dig up about the Aztec other Mezo-American and even Native American cultures and their history

Mexico has so many problems I know the us does too but we don’t have militarized gangs rolling around with tanks/ armored suvs literally waring with their national army and as the country develops the cartel will just have more ways to launder money more ways to invest and then make more money and gain more power so until that gets resolved Mexico will remain a developing nation…. It’s a shame it’s such a beautiful country

I hope it grows, in a good way. As a mexican in that age group you talk about we dont see that much hope, jobs are really badly paid, especially if youre in a creative field like myself, the housing market is awful, no one can afford to buy a house and rent takes most of our income. Also the crime rates in the cities with industries and a chance to grow are full of crime and the threat of being killed, robbed, r4p3d or kidnapped is always present. The dream is to leave this place for most of us, going to a place like canada where you are not afraid of being robbed on the bus and the minimum wage doesnt push you to poverty. I really do hope it gets better :c

Egyptian passing through. This is actually really fun and informative. Just inquisitioned the subscribe button

Mexico has such a nice culture 🇲🇽🤝🇬🇷❤️

Chido video wey y gracias por mencionar nuestra cultura

I love the countryballs videos because in the comments everyone is from another country

One problem is that Mexico is too dependent on foreign investment and doesn't have enough local businesses that keeps wealth in Mexico.

There also was an giant asteroid impact in the yucatan peninsula

I remember going to a village in the mountains as a kid with no warm clothes didn’t expect Mexico to be cold

I am a Mexican (i was born there, grew up there, STILL living there) and as a Mexican, i hope that we and our neighbors to the north and south can live happily as friends, Love from Baja California!

Love Mexico From 🇮🇪

I always want to visit mexico 😍 God bless them our brothers 🇮🇶🤝🇲🇽

This video helps me a lot :D i have a boyfriend native to Spain that has an unclear idea of our culture, this will be handy. And fun fact, Did you know that the first television to ever have color was invented by a Mexican? (Also the comments in this video are so reassuring

It will be in the next decade due to the maya train, ocean corridor and all the other stuff. I move to CDMX from California in 2019 and nowadays there's a lot of Americans and Canadians everywhere. The same in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Monterrey. Glad to see people investing in this wonderful contry that's going to emerge soon😁

One word: corruption. In my research/interviewing people, they’ve said that the government and people who have the money purposefully prevent people from moving up and getting any amount of money. It’s kinda sad and I wish there were more freedoms other than anyone can party all the time. That being said, Mexico is a great place. It’s got good food and music. It’s just the gangs and the government corruption kinda control the country.

2:18 I just want to add something here: the Baja California peninsula started to grow not to long ago from people investing in the land, to even construction of for example hotels, the peninsula is growing.

How did you make a video about Mexico's under performing economy without addressing the U.S causing this instability with the war on drugs? I did enjoy it though I learned a lot,. Loving your channel

Have to jump in here because the desert in modern times anyways is not a barrier to military forces especially with GPS infact its almost a perfect battleground for tank warfare

I could only hope that one day the US Mexico trade relations are like a sibling rivalry where there is respect I and competition between the two but overall it's positive.

I thought in 2019 the US reported México was its biggest trading partner, not the third, but, this was probably made during those months México lost its place since it lost it for a few months before regaining it.

great vid

Mexico would be a powerhouse if the United States would quit, controlling the price of silver on the stock market. They beat down the price of silver with paper derivatives, which kills Mexico's primary asset value. Unchain silver, and Mexico will be one of the richest countries in the world

This explains why I’m starting to seem more “Hecho en México” on stuff 😂

this honestly makes me so happy for mexico, i really hope they're able to clear out the corruption and violence sometime soon to capitalize on their upcoming growth

I was telling my brother this the other day. How Mexico has SO much potential.

We. Need. More. Videos. Like. This.

Mexico really is a beautiful country in almost every aspect, my parents only came to America because of their concern over gangs, crime, and corruption in the government and military, if those problems were solved one day, we would be seeing a glorious rise in my home country.

Super high quality video bro, keep it up!

Spanish didn’t kept us poor. At the time of the mexican independence Mexico was richer than the US. US traded with the mexican peso $ hence the symbol. The casts were as in europe: Heraldic. Mexico had the first university, press and coin house in America, thanks to Spanish

Nice video

You have a way more optimistic view of my country's future than I do. Great video by the way 👌.

Hello, I am from Mexico and I thank you for making this video without all the stereotypes placed, I hope that the United States and Mexico can get along better, I hope that your channel prospers and that you have a great day

Thanks for reminding me that I should not be getting my information from youtubers: - Trying to explain underdevelopment and lack of power projection because major population centers are inland and at high elevation is super sloppy. Acapulco and Veracruz were among the most important port cities in the world for some 250-300 years (lookup "Manila galleons"). How do we know this? A good chunk of Europe's wealth would not even exist without these port cities (lookup "Price revolution"). I mean, there's a reason why piracy in the Caribbean was such a big thing, and you can see how important naval life was and still is by just walking around in cities such as Campeche, Veracruz and Acapulco. Besides, countries such as Germany and France show that you don't need to be a naval-oriented culture to be a world power. I mean, you can immediately spot how wrong the video is by simply contrasting it against current Mexican stereotypes. If there's anything the global North knows about Mexico, that's its beach resort cities: Cancún, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Mazatlán, etc. You can't eat your cake during your next vacation in a Mexican port city and also have it for this video. - Blaming the Catholic church for undermining a strong government is lazy and highly dubious (and I say this as an atheist). You could use the very same facts and premises to promote the opposite conclusion: the Catholic church is among the strongest and oldest institutions in the world, therefore Catholic-majority societies have an advantage learning how to organize strong social institutiosn. Then throw some examples of highly-developed Catholic majority countries (France, Ireland) and voilá, you have an argument at least as good but in the opposite direction. - Saying Mexican culture is a blend of Spanish and Aztec cultures sounds accurate coming from a middle-schooler. It's on a level of accuracy and knowledge comparable to saying US culture is an offshot of British culture. I would have placed more emphasis on the following facts, which are a recurrent theme all over Latin America, not just Mexico: - The Habsburg and the Bourbon European royal families (and the British royal families to some extent, via piracy), exploited the labour and land of natives (and then of the mixed-races that ensued) for a solid 300 years. - As soon as Mexico and other Latin American countries became independent in the 19th century, the United States took over the role of the imperialistic boss. Let's not forget the US stole from Mexico (via illegal occupation and invasion) what now are the 2 richest US states: gold-laden Alta California and oil-laden Texas. Not to mention the US undermined crucial democratic processes in Mexico, including the 1913 coup against democratically-elected President Ignacio Madero (lookup "Ten Tragic Days"), which would have ended a dictatorship in a peaceful electoral process, but instead sent the country into a decade-long civil war (Mexican Revolution) in which 10% of the population died. - The societal power structures of colonial times have largely remained the same. Mexico, like most countries in Latin America, is ruled by an overwhelmingly white elite of politicians, landowners and businessmen; who couldn't care less about the living conditions of the mestizo and indigenous people who work for them and make most of the population. Nor do they care about development, science or innovation. They are happy keeping the country in a state of underdevelopment as long as their families sit at the top.

The "what if the spanish didnt collonize" reminds me of a very good book called Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card (i know its a weird title and its old but the writer is brilliant). It plays with this concept, primarly with the Taino people. Its an odd mix between sci-fi and historical fiction. Definitely a good read for those curious about the pre-columbian civilizations. His other books like his Enders Game serries are brilliant as well.

Our politicians in United States really make Mexico sound like it's a horrible place, but it I always respected the country. Mexican people are awesome, and their country deserves respect.

I fucking love this country tbh, however inequality here is fucking ridiculous, I work and make more than double the minimum wage and that still is like 450USD, and taking into account that we're a fast growing economy seems pretty unfair... Plus we should stop depending on oil, OK bye

Great video, well-researched without falling into stereotypes. Mexico is an emerging economy, and as such, it has to deal with issues that all emerging economies have: government officials and administrators that become corrupt, administrators doling out government projects as favors, greedy and self-serving officials, people creating division and opposition, stealing, inefficiency, incompetence, and labor unrest. All these are problems of emerging economies; multiple countries have been dealing with these issues for decades to no avail. I'm Mexican, born and raised, but I haven't been back to Mexico in 20 years. Hopefully, Mexico's improvement will steady continue, then I'll be back home. 👍

Mexico is def. well loved. During COVID at EPCOT when they had to socially distance the queues, the Mexico pavilion always had the LOOONGEST line out the door to get in. One time it reached next door to the Norway pavilion. No other country pavilion at EPCOT had such long lines, not even close. That to me right there was a testament to the love of Mexico.

Also, another thing that unified the mexicans and the spaniards was mestizaje, "race mixing". Despite being religious fanatics, The spanish weren't as racist as the english or french, as they had had some experience with living with the moors. So when many spanish came to Mexico, especially the lower class ones, they married with the native women and thus resulted into what is now Mexico's majority mestizo population.

happy to see a well written and informational video about my parent’s home country. i consider it a second home since i lived there for about a month or so when i was younger. thank you for the video man😁

i like the brain4breakfast reference with mexico vs the future

this video poses the silliest of questions