Those Gringo's Sure are Sneaky. Wait For It.

As many people that read this blog know, I am originally from England and now live in the US, California to be exact. We have many Latinos from different parts of Latin America here. As Mexico is on our southern border, Mexicans are probably the most numerous group, and of course, this state used to be part of Mexico until 1850 losing it in the Mexican American war. California is one of the largest agricultural producers in the world due primarily to everything being imported-----its water, its nutrients in the form of fertilizers and its labor power which is, and historically has been, Mexican, although other ethnic groups have migrated here and became agricultural laborers. A good book about California's agricultural history and its workforce is Carey McWilliams' Factories in the Field. For those living in the East Bay you'll read about pea pickers and others and attempts to organize them There were Sikhs, Japanese, Armenians and, Europeans escaping the dust bowl all here to work.

I tell this story because last night I stopped by and hung out with three Mexican, Mexican/American friends, solidly working class people, the "Salt of the Earth" which is a term my mum would use to describe basic folks. As an aside, there is a famous movie with that title about a strike of Mexican workers. It was banned in the US for 11 years or more as communist propaganda. It is worth watching, dated, but still very relevant today. You might find it in your local library as I did.

Rosa, Ricardo, Hector  (I changed the names to protect the innocent) and me were sitting around in the garage having a beer and chatting and Mexican music was playing on the You tube.  My Spanish is not conversational but I learn a little bit each time from them as they're trying to help me become more familiar with Mexican culture and the immigrant Mexican culture. We talk about our lives, how we came here, what our childhoods were like and so on. We have lots of laughs. There was a video on the computer with this Mexican man dancing to this music and Rosa tells me if I want to be a "real Mexican" I have to learn to dance like this as the man was sort of waving his feet around as well. She showed it on another video about dueling accordions that was introduced by Freddie Fender. I saw a film on Netflix once about a German guy who loved to play the accordion and ended up moving to Mexico because it is so popular there.

The guy in this video above is muy famoso apparently. His name is Flaco Jimenez. I found this clip and it's great and not only that, it's funny and political.

I talked with Jo when I got home about the wonderful time I'd had. I felt like I was immersed in this other culture completely and I shared my aspect on things as well. I felt that way when I was in Baghdad and in Basra as a young man where I sat in a cheap pensione with long haired traders from Goa, but I did have to travel a ways for that. I often hang out with Hector as his English is better than my Spanish but not great so we struggle through the communication web. How lucky I am that I don't have to travel to Mexico to feel like I'm immersed in its culture, or one side of it anyway. Mexico is a huge country with different traditions and cultures.

I watched this film some time ago about an undocumented worker who had to retire after working on

a chicken farm. Being undocumented he couldn't receive benefits despite years of  work. It's a bit slow for some US audiences as there isn't much raping, cars blowing up buildings collapsing and throats being slit to keep people interested. But it's a lovely film as far as I remember.

When I reflect on these wonderful exchanges between working class people that are wonderful experiences and memories for me, I think of that filthy degenerate in the White House. He is not alone in his policies which are nationalist and of course chauvinist. Obama was known as the deporter in Chief and also began the sanctions against Venezuela in order to undermine that regime that was not willing to hand over its state wealth to the US multi-nationals.  Hilary Clinton boasted of the friendship she had with the brutal Egyptian despot Mubarak, he was "like family" she said and Obama only reluctantly abandoned him when it was clear the Egyptian masses were going to rid themselves of him. We now have Michelle Obama cozying up to the mass murderer George W Bush referring to him as her "partner in crime" and a "friend". The ruling class and its political representatives understand class solidarity very clearly.

They are all representatives of capital and will defend US capitalism against its own working class and workers abroad that resist its invasions. We should not forget that workers were often shot for trying to form unions here. But Trump has undoubtedly, as we say here on this blog, brought  the whip of the counter revolution to the working class and forced people to sit up and listen. He has been positive in this regard.  As for his wall, he can stick it where the sun doesn't shine and I'm not talking of the Mariana Trench

But enough of this degenerate. The video is good with some unbelievable accordion playing and funny with it. I think I saw a couple of co-workers dancing in the crowd but who knows. Larry N would find them for sure.