March 8, 2011
Merida, Mexico

I’m leaving Mexico.

No, it’s not because I’ve been robbed, beaten, or kidnapped by the drug cartels. And it’s not because some corrupt policias tried to shake me down, because I contracted swine flu, or that beheaded bodies were left in the street outside of my hotel.

Honestly, I’m really enjoying it down here and would like to stay, but I have some important meetings in New York later this week, so I will unfortunately be headed north to brave the cold weather and even colder reception at US immigration.

Before I leave Mexico, though, I want to address the elephant in the room: Mexico’s infamous drug war, probably the most sensationalized, misunderstood issue played out in North American media, right between Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan.

The bottom line is that two governments decided long ago that drugs are a problem and that they need to do something about it. On one hand, the Mexican government expects the US to reduce demand, and on the other hand, the US government expects Mexico to curtail supply.

There are three major problems with this logic.

First is that the governments think they can force the reduction of something that quasi-literally grows on trees. Marijuana and cocaine are more easily grown than Ben Bernanke’s balance sheet– they’d have better luck reducing the supply of stupidity and hypocrisy in Washington.

What most people don’t realize is that they’ve carpet-bombed half of Colombia with herbicides so nasty (thank you, Monsanto) that they make Agent Orange look like a stick of deodorant.  And yet, the cartels still find plenty of land to increase their productive capacity.

Fighting a multi-decades war against plants is just a dumb idea, ranking up there with other such gems as spending our way out of recession, borrowing our way out of debt, and invading other countries to reduce hatred against America.

The second problem is that these governments actually expect to be able to suppress demand. This is nonsense.

There will always be certain personalities who will seek out the high of recreational drugs despite the consequences. Similarly, there are certain personalities who will gamble despite the losses, seek adrenaline rushes despite the risks, or eat Big Macs despite what the bathroom scale says.

To those personalities, their desires are as natural as the instinct to breathe.

There’s no great mystery in the world about the effects of recreational drugs. As dealers say, ‘drugs sell themselves’. Drug users accept the risks because they think the benefits are greater, or they’re psychologically and/or chemically addicted to the product.

This is no different than people who’ve become addicted to aspartame (Diet Coke), prescription pills, sex, booze, exercise, cigarettes, work, shopping, anger, pain, video games, junk food, etc. The chemical and psychological dependencies don’t vanish just because the government decrees it.

The third problem is that the governments even began with the false premise that recreational drugs are a problem and should be prohibited. This is intellectually dishonest: governments sanction all sorts of drug use.

The US government says, for example, that nicotine, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, alcohol, Viagra, aspartame, Prozac, and Yellow #5 are OK, but raw milk, Cuban cigars, marijuana, human growth hormone, and chocolate Kinder eggs are not OK.

Look, I’m not trying to be anti-alcohol or pro-Kinder egg, but the notion that government agencies should be able to choose which substances we grown adults are and are not allowed to buy and ingest is rather anachronistic. And they do a horrible job at it, anyhow.

The FDA is constantly having to recall products that it once approved, frequently reversing its own GRAS (generally regarded as safe) decisions.  Remember Vioxx? Stevia? Avastin? Ephedra?

The agency is filled with pencil-pushing bureaucrats who endlessly circulate position papers, dragging on the approval process for potentially life-saving drugs so that someone who’s already dying of cancer won’t have an adverse reaction.

It’s a fundamental injustice when a corrupt bureaucracy swayed by powerful lobby groups is able to decide what we can put in our own bodies, and then fails miserably at enforcing its own vacuous regulations.

The end result of this fallacy has been playing out in Mexico. Yes, there is violence and crime in Mexico related to the business of transporting and distributing recreational drugs. The violence is often portrayed in the media as ‘turf wars’ between competing cartels.

This sounds good, but it’s not really true. There are far more customers out there than the cartels can possibly supply. Fighting for demand is not the issue… it’s getting supply to the customers.

As such, cartels are either duking it out with each other over key supply routes (which is why most of the violence is in the border towns), or they’re battling the government forces trying to interdict them.

Funny thing, Pfizer and Lily don’t shoot it out in the streets over shelf space for Viagra vs. Cialis. War is bad for business; it’s prohibition that induces the armed defense of logistics hubs and production facilities.

The real scourge on Mexican society isn’t ‘turf war’ shoot outs, but the de facto police state that now exists.

In daily life, the chances of the average Mexican coming into contact with drug-related crime or violence is very low. The chances of being harassed or disrupted by government paramilitaries brandishing automatic weapons in full combat gear is extremely high.

To give you an example, I woke up at our beach home in Tulum last week to a squad of Mexican military patrolling the beach in formation, their weapons ‘at the ready.’ Later in the day, they set up check points on the road to harass anyone who wasn’t white.

Airports are even worse– multiple baggage searches, pat downs, drug dogs, roving infantry squads… all making it more difficult for tourists and legitimate travelers to get in and out of the country.

This is the fundamental issue in Mexico– billions of dollars from the US are fueling a war on plants, and human nature fuels violence and creates a police state.

The violence (mostly localized in border towns) will continue until these countries finally go broke, capitulate, and begin the embarrassing process of reexamining their policies.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

February 4, 2010

Teotihuacan, Mexico

Today I’m writing to you from the base of an ancient, Pre-Colombian pyramid in Central Mexico that pre-dates the Aztecs. Frankly this wasn’t part of my plan at all, but the reason I ended up here has a lot to do with living free.

Freedom is something that I think all people want more of in their lives– freedom of choice, freedom from financial constraints, freedom from bureaucracy and fear, etc.

One of the burdens of freedom, though is knowing what to do with it once you have it.  When the artificial handcuffs are finally broken, what are your real priorities?

In this case, for me, my priority was taking a stand.

You see, I had just spent the last two weeks in Panama– it was a great trip; I concluded quite a bit of business and attended the wedding of a close friend. Now I’m headed back to Thailand to work on a large deal out there that I hope to tell you about soon.

The most direct way from Panama to Thailand would be connecting through Los Angeles. But I absolutely refuse to transit through the United States anymore, unless I plan on staying for a while.

In my opinion, the US border is truly a “rights-free zone,” and it’s something that I simply will not subject myself to, at least on a short transit.  The sneering, the suspicion, being treated like a criminal by some gun-happy bureaucrat… I refuse to participate.

Consequently, when I was booking the ticket for this flight, the conversation with my travel agent went something like this:

Me: I need to get to Bangkok from Panama City on the 2nd or 3rd, what do you have available?

Her: Well, I can send you through LA, and then on to Bangkok after a short connection.

Me: Negative. I won’t go through the US.

Her: Uhhhh… OK… <checking> The only other thing I can do is send you through Mexico, but you’ll have to spend the night. Then connect the next evening through Vancouver, but you’ll have to spend the night again. On the 3rd day you’ll fly from Vancouver to Bangkok.

Me: Sounds good.

Her: Wait, so you’d prefer to spend 3-days traveling rather than take one stop through the US???

Me: Pretty much.

Her: Wow…

Some people might call me stubborn, or suggest that ‘security’ at the US border is for the common good. I don’t buy it, so I decided to take a stand. In exchange, it is costing me extra time, but I have the freedom to trade time for my principles.

After a three and a half hour flight from Panama City, I landed in Mexico this morning without the slightest idea of how I would be spending the next 30-hours.

Unfortunately, it was raining and the weather was miserable… but I have an American Express card. Problem solved. Again, I had the freedom to choose my desires– in this case, better weather.

30 minutes later I was in a rental car, throttling down the highway in the direction where I could see sunlight breaking through the clouds… no plan, no destination, just looking for a bit of better weather. And that’s how I ended up at this pyramid eating the best quesadillas I’ve ever had.

Freedom is a great thing, and fundamentally, this is what our conversations are all about: how to achieve more of it. Planting multiple flags gives us freedom of choice and security; business and investment opportunities give us financial freedom and control of our time.

There’s an old saying that I find absolutely true: “Freedom isn’t free.” Achieving more freedom requires effort, it requires investment, it requires dedication, it requires a long-term outlook. Most of all it requires the will to pursue it.

As always, I’d love to hear your feedback.   What’s important to you and do you have the will to pursue it?  Post your comments below.

Mexico City (DF), Mexico

20 January 2010

My route to Panama has become quite slow and roundabout thanks to a bit of bad weather, and the fact that I gave up my seat on an oversold fight to accommodate a lady who was rushing home for a family emergency.

I am optimistic about this series of events, though, because I have the opportunity to once again put my boots on the ground in one of Mexico’s “most dangerous places.”

Ask a foreigner about Mexico City and you’ll get the “Good God don’t go there!” speech. After all, that’s where they filmed that kidnapping movie with Denzel (Man on Fire).

It’s funny how Hollywood and a few negative media reports can cause completely irrational levels of fear.  The general public is a willing participant in spreading misinformation (thank you, Wikipedia) as most people who render an opinion about ‘dangerous’ countries usually speak out of total ignorance.

To put it plainly, stories of chaos and violence in Mexico are substantially overrated, just like Colombia.  Mexico City, where I am presently, has the worst reputation in the country, but again, this is mostly hearsay and manufactured sensationalism.

Yes, kidnappings, drug trafficking, and violent crime occur in Mexico… just like they do in the US, UK, and Japan.  But Mexicans are no more cast in the throes of criminal violence than the average Italian who goes his entire life without ever once seeing a mafia henchman.

Oh, and lest I forget, the ‘swine flu’ started here as well, further stirring the pot of falsehoods and misconceptions.

Here’s the bottom line– Mexico is one of the largest economies in the world and has an established, stable middle class. People do not hide in their houses from drug gangs; daily “OK-Corral style” shootouts do not occur; and there is no H1N1 pandemic.

My friend Jeff who lives on Mexico’s pacific coast recently had this to say in an email to me:

“You know, Simon, things in Mexico are definitely not how they appear in the American media.  Mexico is a huge country and is as diverse as the US, so to paint the entire country with one brush is simply an exercise in futility.

Honestly I would think that Americans and Canadians are safer here than in their home country.  I’ve lived in Acapulco for 2 years and haven’t personally seen or heard of ANY crime, including basic theft or anything.

When I lived in Vancouver it seemed that about once every month or two I’d have to scatter out of a nightclub with my head down as rival drug gangs shot it out… not to mention having my car broken into on nearly a monthly basis!”

Simon again. If you can get past the stigma, Mexico may be a viable option for you to plant a residency flag.  Personally, there’s no way that I could live here in Mexico City– the endless urban sprawl grates heavily against my DNA, and a country this size has hundreds of better options to choose from.

Regardless of your preference, though, the benefits to Mexico are plentiful, particularly if you are from North America:

First, it’s close to home and has an established infrastructure. You can drive back and forth (yes, it’s safe), or choose to fly to/from several of destinations– Acapulco, Guadelajara, Oxaca, Cancun, etc.

It’s so close that when I used to live in Texas, I would even fly from time-to-time down to Monterrey just to have dinner;  my favorite steak house in the world is located there, and the flight would only take about 35 minutes.

Second, the cost of living is reasonable. It’s not eye-poppingly cheap (go to Ecuador or Thailand), but you can do quite well in most cities for less than $2,000 (US) per month.

If you want to go high-end, premium properties on the coast list in the range of $3,500 to $6,000 per square meter– so a tier-1 ocean-view condo can set you back between $400,000 and $1.2 million.

Third, Mexico is already accustomed to a bit of social and political instability… whatever negative consequences shall occur down the road as a result of dwindling oil output and rising inflation will not cause a systemic failure– instability and economic challenge are nothing new here.

Contrast that with wealthier countries which have yet to undergo a widespread panic and collapse of confidence in its modern history. As strange as it sounds, you might find yourself better off in a society that has experience dealing with turmoil.

I’m often asked to compare Mexico to Panama, which frankly is a great question… I will save that for a future letter, but suffice it to say that they are different options for different desires. More to follow.