6/23/22 – 7/5/22

Fear. Fear is a powerful motivator. I remember listening to an interview with the journalist Bob Woodward who wrote “Fear: The Trump White House” and who was the journalist who broke watergate. In the interview, Mr. Woodward described in detail, after spending hundreds of hours with ex-President Trump and his cabinet, that Trump once told him that he believed fear was the most powerful motivator. As much as I fundamentally disagree with Trump and his policies, I do agree with him that fear is a powerful motivator. (Though I don’t think it’s the most powerful. I’ll talk in more depth on that later.)

Fear can control a nation – hence the use of “othering” by ex-President Trump during his tenure. For instance, Mexicans, according to Trump, bring crime and drugs with them to the U.S., and they are rapists. Mexican immigrants, according to this logic, are destabilizing the U.S., because they are criminals. This type of thinking is fear based, obviously. And it is incredibly racist and narrow minded, at best. But, it is great at motivating people to vote at the polls – hence it is no wonder why Trump used the fear of the “other.”

It is racist to believe that Mexican immigrants are criminals, drug traffickers, and rapists because it categorizes a disparate group of people who are primarily indigenous peoples as having the same characteristics. The common bond amongst Mexican immigrants in Trump’s eyes is likely the color of their skin.

In reality, Mexicans are a combination of Spanish descendants, Mixtizos (mixed race), indigenous, and black (African indigenous who were largely forcibly removed from their home lands) people. Thus, Mexicans come in many different races. Yet, when images are shown of Mexican immigrants what do they look like? Do they have lighter skin complexions? Or do they have darker more indigenous complexions? I tend to think it is the later… Most Mexican immigrants have darker complexions. The reason for this is not because people of darker complexions are criminals and are seeking to plunder the United States for its wealth. Rather, the indigenous people of Mexico have faced and are facing brutal colonization tactics by settler colonists (Spaniards and their decedents). Thus, they are attempting to escape from over 500 years of repressive settler colonialism that perpetuates ethnocide, genocide, and the repression of indigenous peoples.

Mexico is full of people that look as though they could be from Spain, and that’s because a lot of them are, or their ancestors were. They tend to be the ruling elite of the country. (For instance, only one President in Mexico has been indigenous: Benito Juárez 1861-1872. All of the other presidents have been mextizo or of Spanish decent.) The decedents of the original Spanish colonizers wield the same power that their ancestors had/took. I use the word “took” because that is exactly what happened. Indigenous peoples of the Americas created immensely complex cities, edifices, canals, food systems, art, languages, and more. Most of their wealth and culture, however, was stolen from them in the past and that same theft is still occurring today.

Enter me and my ride down through Latin America. I have been told by countless people how dangerous Mexico is and Latin America is in general. Both Americans and Latin Americans have told me that my trip is me being essentially reckless. I think this line of thinking is based in fear. Fear of the other. Fear of people of color. Fear of indigenous peoples. Obviously gangs and cartels are a sincere threat in Mexico, but the U.S. is also a scary place – ie all of the mass shootings.

I am engaging in this ride to face my own fears of life. I have been afraid of failure for as long as I can remember. I tend to not put myself in situations I feel I could fail, because I am terrified of the potential of failure. But not putting myself in situations I can potentially fail at is a very effective way to live a life without the potential for growth. By pushing ourselves into the unknown (the slightly scary darker areas) we are able to retain the most growth.

Obviously, fear can be healthy. We need it to avoid the pitfalls of life. Crocodiles, snakes, disease, and the unknown can all lead to death.

It is about creating a balance.

Fear cannot dominate. If it does it will lead to the indigenous people of Mexico being labeled criminals and rapists, even though the absolute majority of them are simply seeking refuge from the devastating effects of 500 plus years of settler colonialism.

Furthermore, fear if unchecked, can keep one in a static state. Thus, leading to a lack of growth. I refuse to allow fear to dominate my life. I will continue my ride – though with caution as I am not naive to the existence of desperation that arises from repression (ie the drug cartels).

The most powerful force in this existence is not fear, it is love. It sounds cliché, as many artists and spiritual folk claim the same thing. But, I believe the proof that love is more powerful than fear/anger lies in the fact that I am capable of writing this blog post. The simple fact that I am conscious, tells me that Creator ([g]od) or love permits me to be alive. If fear/anger were to dominate the universe than I do not believe life would exist. Existence is proof for me that love is the most powerful force.

So, rather than fear, I choose love. Love opens up channels of acceptance. It allows me to make friends when others would not. It allows me to attract positive interactions throughout my ride. And that is all I have experienced so far.