In Mexico, Not Dead; Not Alive, Just Gone 

In the article named “In Mexico, Not Dead; Not Alive, Just Gone”,  it addresses incessant citizen missing events in Mexico have become a such urgent issue in Mexico that needs solution in the first priority.

The story begins with a father trying all kinds of ends to find his two daughters who went missing after going to the clubs one night. It has been six years since that tragedy, but the father is still desperately searching every corner of potential places to find his daughters or even their bodies. He had become a man consumed by rage, impotence, and purpose. He spent every day planning his next search for his daughter, his next interview with her friends, his next stakeout of the men he thought responsible. In recent years, the unofficial missing toll for innocent people being involved in the drug violence is estimated amount to more than 30.000 people. Satirically, no official estimate number has been made to announce to the public. Nobody actually knows the precise number of disappearance except for the raw figure because many of the people who are reported missing may never be found again. It creates massive difficulty to actually count the numbers. Their names and details never leave a trace in the modern history.

Nevertheless, only until the time when 43 students who went missing at once on Sep. 26. 2016 has forced the corrupt government and the impotent officials to start the national reckoning. New laws regarding the disappearance cases have been enacted and new system has been in effect. The truth is it has never been helpful. Anti-corruption movement fails when scandals after scandals happen and more journalists being killed in the new laws to protect the nation’s media. No matter what, the father is still calling for the attention and raising money for the scout because, in his eyes, the government seemed incapable of helping citizens.

I think this New York Times article has much in common with the central theme of our class. First, I think, because women are less advantaged in Mexico, they are given less say in this male-dominated society, which as a result, their rights are not properly being protected. Often times, the females are forgetter by the government. Eventually they would become the easy prey for thugs or gang members to take advantage of. Second, government is the culprit behind those endless missing cases happening in Mexico. It is their impotence that leads to the savage actions carried out by those criminals.They know they’re not going to be punished for the crimes. The corruption inside the state political sphere has made itself powerless in addressing issues like this. If the government is willing to involve more into the improvement of the situation, it would have to require the police officers to observe their duties and investigate every case with their full heart. It may sound load-heavy and hard, but it all depends on whether the government has its own willpower to take the responsibility. Further, It is too dangerous for people to have this set of mind that the missing is normal. Once if they do, they would become numb to the situations and be passive towards those crimes all the time. The government should prevent this vicious cycle from happening, otherwise more unwanted results may happen. Overall, the responsibility of a government to protect its citizens is indispensable.