I’m not a native New Mexican. In fact, when I first arrived here 60 years ago, other than Pueblo, Apache and Navajo people, there weren’t that many native-born New Mexicans. I happened to marry a couple of them, one of whom was a real history buff, so I learned a great deal about the people, places and folklore.
My hometown is in south Texas – the now infamous Eagle Pass, Texas, to be precise. My parents both grew up there, and we came to New Mexico the year I graduated from high school, when my fighter pilot father was stationed at Cannon Air Force Base. I can’t say that it was a “culture shock,” because by then, I had lived in many different places and cultures, and I wasn’t easily shocked!
But I did expect New Mexico to be very similar to San Antonio, Eagle Pass and south Texas, generally. It wasn’t, not in most ways. New Mexico is, indeed, unique. That’s not always good, but it’s certainly always interesting.
The first thing that anyone would notice about New Mexico is the varied and absolutely beautiful landscape. From ski country in the north to the white sands in the south, from Indian country and Gila cliff dwellings in the west to the farmland and oil fields in the east, there’s something for everyone. And smack in the middle is the only city of any real size, Albuquerque.
But New Mexico, for all its resources, is very badly managed and, consequently, very poor. Since 1930, Democrats have controlled the state legislature all but five years. That’s five years out of nearly 95 years that the Democrats didn’t have full run to screw things up. We’ve elected a few Republican governors, but without a kindred legislature, that’s pretty useless.
In the meantime, New Mexico ranks very near the top of virtually all the “bad” lists and close to the bottom of virtually all the “good” lists. Our schools are the worst. Our children are the poorest. In New Mexico, with our children struggling in an educational system that ranks 47th among the 50 states, teachers (who are obviously not doing the job) are among the wealthiest groups in the state.
The average wage for all occupations in the state is $54,400. Average wage for an experienced teacher is $70,047. Nearly 20% of this state lives in poverty. I won’t bother writing about unemployment rates. The data is useless. No one has a clue how many people have opted out of the job market or how many people there are in the 11 million newly-arrived illegals who are working under the table.
And yet . . . our large middle-class in New Mexico lives very well, in a beautiful place, with a rich history and diverse cultures. It’s a wonderful place to visit, with lots to see and do. We enjoy both winter and summer outdoor sports, great skiing and watching 2-year-olds run at Ruidoso in the $3 million All American Futurity — the world’s richest quarter horse race.
So, while I’ve spent half my life working against and hoping that the Democrat Party would lose its stranglehold in New Mexico, I’ve successfully raised a family and had an interesting career here. I can’t complain. Well, I can, but it wouldn’t ring true!
