An Argumentative Essay based on Shaylin Muehlmann’s
When I Wear my Alligator Boots
The science behind social development lies on the capacity of humans to become more effective in determining a more distinct indication on what the environment’s impact would be on the ways humans live their lives in the face of social changes. It is expected that with every change happening in the society, it could be noted that development is something that cannot be easily disregarded (Muehlmannn, 2013). People’s response to such changes allows the establishment of modern courses of living and progressive behavior. Anthropologists are often the ones in the front line who are expected to take notice of these changes and become more connected to how people intend to respond to the adjustments in the society they ought to thrive in (Muehlmann, 12). In this presentation and discussion, a clear identification on how drug cartels in Mexico affect the transformation of social construct in the country and among its people shall be addressed accordingly.
Notably, this fact about social changes occurring in Mexico, a particularly diverse community, has been captured in the writing of Shaylin Muehlmann as she tries to address one of the most insistent issues that identify with the constraints of development which includes drug dealing among the people of Mexico. However, instead of following the pattern of seeing the situation from the eyes of the authorities manning the industry of drug dealing, she tried to see things through the eyes of the local members of the community who get themselves into the situation due to poverty and among others, the sense of belongingness (Muehlmann, 29). Here, she tries to emancipate the fact about how the Mexican drug cartel intends to make a definite turn on how the society develops accordingly.
In the overall discussion presented by Muehlmann, she points out how the different members of the society are supposed to be given attention to when issues of drug addiction and drug distribution comes into light. Practically, she insists on such need for attention based on the desire to study what else could be done to be able to come up with a relative solution that completely assumes the capacity of the administrators to redefine the path of development that the world takes into account, especially when it comes to mandating a proper sense of distinction on how the commoners of the community are being exploited and used in order for the for the upper tiers of social leaders and operators of large industries like that of drug cartels to take victorious turns in defending their concept of progress. True to its sense, the study of anthropology points out a definite pattern of change; something that insists on how modern societies would thrive to identify with the concepts of improvement that the world is largely dependent upon.
This is where the role of anthropologists comes into light. In context, anthropologists are experts who are expected to handle the study of the changing tides and times in a community. Studying the people, their environment and the connection they have towards each other, as well as that of the adjustments that need to be given attention to, this aspect of improvement continues to identify well with what is assumed as social evolution. Anthropologists do well to establish a new sense of determining how modern options of growth could be identified with accordingly (Muehlmann, 34). With such developments come the pros and cons of communal evolution. People are expected to become more responsive to their environment and the people living around them especially when they are the ones involved in the situation that affects the whole community.
Based on the writing of Muehlmann, ordinary individuals in smaller Mexican communities have been seen to have a distinct sense of understanding of the situation happening within the context of what drug cartels are made up of. Used as cushions to the situation, the drug cartels are able to definitely take turns in mandating the course of living of the people and the culture that exists among the members of the community. Practical options of growth are defined according to such adjustments in the community; and somehow, for those who get directly involved within the industry, these changes become personal and rather consistent in making an impact on how they live their lives as well as to how they project their own future and that of their children’s lives later on.
People have been accustomed to seeing people getting caught from selling and/or using drugs; even the children get the idea that it is but common to see individuals passing by and police officers trying to catch them as they run for their freedom. For the children, such a scenario is likely becoming a common picture that becomes a part of their daily lives. As Muehlmann relates a story about a young woman living within the area, she says:” When Andres stepped out of the truck that day, wearing his alligator boots, Isabella was instantly and powerfully attracted to him. She was eighteen years old and dreaming of living the opulent life of a narco-wife” (35); this narrative example provides a quaint description of how even the women see themselves as part of the community and even that of the narco-operations that are distinctively creating an effect on how they see their lives in the future.
The dysfunction in the Mexican community due to the existence of drug cartels make it easier for the people to accept that this is what their society is about and that there is a fair chance that such situation is already there to stay (Muehlmann, 78). Having such a mindset makes it easier for younger generations to perceive that drug cartels are mere industries that would provide them the money they need to be able to get by with their everyday lives.
At this point, parents, the older generations living in the community, become the fueling agents towards the determination of the idea that suggests the consideration over what is meant as social development [although it is weighed down more on the negative side of the situation]. Most often than not, people are becoming more and more consumed with the thought of the need to get by each day through engaging in massive operations of drug dealing that later on produces drug use among the messengers and inside operators. This aspect of thinking does change the distinctive course of mental development and understanding that humans are able to connect with.
Anthropologists’ insight on the matter could help improve on how such conditions of the society could be dealt with. True, drug cartels are already established and are assumed to be strong enough to deal with the idea of reestablishing a new kind of society that responds positively to the negative situations brought about by drug dealing and drug addiction. The power to change such perception towards negativity belongs to the capacity of the anthropologists to become more insistent on determining how they are likely to contribute to the exploitation of the system. Bringing about new and innovative solutions to the problem that could turn the perception of the people around would be the primary weapon that anthropologists could use to become more effective in handling the situation accordingly (Muehlmann, 38). Through time, it is expected that with the contributing research coming from the studies completed by the anthropologists, the situation of the Mexican community could change, based on how they are going to be able to change the perception that the common members of the society have towards drug cartels and everything else that is related to it.
Reference
Muehlmann, S. (2013). When I Wear My Alligator Boots: Narco-Culture in the U.S. Mexico Borderlands (California Series in Public Anthropology). University of California Press.
