The crisis experienced by present-day Mexico has its roots not only in the failures of the rural regimes that emerged from the Mexican Revolution and the poor quality of public education and government, but also a crisis of civilization where nations are challenged by technological inventions and weapons that undermine the aspirations of republics. This message is among those voiced at the lecture, "A citizen perspective on the Mexican Revolution" presented by Dr. José Luis Talancón Escobedo, director of UNAM’s Los Angeles extension program, as part of the Jornadas Mexicanas symposium, "When immigrants think of their homeland."

The lecture by Dr. Talancón was held on September 23 at Fundación Jalisco USA in Lynwood, California and organized under the auspices of UCLA, the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s Los Angeles extension program (UNAM-LA), Plaza Casa Durango, the University of Guadalajara at Los Angeles (UDGLA) and the University of Guadalajara Foundation-USA.

During his lecture, Dr. José Luis Talancón said that an assessment of the Mexican Revolution leads to the conclusion that the Revolution’s regimes failed in three areas. The first such area was rural reform: “The inability to retain rural and farming populations is one of the causes of Mexican migration, mainly to California. The second failure is associated with the quality of public education, especially in primary schools, where a political corporatism provides funding in exchange for a productive labor force. The third failure has to do with ethics and professionalism in government. The way resources and tax revenues were handled in the decades after Cardenismo resulted in a devaluation of the Mexican currency and loss of growth capacity in the 1970s," said the university scholar.

Dr. Talancón reported that the crisis stemming from the failures of the Mexican Revolution is accompanied by a crisis of civilization, where technological inventions have threatened the concepts of republic and nation-state. He said examples of this idea include the deforestation made possible by the chainsaw and the destructive power unleashed by the atomic bomb, dynamite and AK-47 rifles. "We will see to what extent technological inventions, which have shown themselves capable of quashing the dreams of revolutions, pose a threat to all nation-states. The globalization of an informal economy made up of the weapons trade, drug trafficking and piracy have a role in destabilizing the legal systems of nation-states."

He claimed that it was necessary to build a social organization with enough state-backed muscle to enforce the rule of law, and towards this end society must organize a state which regulates the distribution of technological inventions capable of dismantling the state’s power. "There is currently a technical imbalance between extreme productive development and government bureaucracies that really do not govern their own territories. It is the power of technology that is guiding the process, not the law," he said.

Among the aims of the Jornadas Mexicanas symposium is the promotion of dialogue on two levels. The first entails disseminating work produced by scholars, while the other involves harvesting the opinions of the communities where the event is being held, said Dr. Samuel Schmidt, Vice President for Academic Affairs at UDGLA. This series of lectures and talks are being held monthly and is open to the public. Admission is free. The sessions, which will conclude in March 2011, are being held at several locations, including Fundación Jalisco USA, the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles, the Mexican Cultural Institute and Casa Durango in Lynwood, California.

For more information on the Jornadas Mexicanas, "When immigrants think of their homeland," please visit the website www.udgla.com, send an e-mail to infoudgla @ redudg. udg. mx phone (213) 785-1313 or fax (213) 992-2372 in Los Angeles, California.