Because I think I was interviewed by a Zogby zombie about two months ago to help generate the results:
Mexicans see Americans as racist, dishonest and exploitative, while Americans see Mexicans as hardworking and think they are more tolerant than Americans.
A new survey of attitudes the two countries hold toward each other showed the border is more than a geographic divide, but also a fissure in public opinions of the two nations and what their citizens think of each other.
The poll, taken by New York-based Zogby International and the Centro de Investigacion para el Desarrollo AC in Mexico City, found that 62 percent of Mexicans surveyed said the United States is more wealthy than Mexico because "it exploits others' wealth." Only 22 percent said it was because the United States is "a free country where people have plenty of opportunity to work."
Among Americans, 78 percent saw Mexicans as hardworking, and 44 percent saw them as tolerant. Among Mexicans, just 26 percent saw Americans as hardworking, 16 percent saw them as honest and 73 percent said Americans are racist.
"Mexicans think Americans are neither hard workers nor honest," the report's authors wrote. "They see them as racist, intolerant and moderately law-abiding."
The challenge of being lazy, dishonest, racist and intolerant, though moderately law-abiding was not further discussed.
I think I must have been a real outlier as the questions came and I was offered only multiple choice answers that were neither mutually exclusive nor comprehensive of the set of answers I had in response. At one point I was asked how many Canadian provinces and Mexican states I could name. She cut me off at around 10 of the Canadian provinces and 8 of the Mexican states, stating that very few of the respondents could name three of either. The fact that I am generally well informed, though conservative, and very much in favor of increased legal immigration also seemed to make me something of an oddball, if I interpreted her comments correctly
But the real reason I am writing abou this now is that the Zogby zombie asked me if I would be willing to participate in more surveys, presumably because my answers were sufficiently idiosyncratic enough that they could be manipulated with the appropriate phrasing of questions in the future. Alas, despite assurances that I would be hearing from them very soon, no further communication has taken place. So my ability to provide a lonely data point of logical sanity in these seriously bogus polls appears to have been lost.
The question that immediately comes to my mind is, if most Mexicans think Americans are racist, dishonest, and exploitative, then why are so many trying to come here?
Posted by: Jon at 05:08 PMTo be fair, coming here doesn't mean that they think it's good here, just that it's sufficietnly better than where they are leaving to justify the risk.
One of the reasons I am for increased legal immigration is because I believe it is immoral to force people to live in squalid conditions just beyond our borders. If they are willing to obey our laws, pay taxes, and contribute, then I welcome them.
Posted by: charles austin at 07:28 PM