Saturday, September 4, 2010

Indian Givers

I was never certain if the term Indian Giver referred to the South-Asian sub-continent or the American aboriginal Indian. But now I am fairly certain that it refers to the American aboriginal variety - Mexican in particular. There is a tremendous area of southern Arizona that has become off-limits to American citizens due to being unsafe. I have not once heard the mainstream media refer to this area by its name. That name we all had to learn in sixth grade geography: The Gadsden Purchase. Known as Venta de La Mesilla, or "Sale of La Mesilla" in Mexico, this was the last territorial acquisition of the continental United States and was purchased by Franklin Pierce for a mere ten million pre-inflation gold dollars. (Someone on Wikipedia extrapolates that to 241.333 million of todays dollars. 25 to 1 is a four cent dollar. About right.)

I do understand that the purchase gives the continental United States that linear filled in geometric look of our border that we are all familiar with, but if the Mexicans really want that land that badly; and if, apparently, our Government does not really wish to continue owning it; then maybe, they should sell it back de jure rather than give it back de facto. With improvements, it should be worth considerably more than 241 million dollars in gold. Lets see, there are highways, and the restaurants in Tucson and ...

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