Sadly, in New Mexico we are used to hearing that we are fiftieth on the lists that measure poverty, health care, employment, prison overcrowding, or what percentage of our high school students graduate. From year to year we compete with Mississippi for the dishonor. Sometimes we are only second from last, sometimes at the very bottom.
As has rightly been pointed out in numerous New Mexico Mercury features and columns, our state is unusually rich in history, culture, natural beauty, and hundreds—perhaps thousands—of men and women who are exceptionally brilliant and innovative. Creativity in so many different fields constitutes a natural resource in our state. Hollywood superstars and wealthy corporate CEOs often choose New Mexico for their second (or tenth) home. We have artists and scientists in abundance. Our indigenous, Hispanic, and other roots go deep. So why, with such resources, do we so consistently rank at the bottom of the ladder in all those indexes that describe quality of life?
Natural phenomena, such as prolonged drought and widespread wild fires, play a part. Vast territory with a small population and low industrialization may contribute to the problem. Endemic corruption must also be acknowledged. The old caudillo system we inherit from the culture of our Mexican ancestors has morphed into a kind of modern day caudillismo: a particular homegrown mix of nepotism, racketeering and greed. Think Albuquerque Courthouse debacle or our current governor’s penchant for ignoring legislative initiatives that would benefit New Mexicans while granting huge non-bid contracts to out of state companies. (When I point to our caudillo culture I am not singling out Mexican-Americans as instigators of poor government. Every culture has its own style of corruption. Caudillo politics, however, are sometimes especially difficult to unravel.)
When periodic statistics are published, and we sigh and admit, once again, that we are fiftieth in the nation in this or that category, we generally overlook a part of the picture that is as important as that bottom line, or perhaps more so. Recently compiled figures show that New Mexico is not only one of the poorest states in the union, but also one of the ten in which the chasm between rich and poor is currently the widest.
One percent of New Mexicans enjoy 72.6% of our economic growth. That same 1% has shown an increase in income of 119.3%, with only ten other states showing a larger percentage of growth for their top tier. Overall real income growth in New Mexico, from 1979 to 2007, was only 14%, making it the seventh lowest among all fifty states. And for the bottom 99% of our population, income growth was only 4.2% in that same period, the eighth lowest among the states. This means that between 1979 and 2007, nearly 73% of all income growth in our state went to the top 1% of wage earners.
Then, as we all know, the Great Repression hit. The rich became richer and the poor much poorer. In times of economic turmoil, those with the most money have a cushion. Many who had previously considered themselves middle-class joined the ranks of the impoverished or even the homeless. Although the difference between the average incomes of the top 1% and the bottom 99% was not as large as in most states, a very large percentage of our population is considered extremely poor. A number of complex factors probably contribute to this situation.
In 2012, a fifth of New Mexicans lived below the poverty line, and 7.6% of New Mexican households had incomes of $10,000 or less. Ten thousand dollars a year for a whole family, not an individual! Even without the recent cut to the food stamp program, the dismantling of our mental health facilities, and other egregious cutbacks, it is impossible to sustain a family on this level of income. And inequality produces inequality. Children and young people growing up in homes with so much need are at the highest risk for repeating cycles of hunger, abuse, mental illness, joblessness, crime, and despair.
New Mexico’s brutal statistic was significantly higher than the just over 17% of the population considered poor when the free fall hit in 2008. Additionally, New Mexico has had weak GDP growth in recent years, underperforming the national growth rate in each year between 2010 and 2012.
This combined dilemma of most impoverished state—with lowest success rates in job creation, school retention, access to health care, and even the ability to acknowledge and deal with hunger—and greatest disparity between those few who control power and the masses of people who suffer from their policies should shake every New Mexican to his or her core.
We have the brilliance and creativity to deal with all these problems. We have a climate that benefits sustainable energy efforts. We have the activism to hold accountable or replace our crooked politicians (remember how we organized and the victory we achieved when outside forces tried to shut down women’s reproductive choice in our state).
It’s definitely time for action.
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