Today we went to the Templo Mayor. Notice how you can see the ruins of the Great Temple--which made Cortez's blood curdle--behind that, the Metropolitan Cathedral--constructed promptly on top of some Aztec horror after the Conquista--and further back, the campana de Delores 1810 to 2008. Que Viva México! So, we have Aztec, colonial, and national all in one picture. 

In Mexico, the layers of history are laid bare to the outside world. Sin Vergüenza. 

 

In the United States (and Europe) we have history painting which shows the individual in history, in Mexico it's social history painting in the great cathedrals of secular government. So, in the Palacio Nacional, Diego Rivera has shown how the sick man of Europe raped and sacked his way across Mesoamerica--an important aspect of the cosmology of Mexican history. Further, scenes of la vida cotidiana populate the walls of the palacio nacional. Could you imagine, instead of Napolean or George Washington, to have scenes of the metate and Indians dying their linens? Social history painting. Much hipper than regular 'ol history painting. Really, somehow the social has been incorporated in old Mexico. How sincerely, remains an open question. 

So, basically Indians and Peasants are celebrated in Mexico. The United States doesn't have peasants of course--the individual that goes out into the woods and sets himself up in a shack and two acres away from society is a hero. 

Talk about lonely.