The majority of my friends here are Mexican, not American, and when you gain their confidence, they open up to you about the dark side of their country. Your observation about the American sense of entitlement is no doubt justified, but the other extreme seems to apply to Mexico. Over and over I’ve heard my Mexican friends say some variation of the following: “This country is fucked because we don’t expect anything better.” (Forgive me if the expletive offends, but their use of “chingado” is deliberate and crucial to their assessment of how things are in their country. )

Another fundamental difference — possibly bordering on a generalization — is that Americans seem to be optimists while Mexicans tend to be fatalists. It is an interesting question to ponder whether Americans’ optimism fuels their sense of entitlement and, by contrast, if Mexicans’ fatalism plays some role in their dearth of expectations.

(As an aside, I’m always intrigued when I hear American expats praise Mexico and hear Mexicans lament that their country isn’t more like the US. The old saying, “The grass is greener on the other other side,” comes to mind.)

So I suppose what I get from this is that the middle ground, as usual, is where any nation’s citizens should strive to be: have some expectations, but don’t go overboard with the sense of entitlement.

Your post gives me a lot to reflect on. The foregoing are my initial thoughts, but undoubtedly more will come to mind. Gracias for the excellent post.