“La Paz es posible” is the slogan used in tourism brochures, websites, and advertising campaigns to promote the city of La Paz. Driving across the Canadian-U.S. border, I used to love reading the different slogans on the car plates. City slogans are fun and intriguing to me, they add a layer of complexity to their city’s flavor, just like a facet of a personality.
“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, is undeniably one of the most successfully executed city slogan marketing campaigns. Since its launch in 2003, it shifted Las Vegas from a gambling destination to a symbol of adult freedom and excitement.
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“La Paz es posible” got me excited when I moved here. “La Paz es posible” translates as: Peace is possible.
What got me excited was not the literal meaning of that statement, which is a little too cliche for my liking.
“Peace is possible” (yes, you caught me rolling my eyes here), while a beautiful and pure sentiment, is also a very naive statement.
A platitude.
Based on the 2024 Global Peace Index, GPI, released in June, the world has become less peaceful in the last 16 years, with the average country deteriorating by 4.5% since the inception of the index in 2008.
This report presents a comprehensive data-driven analysis of trends in peace, its economic value, and how to develop peaceful societies. The GPI covers 163 countries comprising 99.7 percent of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from non-partisan sources. It measures the state of peace across three domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security; the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and the degree of Militarization.
The patterns of these three domains can also be studied throughout history across different eras, cultures and continents. A bird’s eye view of the history of human civilization indicates that while there have been periods in the past with relatively less conflict and war, it also showcases that there are NO periods in time where there were zero conflicts.
Conflict, destruction and chaos and their counterbalance: peace, creation and order have been coexisting, and no activists, beauty queens or politicians are going to change that unfortunately.
The slogan “La Paz es posible” resonated slightly differently to me. When I heard it, my brain translated the phrase to: “In La Paz, things are possible”, or “La Paz opens you to a world of possibilities”, which is what got me really excited about the slogan. It connected me with an energy of resilience and accomplishment. As a new resident of this town paired with not knowing anyone upon my arrival, the slogan felt like a warm welcome, giving me a glimpse of my new home, one full of possibilities.
La Paz is also very peaceful, and so is the entire Baja. We expatriates (expats) have moved from all over the world to live here for many different reasons, yet we all aspire for a tomorrow with more peace as well as more possibilities. Irrespective of where you are from, I am willing to bet that you have all been asked at least once by a friend or a family member about the safety situation in Mexico. “Is it safe down there?”, “Can you go out at night, is it not too dangerous?” Or “Mexico is so unsafe, why did you move there?”
Let us answer our concerned well wishes by examining the results of this last GPI. Out of the 163 countries that were assessed, Mexico ranked 138. That is not a great rank, I will admit, however, the United States ranked only 4 spots above Mexico at 132. Accordingly, the color coding spectrum of the GPI goes from green, yellow, and orange to red, with green indicating higher peace to red being the least peaceful, both Mexico and the United States belong to the same orange rating.
Is the United States dangerous? I would say it depends. Is Mexico dangerous? I would give the same answer. I have lived decades of my life in countries in the green zone and I did not feel any more safe living there than I feel living in Mexico. With countries like Chile dropping down the rank by 10 from last year, or Sierra Leone, which dropped by 23, Nepal dropped by 12 and France dropped by 14, I feel content with Mexico at 138, dropping by only 2 ranks. Can we do better, I absolutely think so.
Taking notes from countries like Kazakhstan which jumped up the ranks by 19 spots, Uzbekistan by 15, Tajikistan by 19 and Morocco went up the ranks by 14, I’d say for Mexico’s future: “La Paz, es posible!” Naailah Auladin @naailahauladin
