36 / CHRONICLESnare ritualistically denied philosophicalnand religious relevance. The very instabilitynof changing regimes, of thenemployment market, of a Church hesitantnbetween secular antagonists providesnuniversity life with the obligationnand risk of existential choices. As thenWorld Comptroller confides in BravenNew World, a robotized humanitynneeds no literature, no theater, nonphilosophy, and no art because thentragic essence of life has been eliminated.nWell, it has not been eliminatednfrom Argentina, Chile, or Brazil, nornfrom the expectations of their citizensnand students. Placed among contradictorynforces and living in a permanentntension, the best among the studentsnlive their history, and therefore theirnnational destiny. To a lecturer’s delight,naudiences react to his analyses innmost subtle ways, and their questionsnand comments suggest that, in theirnminds, a transfer has been made fromnanalysis to application. Genuine complimentsnto the teaching staff and studentsnwere gratefully received, sincenthe continent, and particularly itsnsouthern third, feels outside the mainstreamsnof Western life. There can benno greater compliment in these partsnthan to assure these valiant intellectsnthat they do not lag behind the Westernnheartland in subtlety and knowledge.nThey are, if anything, ahead innthe quality of their moral debate.nThomas Molnar is visiting professor ofnreligious studies at Yale Universitynand the author of The Pagan Temptationn(Eerdmans).nLetter FromnCalexiconby Richard KostelanetznReport From California’s BerlinnCalexico is a North American town ofnroughly 16,000 situated directly on thenMexican border, 120 miles southeastnof San Diego, in the warm and sunnynImperial Valley, where agriculture willnalways be the most abundant business;nbut Calexico differs from other townsnalong that extended border in beingnthe suburb of a Mexican city, Mexi-ncali, with its population of nearly anmillion. At least 95 percent of thenCalexico population has Mexican ancestry,nand most everyone has relativesnsouth of the border. To me, a recentnresident of Berlin, it generated hints ofnwhat Berlin might have been like beforenthe Wall.nBetween the two countries runsnonly a single fence, without any surroundingnno-man’s-land. On the Calexiconside roams the U.S. BordernPatrol, whose job it is to arrest illegalnMexican immigrants and, for punishment,nsimply return them to the othernside. However, the border is porous.nOn the Calexico side is a golf coursenon which you can see Mexicali kidsnplaying soccer, because the golf coursenoffers the best field close to theirnhome. No doubt they step backnthrough the “border” fence to getnhome to sleep.nBecause minimum wages in Californianare considerably higher thannthose in Mexico, farm workers scale anfence that, even in Calexico itself, hasnholes that aren’t repaired; and once innthe U.S., they have little trouble findingnjobs in a country that needs cheapnlabor and rarely asks to see anyone’snpassports or papers. If the border werenas securely closed as that between Eastnand West Berlin, California agribusiness,nas well as its restaurants, hotels,nand construction companies, wouldnneed, as West Berlin did, to looknelsewhere for its cheap guestworkers.nOne reason why Mexicali is so populousnis its proximity to the U.S. Itsncomparatively large Chinese population,nfor instance, has been there sincenthe exclusion acts kept them out ofnCalifornia in the late 19th century.nThe biggest industry in Mexicali isnmaguiladores, factories assemblingnAmerican goods at piecework wages. Itnis cheaper for American companies tonsend to Mexicali the materials for videocassettes,naudiocassettes, circuitnboards, clothing, etc. for assembly beforenbringing them back north of thenborder, just as it has been cheaper fornWest German companies to sendnpiecework east.nTravelers entering Mexicali fromnthe U.S. need not show passports to gonin or come back. If their returning carnhas U.S. license plates, the armednAmerican customs agents might asknsuch queshons as, “What did you donnnin Mexicali? Where were you born?”n(To the latter, it is sufficient simply tonanswer “USA.”) Travelers comingnfrom Mexico must obey differentnrules. Some have, in addition to passports,ngreen cards entitling therri tonemployment; others have white cardsngranting them visits not to exceed 72nhours.nWithin a single geographical entitynare two economies—one with a strongncurrency, the other with weak money;none with stable politics, the other withnunstable. The air is worse in Mexicali,nfirst because the dust of its unpavednstreets flies up into the air in warmnweather and then because much cookingnis done over wood-fires, and alsonbecause, as in East Berlin, Mexicannemissions standards for cars and heatersnare considerably lower. Some ofnMexicali’s wealthy live in Calexico;nbut one indicative difference betweennthe two places is that wealth in Mexiconis ostentatiously displayed, whileneveryone in Calexico subscribes to thenAmerican suburban value of living innmedium-sized houses, on modestnplots, none more prominent than thenothers.nTo Calexicans, Mexicali offers whatnis not available in the suburbs, fromnChinese restaurants to prostitutes; butnone diflFerence between Calexico andnother American suburbs is that its city,nMexicali, is much, much cheaper, asnit is located in a country with failingncurrency. Nonetheless, to get from anCalexico home to a Mexicali restaurantnby car took us exactly 15 minutes.nI came to Calexico to give a lecturenat its state university, to an audience ofnprofessors and students scarcely differentnfrom those at other small colleges.nBut, not unlike West Berliners towardsnthe East, my American hosts feel sufficientlynkindly towards their Mexicannbrethren to send me over, at Americannexpense, for another presentation and,nat first, an interview over its universitynradio station. The recording studionitself was filled with people with littlenapparent function. As I spoke, thenwhispering around me got noisier andnnoisier. It turned out they were translatingnfor each other! After the presentationnI received questions with annaggressive Marxist tinge, students nondoubt impressing their teachers innways different from here.nThe night after a local election inn