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Please, allow me to relish echoing these words: "In the world ranking of women in national legislative office, the U.S. holds the embarrassing position of 71. The U.S. is below Iraq in this statistic."

This is a story to follow closely and to observe what "sub-variables" prevail. My late husband used to assert, "You get the leadership you deserve" meaning, the electorship/follwership decides. Thanks for the good news. I see the world as a giant fractal and this victory in Mexico will ripple across the globe.

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"Ripple across the globe". I can see that happening. I hope it does.

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"You get the leadership you deserve" - George Carlin had something to say about that as I recall. And it was very Carliny indeed.

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Sep 11, 2023Liked by Mike Leavy

What a good metric for national success: "the percentage of women holding national office!" Yes, ranking 71st puts a lot in perspective.

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Diversity is probably our best way forward. The world needs to evolve - I think Mexico has sort of figured that out. The "superpowers"? Not so much.

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Sep 11, 2023Liked by Mike Leavy

I love this myth busting reality check. It’s so easy to fall into the mindset that Mexico (and other “developing countries “) are behind, with old ways of working and thinking. We rarely examine how behind the US actually is. Our insular nature can keep us reinforcing our beliefs.

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Our insular nature, indeed. It is easy to gaze at your naval when you are the biggest gorilla in the room. Unfortunately, too many people in the U.S. I think fall victim to self-admiration absent any sort of perspective or learning.

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I have always enjoyed George Carlin's humor. Got to see and hear him in person once.

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Sep 12, 2023Liked by Mike Leavy

It's refreshing to hear that our close neighbors in Mexico are doing 4th compared to our 71st position. I do hope we do better here soon! I am a born in the USA resident who is not allowed to vote in our presidential elections based on where I live currently, in the territory of Puerto Rico. If I lived out of the country entirely I would be allowed to vote in presidential elections, which really adds quite the spin on "taxation without representation", so I know we have a long way to go here.

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Yup, a long way to go. Hydrate well. Bring snacks.

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Good news indeed that Mexico is leading in this regard. Many countries have or have had women in the highest office and it makes me wonder sometimes why it's been so hard for the states to do so. Great update, Mike. And I hope your mountain time was fun!

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I think the state's weird electoral collage system harms women's chances; the states would have had a woman president in '16 if the popular vote had decided the election outcome.

And yes, the mountain time was great. Lot's of hiking and digital detoxing. Very restorative. Thanks for the comment, Victor!

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Oh that EC thing that should have been tossed in the dustbin a long time ago. Yikes. When I explained it to someone here in Mexico, they thought it was nuts. Yep...

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