We Don't Play Golf Here

Also known as We Don't Play Golf Here – and other stories of globalization

Much to the dismay of residents of Tepoztlan, Mexico, where they still speak the indigenous language of Nahual, foreign investors have brought globalization to their village - building factories, shopping malls, and, most egregiously, a golf resort with 1500 vacation chalets and a country club. The newly elected Tepoztlan mayor sneered: “We don’t play that sport here,” because, he explained, maintenance of a large golf course “would sap badly needed farming water; pesticides and chemical fertilizer to maintain the grass would pollute the town’s aquifers.”