Mexico City Can't See the Stars? Sounds About Right.

Alright, let's get this straight. Mexico City can't see the stars anymore? You don't say.

Light Pollution: A Metaphor for Our Times

So, this astronomer, Omar López-Cruz, is bummed that Mexico City "is completely off the radar" because of light pollution. He says it's impossible to see the night sky as it "originally appeared." Give me a break. When was the last time anyone saw anything as it "originally appeared?" We're all living in a filtered, Photoshopped, Instagrammed version of reality, so why should the stars be any different?

He draws an analogy with the sun, explaining that when the sun is out, you can't see the stars because the sun's intensity is too great. In Mexico City, he says, "the sky lights up too much [at night]." It's like... the whole city is trying to be the sun. A pathetic, artificial sun.

And this isn't just some aesthetic problem, oh no. It's a political issue. In April 2022, the Mexico City Congress actually got involved, reforming some Environmental Law for the Protection of the Earth because light pollution is messing with bird migration, disrupting sleep cycles, and generally making everyone miserable. As if anyone needed a law to tell them that staring into a billion LED billboards all night is bad for you.

The Irony is Delicious

Here's the kicker, though. López-Cruz laments that people of this generation "haven’t seen the Milky Way." He says we have to travel "very far" to experience dark skies. Well, duh. Isn't that the story of everything these days? You want authenticity? You want nature? You gotta escape the concrete jungle and find some desolate corner of the world that hasn't been paved over and plastered with advertisements.

It's all a bit on the nose, ain't it? Mexico City, a sprawling, chaotic metropolis, has literally blocked out the stars. A perfect metaphor for how our relentless pursuit of progress and growth has obscured what really matters. We're so busy chasing the shiny objects, the next big thing, that we've forgotten to look up.

Speaking of shiny, it reminds me of this new steakhouse opening in Coral Gables – Rò Steakhouse – bringing "Mexico City flavor" to Miami. Live-fire cooking, fancy cuts of meat, and a wine cellar that doubles as a private locker program. I mean, seriously? Are we so obsessed with consumption and luxury that we can't even see the freaking stars anymore? And what's with all these restaurants claiming "authenticity" when they're just serving up overpriced versions of someone else's culture? Luxurious Steakhouse Opens in Coral Gables with Mexico City Flavor

Then again, maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe people just want a good steak and a decent glass of wine. Maybe they don't care about the Milky Way. Maybe I'm the crazy one for expecting them to...

I don't know.

Who Needs Stars When You've Got Wi-Fi?

Look, at the end of the day, who am I to judge? I'm just some cynical columnist ranting into the void. But it just seems like we're losing something important here. We're so focused on building a better world that we're destroying the one we already have. And we're so distracted by the noise and the lights that we can't even see what we're missing. Why are there no stars in Mexico City’s night sky?

It's a Slow-Motion Apocalypse