How does Paz define "Mexicanism"? How does it mesh with the individual whom he had described earlier?

Paz describes "Mexicanism" in rather dire terms. He states that it has never been set; and that it always veers from one extreme to another. That is demonstrated even in the Mexican pursuit of religious ideals: first indigenous religions, then Catholicism, and then secularism. In the author's words: "Mexicanism is a way of not being ourselves, a way of life that is not our own (Chapter Seven, page 169). That exactly matches the descriptions that he has given of individuality earlier. The Mexican hides who he is behind a mask and, eventually does not know who he is. Tragically, the mindset of the individuals affect and even determine the nation's character.