Haiti
This portion of the island of Hispaniola, occupied by 9 million people, is the size of Massachusetts, home to 6.5 million people. The economic, environmental and demographic differences between Haiti and Massachusetts are gigantic.
Tragedy breeds sentimentality. Sentimentality clouds level-headed judgment, the quality which is absolutely necessary to respond effectively to crisis. Haiti is a perpetual tragedy in perpetual crisis. It is plagued by bourgeois greed, hereditary poverty, aggressive ignorance, avid superstition and an entrenched caste system. The depth of the current tragedy of its earthquake damage is magnified by these factors.
Bill Clinton, who is special Presidential envoy to Haiti, has made the observation on the PBS Newshour that Haitians in the U.S. are 1% of the black community and 11% of the country's physicians' community.
This points to the lack of balance in Haitian society. A strong bourgeoisie with its diaspora in the U.S. fuels an engine of emigration from the island nation, while those with no resources fend for themselves in Haiti with no government, no infrastructure, no education and no escape. This is another example of the failure of the ripple effects of immigration here in the U.S.. It works for the U.S.. It does not work for the source of immigrants, as evidenced by Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, Columbia and other nations.
From a planetary perspective, wealthy nations have no real commitment to places like Haiti. There is no oil there. There is no gold there. There is no copper there. There is no well-educated, cheap labor pool there. There are many problems (costs) and no profits. Free-market capitalists shun such situations.
My heart goes out to the many people from the U.N. and N.G.O.s who have been working against the tide of ignorance, violence and poverty in Haiti. But, I have many questions about the sensibility of their efforts. Haitians have cleared almost all their trees, thereby degrading their cultivatable land and water supply. The trees have been used to make cooking charcoal. Yes, cooking charcoal for the overpopulated environment. So, I would ask, "Why haven't the U.S., U.N., N.G.O.s, or its educated-diaspora organizations financed windmills, solar generators or a trash-powered generating plants to supply electricity for cooking with some of the trillions of dollars in aid which have been poured into this island for decades?" This is just one question I could ask, but now is obviously not a time for getting answers.
Perhaps Haiti is a symbol of the long term effects of religiosity and truly libertarian politics. The history of the island is bloody with colonial genocide, slavery and dictatorship. Yet, the persistent features of Haiti's history since its 1804 independence from France are its religiosity, lack of public education and its every-man-for-himself (libertarian) sociology.
I would suggest that libertarians and the theocratically inclined look at Haiti and learn. Large human populations need governance, infrastructure and social supports. Large modern societies must ride the waves of modern science to maintain themselves on a planet with fixed and diminishing resources. Praying does not generate electricity, get rid of garbage or purify water. God isn't there when the roof caves in. You need a crane to lift the rubble. To pay for cranes to lift the rubble, you need to levy taxes and maintain a government treasury.
Lunatics, like Pat Robertson, to whom many Americans have turned for leadership, will predictably turn their backs in crisis. They are capitalists to the core. The God excuse is a handy tool to lay responsibility on everyone but themselves for anything. The dominating Haitian Catholic church and the Haitian government are also noticeably lacking in their capacity to help their own people.
I would hope that the devastation of this earthquake in Haiti's capital city will awaken the non-Haitian and Haitian-American organizations which are invested in helping that nation. It seems that some 'tough love' may be called for in the reconstruction. An emphasis on practical science, based in ecological sustainability, would be a good start.
Tragedy breeds sentimentality. Sentimentality clouds level-headed judgment, the quality which is absolutely necessary to respond effectively to crisis. Haiti is a perpetual tragedy in perpetual crisis. It is plagued by bourgeois greed, hereditary poverty, aggressive ignorance, avid superstition and an entrenched caste system. The depth of the current tragedy of its earthquake damage is magnified by these factors.
Bill Clinton, who is special Presidential envoy to Haiti, has made the observation on the PBS Newshour that Haitians in the U.S. are 1% of the black community and 11% of the country's physicians' community.
This points to the lack of balance in Haitian society. A strong bourgeoisie with its diaspora in the U.S. fuels an engine of emigration from the island nation, while those with no resources fend for themselves in Haiti with no government, no infrastructure, no education and no escape. This is another example of the failure of the ripple effects of immigration here in the U.S.. It works for the U.S.. It does not work for the source of immigrants, as evidenced by Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, Columbia and other nations.
From a planetary perspective, wealthy nations have no real commitment to places like Haiti. There is no oil there. There is no gold there. There is no copper there. There is no well-educated, cheap labor pool there. There are many problems (costs) and no profits. Free-market capitalists shun such situations.
My heart goes out to the many people from the U.N. and N.G.O.s who have been working against the tide of ignorance, violence and poverty in Haiti. But, I have many questions about the sensibility of their efforts. Haitians have cleared almost all their trees, thereby degrading their cultivatable land and water supply. The trees have been used to make cooking charcoal. Yes, cooking charcoal for the overpopulated environment. So, I would ask, "Why haven't the U.S., U.N., N.G.O.s, or its educated-diaspora organizations financed windmills, solar generators or a trash-powered generating plants to supply electricity for cooking with some of the trillions of dollars in aid which have been poured into this island for decades?" This is just one question I could ask, but now is obviously not a time for getting answers.
Perhaps Haiti is a symbol of the long term effects of religiosity and truly libertarian politics. The history of the island is bloody with colonial genocide, slavery and dictatorship. Yet, the persistent features of Haiti's history since its 1804 independence from France are its religiosity, lack of public education and its every-man-for-himself (libertarian) sociology.
I would suggest that libertarians and the theocratically inclined look at Haiti and learn. Large human populations need governance, infrastructure and social supports. Large modern societies must ride the waves of modern science to maintain themselves on a planet with fixed and diminishing resources. Praying does not generate electricity, get rid of garbage or purify water. God isn't there when the roof caves in. You need a crane to lift the rubble. To pay for cranes to lift the rubble, you need to levy taxes and maintain a government treasury.
Lunatics, like Pat Robertson, to whom many Americans have turned for leadership, will predictably turn their backs in crisis. They are capitalists to the core. The God excuse is a handy tool to lay responsibility on everyone but themselves for anything. The dominating Haitian Catholic church and the Haitian government are also noticeably lacking in their capacity to help their own people.
I would hope that the devastation of this earthquake in Haiti's capital city will awaken the non-Haitian and Haitian-American organizations which are invested in helping that nation. It seems that some 'tough love' may be called for in the reconstruction. An emphasis on practical science, based in ecological sustainability, would be a good start.
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