How Do You Solve a Problem Like Haiti?

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4 responses to “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Haiti?”

1. 

   Charles D

   2010-01-19

   One of the problems of democracy is that the majority does not always make the best decisions. However, in this case it is the people of Haiti who must make the decision. The best thing we can do is let the Haitian people determine the best way to recover, organize their economy, and make their own decisions.

   You may want to go back a bit further in your history. Perhaps at least to the mid-1950’s when Papa Doc Duvalier took over as dictator and used death squads and terror to pillage the nation for his own benefit with the full cooperation of the United States. The Duvalier reign of terror lasted until 1986. When a Constitution was finally put in place and Aristede was elected, he only lasted a few months before a military coup d’etat sent him into exile. Unfortunately Haiti has never had a stable democratic government with non-violent changes in leadership. Over the last 60 years, the US has intervened often, sometimes on the side of democracy and sometimes against it. Given our record there, we should bow out. We bear a partial responsibility for Haiti’s plight, but we cannot build them a nation. They’ll have to figure that one out on their own. I hope they get the opportunity to do so this time.

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   1. 

      David

      2010-01-20

      I absolutely agree that the people of Haiti must make the decisions – anything else is unsustainable so long as they remain a sovereign nation. I ask the question because we, like other nations will be offering to help and we should be mindful of what we offer. I focused my post on the instability of the last 20 years but you are absolutely right that we can go further back. In fact we can go back through their entire history since the European colonization of the western hemisphere. Everything prior to their independence can be blamed on the colonizing nations (such as the dispute between France and Spain) but in their 206 years as an independent nation they have had 32 coups (average of one every 6 years so they’re due for another one about now). Their history is littered with many more examples of oppressive government and social chaos than it is with any form of humane and stable society.

      Your final statement is exactly right:

      Given our record there, we should bow out. We bear a partial responsibility for Haiti’s plight, but we cannot build them {as} a nation. They’ll have to figure that one out on their own. I hope they get the opportunity to do so this time.

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2. 

   Charles D

   2010-01-21

   Here’s an example of the kind of policy America is actually pursuing in Haiti at present. Here’s another. There are times when human need is so great that worrying about political concerns is practically immoral. I heard an NPR commentator yesterday asserting that because the earthquake had destroyed the government buildings in Port-au-Prince, it would be necessary for the “international community” to devise and setup a new government for Haiti. By this logic, if an earthquake destroys the US Capital, the EU and China should get together and draw us up a new Constitution.

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   1. 

      David

      2010-01-21

      Like I said originally, the answer of what we should do in the aftermath of the earthquake is pretty straightforward, but for those who have exhausted any immediate help they can give it would be wise for them to consider a long term perspective on how we should or should not interact with Haiti. After all, their suffering in the aftermath of the earthquake is worse than it might have been if their economy had been strong before the earthquake and how we and other nations interact politically with Haiti has an effect on the strength of their economy as does their political stability.

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