Posted on 01/17/2010 8:16:14 PM PST by Graybeard58
The New York Post's headline the day after the big earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday was succinct: "Hell." The Post could have run the same headline Monday, or Sunday, or any other day, going back more than 200 years. Once a tropical paradise, Haiti has been hell on earth since at least early in the 16th century when Spanish colonists started importing slaves from Africa. Eventually, the French took over, relying on slave labor to extract enormous wealth from the island's plantations. But the slaves revolted in 1791; by 1804, they controlled the western third of the Caribbean island Hispaniola.
The trouble is, they had no idea how to govern. "Haiti was shunned by the rest of the world, where slavery was still legal," wrote London-based independent journalist Gwynne Dyer in 2004. "People whose parents or grandparents had been taken as slaves from Africa and whose only common language was that of their former slave-masters, who had been denied any education and who had no social structure beyond that of the slave barracks, were left to create and run a country without resources or friends. They made a hash of it, and that burden still weighs on their descendants."
Before the quake, unemployment among Haiti's 9 million people was more than 50 percent. Despite the violent crime and misery, Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, sported a birth rate of 3.8 babies per woman, far more than the nation's economy could hope to sustain.
About 40,000 Americans were in Haiti when the quake struck. Many, including Charles Dietsch of Southbury,{CT.} were there with religious missions aimed primarily at reducing misery, want and diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Mr. Dietsch, who returned home Thursday, suffered a broken eye socket and other injuries in the earthquake. Others, such as Gherdith Destra of Waterbury,{Ct.} made their escape earlier, citing government persecution.
The death toll is expected to exceed 100,000. One reason is the government's inability to enforce building codes, leading to widespread collapse of roofs and walls. Making matters worse, Haitians looking for work or aid had flocked to the capital of Port-au-Prince in recent years, throwing up shanties that couldn't have withstood a minor earthquake, let alone a major one.
Before the earthquake, there was cautiously optimistic talk of stable government, improved law enforcement and even tourism. "All of that came to a screeching halt in seconds," said The Los Angeles Times on Thursday.
The earthquake is a tragedy, but it also represents an opportunity to steer Haiti away from the disastrous paths it has followed for more than two centuries. Nowhere is it written that Haiti must always and forever be an independent state, and independence manifestly hasn't served Haiti's people well.
For the next several years, Haiti will be teeming with international aid groups and military forces, feeding, rebuilding and educating a population long ravaged by poverty, corrupt and oppressive government, ignorance and frequent natural disasters. The people will become accustomed to administration by outside agencies; perhaps they will welcome a successor government — ideally, that of the Dominican Republic, which occupies the island's eastern two-thirds. It is not unreasonable Haitians, as well as for America and the other nations underwriting the country's reconstruction, to expect honest government and an improved standard of living in the long term.
From what I've heard and read, not many people died as a result of light weight shanties collapsing.
Ping to a Republican-American Editorial.
If you want on or off this list, let me know.
Detroit, without the snow.
That's in line with what I've read.
And the editorial brings to mind an interesting question. Why would the Dominican Republic (or any other civilized country) want it? Perhaps China, for an Atlantic naval base, but that would be about it.
Thanks for the ping Graybeard.
But why would the Dominican Republic want Haiti? They wouldn't, of course, absent massive financial and "nation building" aid from... guess who?
Haiti should have become a U.S. territory
If Zero and his corrupt POS administration weren't in power, there should be a task-force of Americans assigned to create a government for Haiti (maybe headed by Jeb Bush) and let American private enterprise rebuild the nation. Because as harsh as this may sound, I don't want these people to come here. And that's what may happen there's going to be a bunch of refugees requesting asylum and some stupid Dem and RINO will cave and give the victims amnesty.
They would want it if they could profit. from owning it. Give them a UN mandate. In exchange for proving some kind of government, they would get to take their cut from foreign aid that came through. The alternative is letting us colonize it. We could make a naval base there that was better than GITMO.
Well, Puerto Rico is certainly better off than most places in the region. Under American governance, the Haitians in the US could come hope and apply the skills they have acquired in the States. The problem is the anti-Yanquis attitude in the region.
The Haitian building code is that the floor goes on the bottom. When I first saw the wreckage, I said I bet they were stretching their mortar out with extra sand, and sure enough! that was one of the problems cited on one of the news reports.
Sorry, 200 years of experience tells us that this is indeed unreasonable in Haiti.
I’ve been to Haiti twice on mission trips. The concrete I saw there is really bad. The usual technique is to dig a hole in the ground in which to hand-mix the mortar or concrete. Cement is the most expensive ingredient, so it is mixed in sparingly. The finished product is closer to mud than concrete.
I saw concrete blocks being hand-made there, formed from hand-mixed concrete. After being molded, they were laid in the sun to dry, with a banana leaf to shield them from the intense sun. Like all concrete, if they dry too quickly, it will crumble. So most of the poor mortar in Haiti is in turn being used to bond together poor blocks.
Fletcher J
“If Zero and his corrupt POS administration weren’t in power, there should be a task-force of Americans assigned to create a government for Haiti “
I agree with you. But while you and I would like to see Haiti’s fundamental problems solved, Barackhusseinobama will use this (Never let a good crisis go to waste) for destruction of America.
France hasn’t got much on its plate, except several million unassimilated Muslims. The best thing that could happen to Haiti is its reintegration into France. The problem is, that would be one of the worst things for France.
Since the end of World War II and European colonialization, Africa, too, has sunk into chaos and tranny. Unfortunately for the Third World, we ain’t coming back.
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