Haitian Earthquake and Corrupt Corporate Profiteering

Unfortunately, the Haitian earthquake, the natural disaster that occurred January 12, was not the only disaster that afflicted Haiti that dreadful day. Haiti, from its origins, has endured a never-ending barrage of man-made disasters, inflicted mainly at the hands of the U.S. and France. The long history of French and U.S. intervention, of using markets as a means to subjugate and punish the population for their own desire for autonomy started the moment Haiti declared its independence.

Born out of a slave uprising in 1804, Haiti was the first nation to try to emulate the United States democratic form of government. However, the huge obstacles deliberately put in Haiti's way would ensure the tiny republic's failure. The U.S congress did not formally recognize Haiti until 1862, afraid that if it did, it would inspire a slave revolt amongst U.S. slaves. Therefore, because they were former slaves, their "freedom" came with a very high price, the price of impoverishing debt. France insisted Haiti pay reparations for the loss of slavery, which Haiti continued to pay through World War II.

The U.S. and Europe continued to oppress Haiti, and in 1915, the U.S. Marines occupied the small nation until 1934. Then, in 1956, with the support of the U.S., Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier declared himself President of Haiti for life starting the corrupt and violent dictatorial control that continued until 1986.

In the beginning of the 1980s, Haiti was able to grow its own rice, meaning it could sustain the majority of its population. Nevertheless, because Haiti wanted a left-winged government, Presidents Reagan and Clinton imposed economic structural adjustment policies. This meant Haiti had to open up its food markets to the so-called “free markets”. Haiti’s farmers, the poorest people in the western hemisphere, had to compete against the US rice industry, which receives almost a billion dollars per year in subsidies. In other words, the U.S. intentionally made Haiti dependent on US rice imports.

In 1990, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest and Haiti's first democratically elected president, took office, but not for long. Aristide was twice ousted by CIA backed military coups, in 1991, and again in 2004 against the will of the majority of the Haitian people.

The Haitians have a fiercely independent spirit that can't be easily extinguished. In 2008, in response to the price of rice rising, sometimes as much as 30% in a single day (on the international market) political protests, called "food riots" began. In addition to the Haitian's demand for rice, these "food riots" carried politically articulate demands, for example, calling for the return of Jean-Bertrand Aristide who President Bush sent into exile, ordering that he should not to return to the Western Hemisphere. These political protests have been systematically stamped out. The media, rather than portraying the truth of the “food rebellions’ characterizes them as the random acts of an hysterical people, leaving out the most important part, the context of the situation

The following was posted to the Heritage Foundation's website just hours after the Haitian earthquake, and was subsequently removed and replaced with something a little less opportunistic sounding:

"Amidst the Suffering, Crisis in Haiti Offers Opportunities to the U.S."
In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti earthquake offers opportunities to
re-shape Haiti's long-dysfunctional government and economy as well as to
improve the image of the United States in the region..."

The bottom line is we owe Haiti a fresh start. This tragedy should not be used to further in-debt Haiti and push through policies in the interest of further lining the pockets of our corporations.

But the point is, we need to make sure that the aid that goes to Haiti is,one, grants, not loans. This is absolutely crucial. This is an already heavily indebted country. This is a disaster that, as Amy said, on the one
hand is nature, is, you know, an earthquake; on the other hand is the creation, is worsened by the poverty that our governments have been so complicit in deepening.

Crises-natural disasters are so much worse in countries like Haiti, because
you have soil erosion because the poverty means people are building in very,
very precarious ways, so houses just slide down because they are built in
places where they shouldn't be built. All of this is interconnected. But we
have to be absolutely clear that this tragedy, which is part natural, part
unnatural, must, under no circumstances, be used to, one, further indebt
Haiti, and, two, to push through unpopular corporatist policies in the
interests of our corporations. And this is not a conspiracy theory. They
have done it again and again. -- Naomi Klein

Source: Naomi Klein, author of Shock Doctrine, Disaster Capitalism, and Raj Patel author of The Value of Nothing.

Links:

'New Haiti' Same Corporate Interests

Foodfirst

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Obama Grants Illegal Haitians Temporary Protected Status

Earlier this week, in response to the devastation from the Haiti earthquake, the Obama administration temporarily suspended deportations of illegal immigrants from that country.

The temporary legal status is an act of compassion....Temporary protected status is granted to foreigners who may not be able to return safely to their country because of a natural disaster, armed conflict or other reasons. -- Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano

Now, President Obama has extended a special immigration status to Haitians living illegally in the U.S. This ruling protects them from deportation for 18 months and allows them to work here. This is only available to Haitians already in the country as January 12, 2010. This temporary protection status could affect 100,000 to 200,000 Haitians in the U.S. as well as about 30,000 Haitians who had been ordered deported.

The administration’s decision followed a rising chorus of calls for the temporary status after the earthquake on Tuesday. On Friday, 80 representatives and 18 senators, including Democrats and Republicans, sent appeals to the administration to grant the status, as did the conference of Roman Catholic bishops.

However, this is not the first request for temporary protected status. The Haitian government and advocates in the U.S. have been asking Washington to grant this status, since late 2008, after a series of natural disasters, starting with floods in 2004 that left more than 5,000 people dead or missing to four big storms that killed at least 800 people and destroyed most of Haiti’s food crops in 2008.

The Bush administration decided against granting Haitians the temporary status in December 2008, and the Obama administration, in March 2009, continued deporting Haitians.

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Unconditional Life: Learning From the Heart

In the midst of hopelessness, where life is approximately 400 years behind the United States (ironically, Haiti was the first nation to emulate the United States in 1804 when they broke away from France and tried their hand at democracy), and people suffer from the worst kind of poverty, it's unthinkable that more tragedy could possibly inflict itself on a nation, who, if anything, deserves relief from their dire conditions.

Unbelievable, as it may seem to many of us, the Haitians make up for what they do not have in material goods and fundamental staples, by retaining their faith and spiritual connections. Despite that faith, their hard work, immense suffering, and their efforts to try and take care of one another, something always interferes and sets them back even further.

Back in 2004, that something was Hurricane Jeanne, which left 1,500 dead. In an article, Facing Haiti's Hopelessness, She Helps, Ernest Cooper of the St. Petersburg Times, highlights the missions of one surgeon, Sylvia Campbell, who said at the time, "It's so much sadder than it was before. The Haitians are so much poorer, so much hungrier," and that she is "awed by the Haitian struggle -- and their unyielding humanity". One example amongst so many is when neighbors walked five hours with one woman who need emergency surgery.

"They're such gentle kind people. It's so horrible that they have to go through more tragedy. You wonder how could people survive, yet they have incredible faith, an incredible gentleness to their spirit." -- Sylvia Campbell

Today, once again, it's so much sadder than it was before. Yet, there is no doubt the Haitians will continue to go on, living and loving. These afflicted people exemplify what Dr. Dan Gottleib, host of Voices in the Family on NPR means when he talks about the "gift of hopelessness" in his book, Learning From the Heart

Dr. Gottlieb has experienced his fair share of tragedy. At age 33-years old, he suffered through a car accident that left him a quadriplegic. A couple of years after the accident, he came to a deliberate crossroads in his life. This was the point at which he decided he was going to choose life or death. Taking himself off to his bedroom where he could be alone, he confronted something...a spiritual being, an image of God, the "heart" as he refers to in his book; he's not sure what or who it was that responded to him, only that something did.

At first Dr. Gottlieb said, "OK, I'll live with this if you can give me hope that one day I will walk again."

The voice responded, "No hope...live or die, choose one."

He tried again and said, "OK, give me hope that I will not continue to be as sick as I have been over the past couple of years."

The being responded exactly the same way, "No hope...live or die, choose one."

Everything Dr. Gottlieb asked for received the same response, and so he chose life, unconditionally, the way life was right at that moment. Today, he has a thriving practice, authored several books and hosts a radio show, but that did not come easily or without more heartache, as he lost his sister and then his wife to divorce and shortly thereafter, to death.

Semantically, faith and hope are very similar, except the word hope places more conditions, and is more specific, whereas faith is more general -- confidently believing in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of something or someone, whether it is life in general, a person, an idea, God, etc.

But placing conditions on love and life automatically limits our potential, eliminates freedom, and guarantees failure because there is no doubt that someone, something, or life in general will not measure up to the terms we've imposed. We can't escape it...life, and/or the people in our life will hurt, betray, and disappoint us repeatedly. Does that mean we should give up? Stop loving? Stop living? The easy answer is yes. However, keep in mind that we have, and we will hurt, betray, and disappoint in life and love as much as life hurts, betrays, and disappoints us.

Instead of abandoning hope altogether, Dr. Gottlieb said he can live with the definition of hope Jerome Groopman the author of "Anatomy of Hope" gives, "the belief that tomorrow can be better than today".

The Haitians who live in the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, in circumstances, incomprehensible to most of us, without an education, have learned from the heart. They know that to give up, is to have given up on the only reason for our existence...to contribute to life, that is, to live, and love. Each time we stop loving someone or choose against life, we truly fail, as we have refused to fulfill the one and only reason we exist. It is as simple as that.

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Jesus Who?

Names like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Martha Stewart, Howard Hughes and every other wealth-creating titan's name normally roll off our tongues as if they were part of our family. However, a physician, who revolutionized the delivery of health care around the globe and is responsible for saving millions of lives in Rwanda, Haiti, Peru, Russia, United States, Malawi and Lesotho? Never heard of him. That is, until 60 Minutes aired a 10-minute segment on Dr. Paul Farmer, tonight.

Jesus Christ, or Jesus H. Christ as some people like to refer to him, is spoken every day, all over the world, and uttered more than all the household names in history combined, yet Dr. Paul Farmer's work resembles Jesus Christ's work a hell of a lot more than any of the titan's names I just mentioned. I guess it's a good thing Jesus Christ lived 2,000 years ago because if he lived today, Mr. Jesus Christ would come and go just like any other Tom, Dick, or Harry.

But, thanks to 60 Minutes, I now know who Dr. Paul Farmer is and I know about his pet project, Partners in Health (PIH), which he started twenty years ago, but please don't ask me who this man is next year, next month, next week and possibly even tomorrow...I will have forgotten.

The PIH Vision: Whatever it takes
At its root, our mission is both medical and moral. It is based on solidarity, rather than charity alone. When a person in Peru, or Siberia, or rural Haiti falls ill, PIH uses all of the means at our disposal to make them well—from pressuring drug manufacturers, to lobbying policy makers, to providing medical care and social services. Whatever it takes. Just as we would do if a member of our own family—or we ourselves—were ill.

PIH has been ranked as one of the top three charities for saving lives reliably and cost-effectively by Givewell.net. The charity research group cited PIH as "the 'lowest-risk' charity available" because "its model is extremely logical and tangible, and we have high confidence in it."

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Winner-Takes-All World: From Mud Cookies to Truffles

The hand of a woman is covered in mud as she makes mud cookies on the roof of Fort Dimanche, once a prison, in Port-au-Prince, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007. Rising prices and food shortages threaten the nation's fragile stability, and the mud cookies, made of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening, are one of very few options the poorest people have to stave off hunger.




World's Most Expensive Truffle Brings $112,000





The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported that government aid to developing countries reached record highs in 2005, peaking at $106.5 billion. That sounds like a lot of money until you look at the percentage each country gave of its gross national income. The United States gave the most, $7.5 billion, which accounts for (0.2 % GNI) ; followed by Japan at $1 .1 billion (0. 8 percent GNI); the United kingdom at $10.8 billion (0.48 percent GNI); and France $10.1 billion (0.47 percent GNI). Although the United States contributed the highest dollar amount, it gave the lowest percentage of its GNI.

The data from the UNDP (1998) report the 358 richest people in the world possess a fortune equivalent in value to the combined income of the poorest 45 percent.

There is something wrong with this picture. Why should some people have to eat "mud cookies" while an infinitesimally small percentage of people feast on fungus, fungus that cost more than gold, but ends up in the same digestive tract as the mud, where it is converted into the "great equalizer" none of us like to discuss and for good reason.

Even newly-created wealth becomes concentrated in the possession of the already wealthy -- wealth condensation -- preventing those who eat mud cookies from ever getting a shot at eating a "Tollhouse cookie" let alone a truffle. The truffle-eaters who already hold all the wealth, have the means to invest in new sources of creating wealth and thus become the beneficiaries of recently acquired wealth, adding on to the great abundance of valuable material possessions or resources already so readily available to them. Meanwhile, the poorest members of a society are forced to spend all their income on bare necessities - food, housing, medicine - and will have nothing left over to invest as the wealthiest people do.

It's very much a "winner-takes-all" global economy where all the wealth is held in a very small part of each country's population or if speaking in global, the majority of the wealth is held in the hands of very small number of countries. Most of this can be attributed to the structure of markets and technology today.

As the globe continues to shrink, it will be harder and harder to avoid the interconnectedness between all of us, whether we live in Haiti, the USA, Africa, or the Middle East. Unavoidably, our continually shrinking world will cause interdependence, where we, the United States, will depend on other countries to remain healthy, free of violence, terrorism, ect because we are no longer isolated from the problems of other countries...it will become much more difficult to prevent whatever it is we are trying to avoid from crossing over into our territory.

Organizing our world economy in the interests of the super or hyper-rich can only heighten the chance this world will cease to exist. Many of our current domestic and foreign policies, which give enormous advantages to the rich over and above the already enormous advantage they already have over the poor and middle-class just by having such an abundance of wealth will become more than a moral question as it is now, and a more a question of our own survival.

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