Haiti: A Global Tragedy

Haiti has a population of approximately 9 million people. Almost 60% of its population is between 15 and 64 years of age. 39% is under 15 years old. Around 5% of its adult population has been infected with HIV/AIDS. 90% of the island nation’s children suffer from some form of waterborne diseases and/or intestinal parasites. The World Health Organization reports that Haiti suffers ten times the number of tuberculosis cases of its Latin American neighbors. On average, 30,000 Haitians combat malaria annually.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, with the average Haitian earning a paltry $2.00 per day (ranking 149 out of 182 per the United Nations’ 2006 Human Development Index). It’s GDP per capita is a mere $790.00. It’s not surprising then to learn that 80% of the population lives at or below the poverty line. The illiteracy rate for Haiti stands at 50% (compared with nearby Cuba which has a literacy rate of 80%). The combination of poverty and lack of education has forced many families in the country side to sell their children in a form of slavery as unpaid household servants whose sole compensation is basic shelter and food (one estimate puts the number at 225,000 children).

The government is Haiti has consistently been regarded as of the world’s most inefficient and corrupt with such notorious examples being former “Papa Doc” Duvalier, who raped his people of an estimated $504 million dollars from 1971 through 1986. President Aristide similarly stole millions from his people and pushed Haiti into a nation of government sponsored drug trafficking and pyramid schemes. But it wasn’t only fellow Haitians who were robbed and brutalized by these Stalin wannabes.

Haiti has been the beneficiary of billions of dollars in global aid (so much so that it officially counts for approximately 35% of the country national budget). The largest donors are the United States, Canada, and the European Union. Of the 4 billion dollars donated between 1990 and 2003, $1.5 billion came from the people of the United States. Yet despite the charity of the Western Nations, Haiti’s debt remains an estimated 1.3 billion dollars as of 2003. Of course, none of this takes in consideration the additional devastation as the result of the two most recent earthquakes, which could top $4 billion dollars in additional aid. Now, let’s contrast this to the Dominican Republic, which shares the other half of the island.

The age structure and population of the Dominican Republic is similar to that of Haiti, but that’s pretty much where the similarity ends. The economy of the Dominican Republic is one of the strongest in Caribbean, and serves as an anchor tourist destination for all the major cruise ship lines. Its golf courses are almost legendary. In fact, the US State Department reports that the Dominican Republic has the second largest economy in Central America with the most rapidly developing middle classes in the region. The country’s GDP for the year 2007 per capita was $9,208.00. Having said that, its strong economy has been marked by a history of mismanaging its natural resources.

In examining the country’s health, 1.7% of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS, and like its neighbor Haiti, the country suffers from malaria, airborne diseases, and dengue, which comes from mosquitoes. The Dominican Republic has a much more successful education system than does Haiti, with more graduates from primary schools. However, while Haiti has to deal with its acute poverty and often enslavement of many of its children, the Dominican Republic has become a launching point for much of the drug traffic bound for North America (particularly cocaine). It’s also a haven for money laundering. Lastly, because prostitution is legal, the nation has become an increasing “hot spot” for child prostitution, especially in the poorer parts of the country.

Although not free from corruption, the government of the Dominican Republic has not suffered from the gross abuse that its Haitian neighbors have endured. It is perhaps because the Dominican Republic has a more stable government that it has been able to develop a much more stable infrastructure, which includes a more successful educational system, which in turn has created the means to develop middle class and a potential way out of poverty for those fortunate enough to have an education.

In conclusion, it appears to this writer that the people of Haiti need to rid themselves of their would-be tyrants and install a seriously reform oriented government dedicated to developing its economy. Since Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the same island, the natural resources are similar. Haiti needs to look to its neighbor (and other neighboring island nations) and develop a coherent plan to turn the nation into a tourist destination. In turn, it needs an all out commitment to creating an educated population in order to attract transnational corporations. A more educated population will also go a long way towards improving its health situation (although it has to get pass some antiquated and harmful religious notions first). Both Haiti and the Dominican Republic have problems with immigration, especially illegal immigration. This is not good for either nation’s long term economic outlook, or the countries forced to cope with the outward effects of what is essentially an internal problem.


(Sources: CIA Facts; Wikipedia)


More Haitian News

Speaking of Haiti, it seems France is at it again. This time America is being accused of “occupying” the island nation and manipulation of the local airport. France’s International Cooperation Minister, Alain Joyandat, has even asked the United Nations to investigate. Brazil and Venezuela naturally joined in. No big surprise there. However, the Haitians seem rather pleased with American efforts. It seems that we are the only ones with the technical resources to manage such a global effort. Perhaps Frances needs to complain less and do more. You know the old adage---put up or shut up. Speaking of which, it seems there has been one problem at the airport which has been causing a serious disruption to relief supplies being landed, and that’s the media.

World news organizations have been landing planes of reporters, camera crews, satellite equipment and their related equipment. The media loaded planes have been keeping air traffic controllers busy dealing with them (and where to put them on an already overcrowded runway) rather than the important stuff, like planes with relief supplies, doctors, food, medicine, and needed infrastructure equipment. Since we’re always accused of controlling the situation, perhaps in the future we should control media presence in crisis areas as well. Set up one official media outlet to release news and footage to the other media outlets until the situation is stabilized. This is supposed to be about saving lives, not ratings.

On a related matter, kudo’s to the Israelis! Israel dispatched a trauma medical unit to Haiti which not only got there just about before everyone else, but it set up shop and was treating victims while even the US was still trying to get its people on the ground. The Israeli trauma unit has multiple tents for everything ranging from minor scraps and broken bones, to maternity and much more serious injuries. It even has a well provisioned pharmacy and surgical unit. Unfortunately for the Israelis, but fortunately for the Haitians, Israel is well versed in dealing with mass causalities.


Poll Results

We asked in our last poll if you kept your New Year’s Resolutions. 60% of you said that you usually did while the remaining 40% of you said “never!” No one ever admitted to keeping them all the time! I have to admit, I’m among the 60% of you. I make a list every New Years Day of major projects that I want to do during the upcoming years. On special occasions (birthday, anniversary, etc), I pull it out and review it. Typically I get about 80% of my projects accomplished.

2009: A Look Back and A Look To The Future

I can’t believe another year is already over. Heck, the first decade of the 21st century is already over, and what a decade it was! When I was a little kid, I used to figure up how old I would be when the 21st century rolled around and tired to imagine what the world would be like. I never thought we’d be living in a world of the Jetsons, Star Trek, or even Lost in Space, but back then, in the late 1960’s (and given everything that was going on then), I thought we’d be living in very different sort of world. 

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve come along way in a very short period of time, but somehow, I thought flying cars, hovercraft, and underwater cities would be a bit more common place. I thought we’d have a better grip on war, the environment, world hunger and poverty. I thought that the three areas of greatest growth would be technology (especially personal computers), medicine, and in military applications. 

I hoped there would be more global cooperation (perhaps a fully united Europe). I didn’t expect Communism to last. It stifled people’s creativity. I knew the Left would fail as well. The only way it could succeed was if the government picked up the tab, and that couldn’t happen because the government doesn’t actually have any money of its own. Its money is taken from people like you and me in the form of taxes. So, what happened?

I suppose the old maxim that the more things change, the more they remain the same. True, technology changed (actually, exploded would be a better description). We have not just personal desk computers, but laptops more powerful than Univac ever was! We have microwave ovens, dishwashers, home theater systems, keyless entries, and GPS tracking systems using orbiting satellites, DVD players, and cell phones that would make Star Trek's Lt. Uhura envious with envy! 

Thanks to technology, we have found new ways to connect globally (and in doing so, spawned our own cyber shorthand), and as a result, we seen the traditional television networks struggle and print media all but fade away. We now blog, email, Twitter, sound bite, YouTube, and Facebook our way into our own cyber reality. We have cyber games with amazing realism. But with this technology, we have lost much of the elegance and beauty of the written and spoken word. We have lost common civility, our ability to interconnect, and I think we’ve lost a certain respect for human life.

The military has (naturally) led the way into this technological wonderland. Much of what we commonly use (like the Internet itself) was developed by and for the military. But, like Alice, we have to follow wherever this rabbit hole leads. We’ve willingly accepted the convenience of all this technology, but unwittingly forfeited much of our privacy; our right to anonymity. If we can use GPS to get from point A to B, then it reasons we can be tracked just as easily. We can call anyone anywhere with our cell phone, but just as easily, that phone call can not only be monitored, but traced right back to our location. 

The same satellite technology that brings us cable can also literally peer over our shoulders and read in real time the same book we’re holding. The security technology brings us as we walk to cars is the same technology that watches us go about our private moments by peering through walls to read our body heat. It was said that under Emperor Hadrian’s absolute militaristic rule, that a virgin could walk the length of the Appian Way at night and never be accosted. People have historically happily sacrifice personal freedom for personal security. Technology has changed, but Man hasn’t I suppose.

I would have expected petty prejudices would have disappeared in the 21st century, but they seem to be alive and well. We still use our differences as wedges rather than potential resources. Take for instance our current situation in the Middle East. I though that surely after their umpteenth butt kicking in 1973, the Arabs would get over having Israel as a neighbor. Israel is fact. It isn’t going anywhere. Israeli R&D could do wonders for the economies of their Arab neighbors if only they would put down their guns and extend their hands. I couldn’t have been more wrong. 

Now we have a bunch of nut jobs trying to pervert Islam because they want to go back to the 10th century and make the world one giant Caliphate, and of course, that means no Israel, no Europe, no Russia, no India, no China, no Southeast Asia, no England, no Australia, no Canada, and no America. No Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, paganism, or even atheism. No democracy. No freedom of anything.

But you have to hand it to these crackpots though. They’ve got chutzpah. They’ve kicked us repeatedly in Beirut, Kenya, and a half a dozen other places and we did nothing. Finally, with the indirect help of our own incompetent and often arrogant intelligence agencies, they got our attention on 9/11 (on their second try I might add). Now, we’re in quagmire and fighting their war; a war of attrition. It’s like throwing rocks at the wind. 

Yeah, we kill this or that leader, but so what? Martyrs, especially religious martyrs are cheaper by the dozen. After all, they’re murdering for God. And the best part, while they treat their women as third class citizens, hidden under black veils so the men won’t be tempted, they get 72 virgins instantly upon their death (not to mention the bonus of killing infidels). Somehow, I don’t think this is what Mohammed had in mind when he asked his followers to study and contemplate God’s message of love and compassion.

So, if I’m so smart, how would I fight these guys you ask? Simple. First, I would make energy independence a national priority. Let them eat oil. I would stop exporting everything to any nation that harbors these murders. Yeah, I know innocent people may suffer, and that could in the short term increase their ranks. But I would make it known to the people in these countries why we’ve turned off the charity specket. 

I would provide material and tactical support to groups willing to doing our dirty work (be it killing terrorists or removing pro-terrorist governments). Take care of your friends and severely punish your enemies. I would dedicate Special Forces to go after high value targets anywhere they run. And I can assure you, there would be no need for trials.

Another thing, I never in my wildest dreams growing up think that one day in the future I would be writing about America being invaded. But here I am writing about millions of illegal aliens coming across our borders and, despite Americans being on verge of revolt, Congress has all but blown us off.

 In fact, Congress has been ignoring us for quite some time now numerous issues like billion dollar bailouts, executive pay raises and bonuses, Clinton’s impeachment, gas prices, healthcare, not making English our national language, jailing border patrol officers for doing their jobs, and higher taxes to pay for all this pork. 

To be sure we get the usual platitudes from both parties, but no real action, and who is to blame them? Congress has gerrymandered Congressional Districts to the point where it is virtually impossible for an incumbent to lose no matter how crooked they are (in fact, there are fewer turnovers in the US Congress than in the old Soviet Politburo. And you think it’s because they’re doing such a fine job?). They’ve repeated ignored our demands for term limits and serious campaign finance reform. It’s kind of letting crooks set their own prison sentences.

But change may be on the way in the form of Tea Parties. People all across America are sick and tired of being sick and tired. They had enough of the Left wing big government neo-socialist Democrats and they’ve had enough of big government Fundamentalist religious zealot Republicans. The Tea Party movement is comprised of disgusted traditional conservative Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents; people who want to get back to what our Founding Fathers intended. 

In fact, Independents now represent the largest voting block in America while the number of registered Democrats and Republicans (especially Republicans) fall to record lows. Many historians and political scientists have commented that America has never been this deeply divided on so many basic issues since the years preceding the Civil War. We may just be witnessing the political realignment of the United States. (it will be interesting to where the beltway roaches run if that happens).

So, what does all this mean to folks like you and me? Personally, I think technology can be a wonderful tool, but it’s just that---a tool. Look at the incredible advances in medicine and science. We’ve eradicated numerous diseases. We’ve extended lives. We’ve improved the overall quality of countless lives. 

But in doing so, we’ve often overlooked the consequences of our actions. Just because we can do something, should we? Does extending a life also improve the quality of that life? Should facelifts, wrinkle removals, and tummy tucks replace the natural grace of aging? Just because we can manipulate DNA in the womb, does it benefit the child’s life or are we just creating a “designer baby”? It seems to me that while our knowledge continues to increase, our wisdom woefully lags behind.

I think we should cut out the graphic violence on TV, in the movies, and more importantly, in video games. It only gives the illusion that life is cheap. Real guns don’t come with a reset button. I would like to see a return to the classics which emphasizes human interaction, such as music, art, theater, and literature. Maybe we should have a mandatory high school class in etiquette.

We need to reign in our government. Our politicians (and that includes our judges) are out of control. They are drunk on money and power. They’ve forgotten who they serve. It’s our money they’re spending so freely and we’ve only lent them the power to act on our behalf, not to enrich themselves and set up petty kingdoms. 

Our Founding Father set out to create a democratic Republic, not an Oligarchy. Benjamin Franklin once famously quipped, after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, that they had given us a country to keep, if we could. My question to you is this: Is it too late or have we lost our country?

As for me, I suppose I’ll keep writing my little blog as long as there is someone willing to read it. Freedom is never free. It always requires vigilance. I doubt I will ever stop shouting from the mountain top. Besides, I like tweaking the noses of our arrogant officials and those in the media.

Poll Results

Our latest poll asked you what you thought of Obama’s proposal to send more troops to Afghanistan. 33% of you thought we should maintain our current level of troop commitment. 16% of you thought the troop increase was justified. However, everyone else said “no way” and thought the additional troops were not only unnecessary, but thought we should be bringing our troops home. 

I have mixed opinions on this. The bad guys are rebuilding in Afghanistan. If we maintain our current level of troops, let alone start bringing troops home, we run the risk of losing everything we’ve been fighting and dying for. On the other hand, we had no business in Iraq. Ben Laden and his henchmen weren’t in Iraq. They were in Afghanistan. That’s were we should have been in the first place. Now we’re stuck fighting two wars. 

I think we need to pull out of Iraq and redeploy in Afghanistan. The Iraqis have had more than enough time to get their act together. It’s time for the Afghans to fight their own battles.