Well said, now how would you have done it?
REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of de Bivort Lawrence Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 2:23 PM To: D and N Cc: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION Subject: Re: [Futurework] Save Haiti From Aid Tourists Hi, Good discussion. It really isn't anyone's "idea" to denude the landscape of trees, whether it is Haiti, Cyprus, Spain, or Madagascar. Someone needs firewood. Another needs timbers to build a house. Another needs planks. Another needs to clear a patch for cultivation. Yet another needs to produce charcoal. A family wants to feed its goats, and turns them out to forage in the woods.And all too soon, if the numbers swing the wrong way, deforestation takes place. I can't think of any development agency that decided to denude a forest. I can think of a number of governments that did so for political reasons, e.g., the Romans in North Africa, the early Mongols in parts of Iraq, the Israelis against Palestinian olive and citrus groves, the Khmer Rouge in areas they didn't control. Perhaps the early Brazilian policies on farming settlements in the Amazon Basin can be added to this list. Put, as the concept of the tragedy of the commons explores thoughtfully, individuals acting alone, with limited intent, and for purposes that generally meet with social approval, can wreak havoc of resources and places that are of value to a society as a whole. It doesn't always take a conspiracy to degrade the environment and the quality of life of a society. Sometimes it only requires a lack of whole-systems awareness and a society-approved minor level of greed. I heard an interview (NPR?) in the last couple of days: a Haitian doctor explained how the massive (and well-meaning) influx of foreign medical personnel and mobile facilities that provided many Haitians with free medical attention after the earthquake had decimated the existing Haitian medical system. Local doctors, nurses and facilities, he explained were left without patients -- and the income needed to sustain them. He implied that the current Haitian medical capacity was now inferior to what it had been before this influx. Cheers, Lawry On Nov 22, 2010, at 12:49 PM, D and N wrote: Additionally I had not heard it was the "idea" of the native Haitians to denude the mountains and valleys of all the trees that now allow these massive floods. Was that the "World Bank" or some other private enterprise from the Americas??? Darryl On 11/22/2010 8:15 AM, Ray Harrell wrote: I knew a musical agent for a traditional and very famous Haitian band who will remain nameless for our purposes. He said that he was taken to their hometown up in the mountains. He said that the people were healthy and prosperous but had no cash. They exist totally on a barter economy with no trade at all. They make their clothing from home grown products. Have wonderful fruits and vegetables from their gardens and domestic animals provided the meat. Their healthcare is traditional and prevention based as most traditional societies are. Keith, As much as you would like to blame the failure of Haiti on some native genetic failing, I think this constitutes a flawed argument due to actual information. I dont know what has happened to that village after the earthquake but I wouldnt be surprised to find they have recovered nicely. The problems of world and national banks are well known. One need not look to genetic problems or ethnic prejudice to explain the collapse of many countries like Yugoslavia. The banks will do just fine and the problem of urban blight is also well known. To resort to genetic issues is probably not appropriate in this situation, if it ever is. Let me give you a little example here. If you were held to the aural standards of certain African languages with their incredible consonant complexity you would most certainly fail as would most English citizens. The same for the eleven (k) sounds in the Thai language. So would I. But to blame that on genetics and the muscles of the tongue would be a far too easy and unscholarly thing. Ive had problems with Jared Diamond before. Hes often not quite right in what he says about things that I know about. I wont say that it constitutes a bias but the conservatives and certain ethnic groups here certainly like him a lot. I find him shallow in the areas that I know about. Hes hard to pin down but I would call it an attitude. A bad mood that creates an inaccurate feeling in the gut which then ends up in a nuanced biased action. REH PS Theres one thing that genetics should definitely have the last word in and thats old age. But then my tests at the hospital have proved that I cant blame my parents genes but their decision to locate my childhood in a lead and zinc mining town with terrible poisons that now effect me in terrible ways. We must be careful that we dont fall into the Western trap of ignoring what we are responsible for as causative and continually blaming God. The problem of Adam and that apple. It wasnt me it was HER genes and YOU made her! Perhaps there is original sin in the West after all. :>)) From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Keith Hudson Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 3:32 AM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION; Michael Gurstein Subject: Re: [Futurework] Save Haiti From Aid Tourists Following Michael Gurstein's posting of the Guardian article on Haiti (below), the now classsic essay of Jared Diamond might also be of interest to FWers. This compares basket-case Haiti with the relatively prosperous Dominica which lies immediately next door on the same island. It is extracted from his book Collapse. In addition to the environmental differences in rainfall between the two countries, Jared Diamond ascribes much more of the blame on the previous French colonization and the subsequent culture of dependency that followed. What might be added to Jared Diamond's thesis -- and which confirms it in spades -- is a whole series of momentous discoveries of epigenes from biological research which have only appeared since the book was published. It is now known that the most subtle predispositions -- behavioural and physiological -- can be inherited and can last for generations. This not only explains why the culture of any nation (never mind just Haiti) can take generations to change, but also why the main motivation for change can only be initiated from within the culture itself. Outside help may, or may not, be beneficial but it can only be a catalyst at best. "You can lead a horse to water but . . . " or, as one of the Canadian NGO benefactors in the Guardian account says: "As soon as we leave, everything stops. You try to teach . . . but really you just touch the people you deal with directly." Keith P.S. Incidentally, this article also demonstrates the previous topic on FW -- that no local community, however large (as are the cases of Haiti and Dominica) can exist by itself without trading specializations of its own with those from other places. <<<< Haiti and the Dominican Republic: One Island, Two Worlds <Mail Attachment.jpeg>Jared Diamond Why did the political, economic and ecological histories of these two countries -- the Dominican Republic and Haiti -- sharing the same island unfold so differently? Part of the answer involves environmental differences. The island of Hispaniolas rains come mainly from the east. Hence the Dominican (eastern) part of the island receives more rain and thus supports higher rates of plant growth. Hispaniolas highest mountains (over 10,000 feet high) are on the Dominican side, and the rivers from those high mountains mainly flow eastwards into the Dominican side. The Dominican side has broad valleys, plains and plateaus and much thicker soils. In particular, the Cibao Valley in the north is one of the richest agricultural areas in the world. Environmental differences In contrast, the Haitian side is drier because of that barrier of high mountains blocking rains from the east. Compared to the Dominican Republic, the area of flat land good for intensive agriculture in Haiti is much smaller, as a higher percentage of Haitis area is mountainous. There is more limestone terrain, and the soils are thinner and less fertile and have a lower capacity for recovery. Social and political differences Note the paradox: The Haitian side of the island was less well endowed environmentally but developed a rich agricultural economy before the Dominican side. The explanation of this paradox is that Haitis burst of agricultural wealth came at the expense of its environmental capital of forests and soils. This lesson is, in effect, that an impressive-looking bank account may conceal a negative cash flow. While those environmental differences did contribute to the different economic trajectories of the two countries, a larger part of the explanation involved social and political differences of which there were many that eventually penalized the Haitian economy relative to the Dominican economy. In that sense, the differing developments of the two countries were over-determined. Numerous separate factors coincided in tipping the result in the same direction. French help One of those social and political differences involved the accident that Haiti was a colony of rich France and became the most valuable colony in Frances overseas empire. The Dominican Republic was a colony of Spain, which by the late 1500s was neglecting Hispaniola and was in economic and political decline itself. Hence, France was able to invest in developing intensive slave-based plantation agriculture in Haiti, which the Spanish could not or chose not to develop in their side of the island. France imported far more slaves into its colony than did Spain. A difference in population As a result, Haiti had a population seven times higher than its neighbor during colonial times and it still has a somewhat larger population today, about ten million versus 8.8 million. But Haiti's area is only slightly more than half of that of the Dominican Republic. As a result, Haiti, with a larger population and smaller area, has double the Republi's population density. The combination of that higher population density and lower rainfall was the main factor behind the more rapid deforestation and loss of soil fertility on the Haitian side. In addition, all of those French ships that brought slaves to Haiti returned to Europe with cargos of Haitian timber, so that Haiti's lowlands and mid-mountain slopes had been largely stripped of timber by the mid-19th century. Long-term investing A second social and political factor is that the Dominican Republic -- with its Spanish-speaking population of predominantly European ancestry -- was both more receptive and more attractive to European immigrants and investors than was Haiti, with its Creole-speaking population composed overwhelmingly of black former slaves. Hence, European immigration and investment were negligible and restricted by the constitution in Haiti after 1804 but eventually became important in the Dominican Republic. Using the land Those Dominican immigrants included many middle-class business people and skilled professionals who contributed to the countrys development. The people of the Dominican Republic even chose to resume their status as a Spanish colony from 1812 to 1821, and its president chose to make his country a protectorate of Spain from 1861 to 1865. Still another social difference contributing to the different economies is that, as a legacy of their country's slave history and slave revolt, most Haitians owned their own land, used it to feed themselves and received no help from their government in developing cash crops for trade with overseas European countries. The Dominican Republic, however, eventually did develop an export economy and overseas trade. Deforestation Haitis elite identified strongly with France rather than with their own landscape, did not acquire land or develop commercial agriculture and sought mainly to extract wealth from the peasants. Finally, Haitis problems of deforestation and poverty compared to those of the Dominican Republic have become compounded within the last 40 years. Burned by biofuel Because the Dominican Republic retained much forest cover and began to industrialize, the Trujillo regime initially planned, and the regimes of Balaguer and subsequent presidents constructed, dams to generate hydroelectric power. Balaguer launched a crash program to spare forest use for fuel by instead importing propane and liquefied natural gas. But Haitis poverty forced its people to remain dependent on forest-derived charcoal from fuel, thereby accelerating the destruction of its last remaining forests. At 22:13 21/11/2010 -0800, you wrote: -----Original Message----- From: Portside Moderator [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, November 21, 2010 9:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [SPAM] Save Haiti From Aid Tourists Save Haiti From Aid Tourists The 'republic of NGOs' is in a vicious circle of dependence and institutional infantilism Rory Carroll The Guardian 16 November 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/16/haiti-aid-ngo There was so much goodness packed on to the plane there was almost no room for me. I had a boarding pass but by the time I got to the gate every seat was filled. This was American Airlines flight 575 from Miami to Port-au- Prince and the passengers were on a mission to help Haiti. A volunteer agreed to take a later flight and I squeezed on. The front rows had people in orange T-shirts, further on there were blue ones and at the back lime-green, each with a Haiti-related logo. Instead of the in-flight magazine, people were reading engineering manuals, budget reports, the Bible and books with titles such as Touching Them Now and Forever. Spirits were high. We were on our way to another world, which would provide a sense of purpose, not to mention adventure. "Welcome aboard!" beamed the steward. Two hours later, as we trooped off into blinding Caribbean sun, the steward was still beaming. "Bye bye!" I was too depressed to smile back. During the flight I had been reminded by the passenger seated beside me how do-gooding outsiders can screw up Haiti. What made it all the sadder was the fact he was nice, decent and humane. It is harsh to identify Ed Hettinga and his group, Mission to Haiti Canada, as exemplars of an unfolding tragedy. Each member was coming on his and her own time and dime (air fare alone, £980) and was almost certain to improve the lives of some Haitians. Villains in Haiti's suffering include France, which crippled its former colony with two centuries of immoral debt; the US, which bullied Haiti to cut food tariffs, swamping the country with US imports and destroying homegrown agriculture; donors who have welched on funding pledges; and Haiti's political and business elite, cocooned in luxury and indifference. But what about people such as Hettinga, a retired dairy farmer from Ontario who is treasurer of a well-meaning non-governmental organisation? Where other westerners wring their hands, he wraps his around buckets of cement and builds houses. Hettinga can be admired, and his heart is in the right place. But in Haiti's ongoing disaster, his NGO - and thousands of others - is one reason why so much international goodwill has added up to so little. Mission to Haiti Canada, founded in 1997, raised £32m after January's earthquake for medical treatment, drugs, housing and to run six schools and an orphanage. "We are faith-based but non-denominational," said Ed. "We don't evangelise and don't care if people are voodoo or whatever. We just want to help." In April a team of 28 Canadians and 38 Haitians built a hurricane-proof two-room house. "It cost $6,000 and we did it right, just like back home. Why should we expect people here to live in garbage?" says Hettinga. The plan was for locals to build dozens more. "We're teaching them. The idea is to be self-sustaining." The NGO spent $10,000 shipping a container with three big tents, clothes, rice and beans. They felt they were filling a vacuum left by a useless, predatory state. Sounds noble, but consider this: more than 1 million homeless people urgently need housing. Here you can build a decent home for a fraction of what the Canadians spend. The group, which does not speak Creole, relies on a young local fixer to select beneficiaries, disburse funds and keep records. Locals have no realistic way to build in the absence of occasional Canadian visitors. The group has zero contact, and therefore no coordination, with the housing, health or education ministries. Hettinga's cheerful countenance briefly clouded as he acknowledged some problems. "As soon as we leave, everything stops. You try to teach . . . but really you just touch the people you deal with directly." Better than nothing? Consider that this picture is multiplied across Haiti via more than 9,000 organisations. It is a republic of NGOs. Most are not registered, pay no tax and are not accountable. They shun cost-benefit analysis but soak up aid money, saying Haiti's state is incompetent and corrupt. The latter may be true but is a self-serving argument, which starves the government of resources and legitimacy, creating a vicious circle of dependence and institutional infantilism. How can Haitians make policy when foreign-run fiefdoms suck up funds for pet projects? How can local farmers harvest crops when free food floods markets? These questions were far from the minds of the passengers of Flight 575 as they spilled out of the plane rubbing their hands with anti-bacterial gel and shooing away tip-hungry porters. "I'm just here for the ride," grinned an amiable, skinny teen from Kentucky's Grace Foundation. "I'm not sure what we're going to do. Build a wall, I think, move some concrete." There are some professional NGOs that are registered and do excellent work - Christian Aid, MSF and Oxfam, among others - but despite jargon about "capacity building" they too breed dependence. The solution is not for all foreigners to pack up and leave. Haiti needs NGO help. But it also needs to rein in aid tourists who turn the country into a zoo and to fold the serious NGOs into a coherent, Haitian-directed strategy. Fingers crossed the 28 November election produces a strong government to start the process. ___________________________________________ Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. Submit via email: [email protected] Submit via the Web: http://portside.org/submittous3 Frequently asked questions: http://portside.org/faq Sub/Unsub: http://portside.org/subscribe-and-unsubscribe Search Portside archives: http://portside.org/archive Contribute to Portside: https://portside.org/donate !DSPAM:2676,4cea001a308681757528711! _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework Keith Hudson, Saltford, England _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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