Did anyone else hear the NPR special on Haiti the day before the earthquake? They were saying how even though the country was extremely poor, investors were lining up to put in money to train workers and start companies, in part because of Clinton. They were saying how this was probably Haiti's last chance, and if anything else went wrong it would probably be the end of the country. Then this.
The end of Haiti?
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Re: The end of Haiti?
#62Does the Dominican Republic want Haiti? I don't think so considering how hard they are on Haitians who try to go to the DR part of the island. Will the USA take on Haiti and make it a second Puerto Rico? I don't think so; for one, it would be expensive; two, all the Haitians would move to the USA as soon as they could; and there are probably other reasons as well. So my analysis shows that Haiti will remain a barely…
Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States. Haiti has great sadness in it's history. A large portion of their population is > 19 yrs old. There's a well known problem of child sex slaves in Haiti.
Re: The end of Haiti?
#63Potentially relevant TED talk:
http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_collier_s_new_rules_for_rebuil...
Re: The end of Haiti?
#64Historically disasters (and wars) have the opposite effect. In the short term it's terrible, but long term a disaster usually spurs rebuilding and economic activity that results in a better situation than what was there before.
Pretty ridiculous statement in my opinion. Life goes on, disaster or not. There's supposedly always better situation in the future, it is pretty dubious to claim that wars and cataclysms accelerate long term development.
It's Mancur Olson's "Institutional Sclerosis" growth theory. He claimed to have shown that growth rates increase after a large shock to the existing order. His explanation for this is that institutions tend to be corrupted by special interests over time, feeding on the wealth of society. Shocks give people a chance to start afresh.
Re: The end of Haiti?
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well then that's the problem, isn't it? Look, my point is that something could have been done to prepare, and was not. Mahmud's talking like it's a no-fault act of god that's going to bring everyone together in a solidarity of fellow suffering - I'm saying, if I was Haitian and I'd somehow managed to survive this disaster, I'd compare to how other countries deal with this kind of thing and probably be more angry than…
I think you should question the strength of your analysis when you appear to be comparing Haiti to not just a First world country, but a G-7 Nation. "Let me tell you what would happen to the mayor of a Japanese town if he let this happen and then just shrugged his shoulders and claimed there was "no-one to blame". "
So which way does the causality flow? Do those Japanese citizens have high expectations because they are from a G7 nation? Or did Japan get to be a G7 nation because of the fact its residents have high expectations?
Anyway, Japan just sprang to mind as a country with lots of earthquakes, it was not central to my thesis. Feel free to substitute the name of any well-run country in an earthquake zone.
Re: The end of Haiti?
#66Given the fact that even before the quake, Haiti was a hotbed of gang activity, and now that many more of its criminals have escaped from prison, I can't help but worry that all of this aid money being handed over is going to ultimately fall into the wrong hands.
Re: The end of Haiti?
#67The concluding remark about 'climate refugees' is out of place in this otherwise very important discussion about failed states.
Climate change and its perceived influence on the mankind is a very controversial subject, and today most of people's suffering from poverty and misgovernment has nothing to do with it. Advancing your own pet theories using a real-life tragedy as a prop is a bad taste.
Re: The end of Haiti?
#68I am from Somalia, and I have witnessed its decay right to its downfall, including the three days during which the government dispersed and the central bank threw out its stash of local currency in large garbage bins. Haiti will not die. For one, the suffering has been universally afflicted on all Haitians. This will strengthen their bond more than anything. Even if warlords and gangs form their own fiefdoms througho…
An earthquake has no one to blame. The event itself does not, it's true. But there certainly is someone to blame for the shoddy construction standards and grievous lack of preparation. The government is entirely accountable for these things.
Easy to say if you're coming from the vantage point of someone living in a rich country.
Re: The end of Haiti?
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
The buildings were made to withstand hurricanes, not earthquakes. They chose the less frequent of two disasters to be exposed to.
Coming from Trinidad and Tobago, where we get both, I assure you it's possible to build in a way to withstand both.
GDP per capita (World Bank, 2008):
$24,742 Trinidad and Tobago (28th)
$1,177 Haiti (146th)
Poverty is the ultimate killer here. An event like the earthquake just sets the time-of-death. Blame the poverty, and the policies which perpetuate it, sure. Blaming the Haitian government for not buying insurance -- building standards and disaster preparedness -- they couldn't have afforded anyway is silly.
Re: The end of Haiti?
#70This earthquake can be noting but good for Haiti. People saw and heard there were problems and poverty here, but did nothing. Now due to the earthquake, people see and and millions of dollars are pouring and and will continue too. It is going to spur growth and economic activity. like ars said, bad initially, but great in the long run.
I seriously doubt aid will continue. It's a passing fad in a month or so we'll have another concern.