Poor, Poor, Pitiful Haiti. And How It Got That Way.

Image by glasshalffull91 via Flickr

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed much of the country of Haiti, leaving hundreds of thousands (according to current estimates) dead and its survivors fighting over what food and water is left.  Billions of dollars worth of aid has been coming into Port-au-Prince from all over the world.  But most of it can't be moved because of damaged roads and threats of violence.

Recession-plagued Americans are cleaning out what's left of their bank accounts to the charity cartel (the Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc.), under the illusion that they are actually helping those suffering folks they see on TV.  That's wonderful, but what happens after the cameras are turned off and everyone moves on to the next big media event?

Haiti is already one hellhole of a country, its people being shortchanged for centuries by brutal dictatorships (often with help from the United States) and benign neglect of its environment, health care and economy.  Thousands of Haitians have fled to North America (legally or not) to escape the conditions.  Those that remain are serviced by multitudes of missionaries and non-governmental organizations (NGO), doing some of the work that the government there should be providing, but isn't.

Once this manna from heaven trickles down to the survivors (if it ever does), things won't change much.  There will be promises to spend billions of dollars to rebuild the infrastructure damaged by the quake, as well as improving the economic climate.  And people will still try to get out, because either those promises won't be kept, or the Haitian government will find a way to keep most of it to themselves.

For the United States, there's little incentive to help out its Caribbean neighbor outside of humanitarian relief.  There's no oil or other natural resources to exploit.  Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups aren't based there (yet).  And cruise lines don't make Port-au-Prince its port of call (but they do on the island of Labadee, which is 100 miles away).

As the tragedy continues to unfold, recognize that your generosity will only benefit the people of Haiti for a short time.  What they need is a long-term plan to pull itself out of the conditions imposed on them internally and externally.  In other words, Haiti needs a miracle.