Monday, March 01, 2004
Haiti
Suffice to say, I'm not unhappy to see the backside of Mr. Aristide. His people are WORSE off than when he came to power (or rather, came BACK to power after being elected, deposed in a coup, then put back into power by force of American arms). He spun the last election to ensure he was re-elected (don't know why wannabe dictators bother with the appearance of democracy), and seemed intent on pursuing the same policies that had eroded the per capita GDP of the average Haitian over the past decade.
Haiti is such a messed-up place. Take a gander at satellite pictures of the Dominican Republic and Haiti (the island is split down the middle between the two), and you see a frightening sight. On one side you see a land of forest and rivers (the Dominican Republic), and on the other you see a place cut clear of anything green. The Haitians have chopped down all their forests, which is bad enough by itself, but is a sign of the grinding poverty which would drive someone to do something like that. You don't chop down all your forests because you WANT to. The people of Madagascar don't WANT to destroy the evolutionary heritage of a strip of land isolated from the African mainland for 20 million years. They do it because the only alternative is starvation and death.
Haiti has been independent for 200 years, and was one of the first sugar plantation islands in the "slave triangle" to make the break with European colonial powers. Unfortunately, the place has been misruled ever since, and the poor state of the island and its people is the result.
Haiti also ranks near the bottom of any economic freedom index. That means it's people find it almost impossible to buy property, start businesses, get loans, etc. Not surprisingly, Haitians are grindingly poor. Since Haiti also tends to be ruled by people who LIKE power, they have little incentive to do anything to change that (poor people tend to be less resistant to absolute dictators, because they have other things to worry about).
It's kind of surprising that we invaded a country like Haiti and left without leaving any of the structures which would enable it's people to stop being so poor. Fortunately, we don't seem to be making that mistake in Afghanistan or Iraq. The decision to invade a country is a BIG deal, and if we think the circumstances warrant it, we should make DAMN sure we never have to do it again. The best way to ensure that is to leave a country on a glide path towards prosperity.
Suffice to say, I'm not unhappy to see the backside of Mr. Aristide. His people are WORSE off than when he came to power (or rather, came BACK to power after being elected, deposed in a coup, then put back into power by force of American arms). He spun the last election to ensure he was re-elected (don't know why wannabe dictators bother with the appearance of democracy), and seemed intent on pursuing the same policies that had eroded the per capita GDP of the average Haitian over the past decade.
Haiti is such a messed-up place. Take a gander at satellite pictures of the Dominican Republic and Haiti (the island is split down the middle between the two), and you see a frightening sight. On one side you see a land of forest and rivers (the Dominican Republic), and on the other you see a place cut clear of anything green. The Haitians have chopped down all their forests, which is bad enough by itself, but is a sign of the grinding poverty which would drive someone to do something like that. You don't chop down all your forests because you WANT to. The people of Madagascar don't WANT to destroy the evolutionary heritage of a strip of land isolated from the African mainland for 20 million years. They do it because the only alternative is starvation and death.
Haiti has been independent for 200 years, and was one of the first sugar plantation islands in the "slave triangle" to make the break with European colonial powers. Unfortunately, the place has been misruled ever since, and the poor state of the island and its people is the result.
Haiti also ranks near the bottom of any economic freedom index. That means it's people find it almost impossible to buy property, start businesses, get loans, etc. Not surprisingly, Haitians are grindingly poor. Since Haiti also tends to be ruled by people who LIKE power, they have little incentive to do anything to change that (poor people tend to be less resistant to absolute dictators, because they have other things to worry about).
It's kind of surprising that we invaded a country like Haiti and left without leaving any of the structures which would enable it's people to stop being so poor. Fortunately, we don't seem to be making that mistake in Afghanistan or Iraq. The decision to invade a country is a BIG deal, and if we think the circumstances warrant it, we should make DAMN sure we never have to do it again. The best way to ensure that is to leave a country on a glide path towards prosperity.
