You Don’t Care About Haiti
Oh yeah? You do? Let me guess – you donated money to the earthquake relief effort. Or you even decided to go to Haiti to help “rebuild”. See, here’s the thing – there’s nothing to rebuild.
The country is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. The annual GDP per person is probably less than you make in a week (unless you’re making minimum wage, in which case less than you make in three weeks). And that’s an average. The vast majority of them make less than that.
In the late 90’s, my wife (fiancee at the time) and I went to The Dominican Republic. It was a good, cheap, Caribbean destination. We enjoyed an all inclusive resort, with excess of food and drink. On the drive from the airport to the resort, we were amazed at how poor the people were. We had both traveled a good deal, but never before to anywhere poorer than the G8 nations. The houses were tiny concrete huts. Large families crammed into these small houses. we were shocked. We were told that the average worker was making $200 a month. And that we would be perfectly safe in the resort – the waiting list for a job there was two years – people would not do something that might get them fired.
While we were there, we went on a tour. The owner of the tour company (a German) joined us on the tour – he was testing a new stop on the tour – a sugar cane plantation. What we saw shocked us. The sugar cane was tended by Haitians. The Haitians moved to the Dominican because the standard of living was so much higher. They lived in mud huts. No doors (just holes), no windows. There was no infrastructure at all – they were surrounded by miles of sugar cane fields. The children were naked, the adults clothed in scraps. As we left, we gave them a bottle of water. the children all surged for it, hoping for a sip of the pure spring water we all take for granted. And these were the migrant workers. The ones who were fortunate enough to escape from the poverty of Haiti.
Where were you on Monday, January 11? Were you praying for the Haitians? Sending them money? Taking a week off work to go help them grow their economy, or to give them the medicine they need? No. You were sipping fine wine at your favorite restaurant. You were driving around in a vehicle that cost more than most Haitians will see in a lifetime.
You say you care about Haiti? Well, prove it. Quit talking about texting for $5. Or taking time off work to help them. They don’t need that kind of help. If you really care, and aren’t just doing this to show the world how good you are, wait till all this earthquake hullabaloo dies down. Start buying Fair Trade Haitian products. Or invest in companies that invest in Haiti. At S3, if any employee donates money to Haiti, we’re matching, but not with cash – we’re matching donations by investing in Haitian entrepreneurs on Kiva. If you really care, teach the Haitians how to fish.
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Here’s the thing… Bad $hit is happening to people all around the world, ALL of the time.
If I were there sitting next to these poor, downtrodden people (and that picture is a great heart-tugger in that regard), I would probably be greatly saddened, and probably want to help them as much as I can.
But I’m not sitting right next to them. And because of that, I can’t REALLY empathize. What’s going on in Haiti, or the Congo, or Serbia, as horrible as it is, has nothing to do with me. You might as well ask me to mourn over the death of Abraham Lincoln, or King Tut. I can’t do it. What’s happening thousands of miles away might as well be happening thousands of years ago. It affects me the same either way.
With 6 billion people in the world, I can’t give a $hit about all of them. If I did, I would find no joy in life at all. Should I sacrifice my own life by giving away all of my worldly possessions to those who have nothing? They could sure use it more than I could.
So, the question is: Why give a $hit about these people when you haven’t cared about the constant genocide in Africa? Or people who have starved to death every day in North Korea for decades? If you didn’t give a $hit about what happened in Haiti before the earthquake, why would you care afterward?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m no sociopath. I take no joy in the pointless suffering of others, and I really wish it didn’t happen. But I’m being real here. I don’t think that morality requires me to care about others so much that I have no joy in my life. As long as I am not intentionally causing unnecessary harm to others, I am doing my part. I don’t think anything else is required of me.
Otherwise feel free to create a MiseryWatch website allowing surfers to see how many people are in dire straights all around the world, all of the time. Why should I care about one of these groups of people over all others? And I can’t care about all of them. So best to worry about the essentials: yourself, your immediate family, maybe some close friends. That’s all that most of us ever do anyway, most of the time. That’s the price of existing in this world.
I care about Americans. I am American. Americans don’t need to go aroud improving the lives of people that don’t know how to run their country. If a disaster occurs in an American city, then I will support them. But Haiti? What have they done for us? What, does Obama think that they’re going to help us out in the Iraqi War or something? No. But call me when America has a disaster. I’ll help then.
It is indeed a very sad disaster that has fallen on the hatian people. The bigger disaster is the way they live on a daily basis and the constant pumping out of children whom they cannot afford to house, feed, school, get medical attention etc….
The best thing American can do for these people is to take up a collection for condoms and birth control pills.
I care about people in our country. There is an awful lot of suffering and hunger going on here. Remember the old addage “God helps those who help themselves”, clearly the hatian people have done nothing to this end. Do they not have brains? Do they not see that if they procreate like animals they will have more children they cannot take care of? The orphanages were full in Haiti prior to this natural disaster. The real disaster is the Hatians lack of caring about their own.
Mark,
You make good points. However, sometimes it takes a disaster like this for people to really understand how bad things are in certain areas. Americans are very self centered and our news is the only news we read. I wouldn’t expect the average American to know what is going on in Haiti, sad but true.
Yes you may be right, I truly dont care about Haiti. I care about americans. How dare you say we are self centered.What an arrogant statement. can you imagine where those people would be without americas help
I got this from one of my readers. If you care, go support an organization that really cares!
Tesoros Trading Company, a retail shop on South Congress Avenue, imports crafts from several countries, including Haiti. The owner just went to Haiti in October. They import many crafts and pieces of folk art from there, working directly with the artisans.
In response to the devastasting earthquake (which has destroyed several of the workshops they work with), Tesoros will, until the end of the month, donate 100% of the sales of all Haitian crafts sold, to several non profits that will provide both immediate relief and long term artisan recovery and re-development (AmeriCares, Partners in Health and Vital Edge/Artisan Grants Initiative).
Tesoros will also match donations made at the store.
Mark – this is a good, thought provoking post that has me thinking more about macro-level aid. The thing is that Haitians have an immediate short-term need. Search & Rescue, food and water. That isn’t to say that they had food and water before the earthquake. It’s just that the demand is greater and far more apparent right now.
As for the macro level approach, we need to take into account the corruption in Haiti. Haiti is ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world. The Haiti government relies on formal international economic assistance for fiscal sustainability (source – CIA fact book). If the corrupt leaders of Haiti are not passing this assistance down, then providing economic aid is meaningless.
I like & use Kiva because it is a direct loan to those in need. But what happens when the loan is repaid and the new business is up and running? It will still be taxed heavily and possibly run out of business by their government.
So let me get this straight. You were there lollygagging, on vacation. You saw the poverty, saw the conditions, and all you did while you were there,amoungst them in you’re own words, was give them a bottle of water. Now you get on one of these blog things chastizing people about what THEY have not done for the Haitiens. I ask…where were you on Jan. 11th. Have you done anything since you left there for them, or are you just venting guilt and dissilusionment with youreself for not having done something when you had the perfect opportuinity to help. No, bad timing. I’m on vacation and don’t have time. Hypocrite! Change starts with the boy in the mirror. Get it going bro, you’re my age and we are just getting older. God bless.
Well said – it is unfortunate, but we need a reason to give. People living in poverty “have choices” and people struck by natural disaster are “victims”.
Think about the homeless – do you give to organizations that help put them to work, or give money to the ones with missing limbs / when it is freezing outside.