Haitian Poverty and Being Nice--January 2019

July 09, 2021

Haitian Poverty and Being Nice--January 2019

(Photo by John Carroll–January 26, 2016)

I am frequently asked the question: Why is Haiti so poor?

When I hear this question, I cringe and start mumbling. I mention everything from trucks on Route National 1 with dead Iowa pigs, Miami rice, Bill and Hillary, Nepal soldiers with cholera, and just to be complete, I include “widespread corruption at every level”. I can see my listener’s eyes begin to glaze shortly after he or she hears about the dead pigs in the truck.

Just in case you did not know it, Haiti is in disarray. I probably shouldn’t call it a failed state but I will. Haiti’s institutions are broken. And many of its people are too.

Gas and diesel fuel are difficult to buy. And without fuel, the Peligre Dam doesn’t work well to produce electricity. And Digicel is worried about its telecommunications towers being unusable without fuel. So longer blackouts occur and communication may be more difficult in a country already in turmoil.

This week the doctors serving the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince went on strike due to a patient being drug out of the hospital by armed men and quickly executed in the streets. And many guns are for hire in different parts of the capital to persuade neighborhoods to support specific political policies.

And while this bad stuff was happening, the international airport in Port flooded this week.

But what makes Haiti POOR? Is Haiti poor due to greedy Haitians or due to greedy international players? I would say both.

I just finished a book “Haiti has chosen to become a poor country: The 20 reasons that prove it” by Emile Etzer, a young Haitian economist. Etzer offered many definitions of the word poverty in the early portion of the book. He mentions Smith, Hunter, and Marx. He wrote about NGO’s, the rural exodus from Haiti’s provinces, urbanization, corruption, low import tariffs, and the Haitian diaspora.

I would like to summarize his book in a series of blog posts. But I am going to start from his conclusion and work backward through his book.

I want to emphasize that Etzer DOES believe that the international community has destabilized Haiti–

“Foreigners have definitely helped us harm ourselves since we have invited them to do so. We have listened to them. We have followed them on our way to misfortune without thinking about the consequences.”

But Etzer also points his finger at Haitians who tear each other down–

“At present, rivalries and conflicts of interest lead us to wonder if we are not destroying each other silently. We enjoy others’ suffering. Our neighbor’s failure is celebrated with as much enthusiasm as our victory.”

And in the end, this economist gives some simple advice–

“We are too selfish, too individualistic and too mean to each other. We have chosen to destabilize and destroy our country. We have favored improvisation over strategic planning. We have chosen political chaos over good governance. We have cut the branch on which we sat.”

John A. Carroll, MD

www.haitianhearts.org

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