Again, it is the shoddy construction that winds up killing, more so than the actual earthquake. In stories that we've only heard too many times before from other such seismic disasters, Haiti's lack of proper building codes is implicated in the massive number of casualties.
I think most people knew many homes in Haiti were constructed poorly, it is one of the poorest country in the western hemisphere.
Doubtful. If you think corruption in China is bad, Haitians are worse, as they're not even afraid of their government, LOL... But, you're right. This could be an opportunity that should not be missed. This sort of reminds me of the stories that have come out of the tsunami struck areas of Indonesia, where it is actually flourishing in part, because of the adoption of strict aid controls which give titles of new rebuilt houses to women only. Since women are much more responsible and unlikely to sell their houses quickly (to either drink or gamble the proceeds away like a man would) the previous tsunami hit areas have not only been rebuilt but have actually become more cohesive and productive communities. This was found that home ownership by women actually helped to stabilize the community much faster than just pouring money onto the need. I'm sure that post recovery planners already know about this. It would a great thing if it could be replicated here.
Wow .. that's news to me .. I didn't read up on it since I am busy with something else .. lol I don't know about Haiti but was aware of China .. it's not about being poor or not but whether there are codes and if they're enforced. Even in the US, there are areas where building codes are there yet no one is enforcing them .. I remembered reading something in Florida and Texas area .. I have to be honest, governmental workers are fucking lazy employees who just sit on their asses all day playing solitaire in their cubicle instead of following up on their jobs. It's too bad these dumbasses are being protected by unions and these union surely know how to abuse their power. That's why I quit my job before .. the longer you work for gov, the more you'll become one of them .. sigh .. anyway, my point is that codes don't mean a thing if no one is enforcing it. when something like this happened, someone, somewhere will be used as a scapegoat .. life moves on .. things will repeat itself.
^ as doubtful as it maybe, due to the recent swell of attention and most likely a running updated event for the next year or so, haiti will find that due to the pressures of the public eye, it can't as easily build things the way they have been before. They may try to skimp on it again but most likely will not pass inspection
Forgive me, but look at what happens in most disaster areas after the spotlight goes off; the attention of media is focused elsewhere so the problems are soon forgotten. Public pressures will be there to be sure, but so will the same sloppy habits, same ethics, and more importantly, the same type of people (minus ~ 200K of them of course). My point is, that it's very easy to slide right back into status quo. Just take a look post Katrina; New Orleans still hasn't even come close to a recovery. Hence, with Haiti, I'm hopeful for the best, but I frankly expect the worst of people there. I'm afraid that there are too many petty people fighting over meager scrapes to leave any real long term advantage to the poor, whether in public or private works. That's the way things were before the quake, and I think that's how the dust will also settle. Sad.
here's a good documentary about the haitian slums [video=youtube;Y8Ow-Uh0ZtI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Ow-Uh0ZtI"[/video] [video=youtube;H2M4DFO_Dj4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2M4DFO_Dj4"[/video]
Don't get me wrong, im not stating how things will definitely go, i'm just trying to give the positive speculation a little more credit, deserved or not, of course i know about the extents of human nature and corruption and the affect it may have on the recovery of this nation, but sometimes you can try and give humanity the benefit of the doubt.
I agree in that I too, am hopeful that the better nature of people will win out and rise to the occasion. However historically from what I've seen or read about third world poverty, the forces at play are sometimes overwhelmingly negative; ever more so when you throw into the mix, an air of desperation (like this earthquake crisis). The nature and dynamics of aid too, was a tough lesson as witnessed by decades of money and food being thrown at destitute African nations. The UN and other charities slowly realized they they themselves were helping to perpetuate the power struggles and imbalanced economics by the assistance that Americans so generously gave. The bulk of such aid was often diverted into a warlord's hands to feed militia while again, scrapes were left for the general populace. It must be remembered that Haiti is a country that once gave us the Tonton Macoute and the tire necklace; the amount of violence in its history is stunning. It is already a current recipient of an ongoing UN peacekeeping mission because of factional violence. Throwing in billions of dollars of unconditional aid may unwittingly reinforce the militia culture rather than produce the peaceful social stability that Haitians desperately need. The politically unsavory solution to this obviously would be take over their country and run it for them, as they're too politically immature or inept to run it for themselves. However, this flies in the face of our own precepts of sovereignty and right of self determination. Militarily, Haiti would be an unopposed cakewalk; the real challenge however, begins with the subsequent administration of it. It would undoubtedly entail the cost of billions, and would likely involve at least several US administrations across at least one full generation. This is something that most Americans would prefer to keep at arms length. I've actually had ongoing discussions with Haitian friends and colleagues way before this event. Surprisingly, some of them openly advocate for a US military takeover because in their eyes, having a strong benevolent master along with an ordered society was better than a self determined but perpetual chaos. This sentiment is not new. When the Comorans was granted independence by France in 1975, a part of that new nation voted to return to French colonialism simply because things were better administered. When they were a colony, kids were well fed and had schools. When they were independent, they had no shoes and even the streetlights didn't work. It settled down to the standard of living for the common people, who frankly didn't really care about the politics. But realistically, if the US forgoes annexation, the focus thus has to be on the empowerment of those that would build up society rather than tear it down; on those that would stay the course rather than make a quick buck and run. Nurturing young nations into our image is a long and expensive process. Aside from the obvious philosophical conundrum as to the ethics of such, it would be frightfully costly. I doubt that the US has that much loose financial or political capital currently laying idle to invest, especially so for a backwater that has almost zero value in terms of vital US interests. Hence, my prognostication is, when the dust settles by next year, all the aid and sympathy will evaporate and the chaos will settle back into its usual routine. Kids will still eat baked mud cookies while the ultra rich drive by in their air conditioned Range Rovers with the windows tightly rolled up. In my heart, I hope that I am wrong; intellectually though, I fear that I'm going to be right. Link to five pages of photo gallery at CNN: http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2010/01/world/gallery.large.haiti-1/index.5.html
