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News & ArtsTuesday, January 12, 2010
News Major Quake Strikes World's Poorest, Most Miserable Country
Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 4:11 PM
This story...
A powerful earthquake of 7.0 magnitude rocked Haiti just before 5 p.m. Eastern time, 10 miles southwest from the highly populated capital of Port-au-Prince, according to the United States Geological Survey, causing widespread damage and panic with the potential for a high number of casualties in the impoverished Caribbean country... According to several news reports, a large hospital in the capital had collapsed, and people were screaming in streets full of rubble.
...reminded me of this:
I will remark, in passing, that [the Creator] always has his eye on the poor.... The vast bulk of the Creator's [afflictions] are specially designed for the persecution of the poor. You could guess this by the fact that one of the pulpit's finest and commonest names for the Creator is "The Friend of the Poor." Under no circumstances does the pulpit ever pay the Creator a compliment that has a vestige of truth in it. The poor's most implacable and unwearying enemy is their Father in Heaven.
In a post for another day: I've always thought we should just offer Haiti statehood.
2
I seriously had to double check to see that this wasn't posted under the name "Charles Mudede". If you had added some pseudo-intellectual rambling at the end, it would have been a spot on impersonation.
3
My heart broke when I saw the news about the earthquake. Haitians suffer so much every day, and now this? The cholera, the unburied dead bodies, the long-term suffering of slow painful deaths that will inevitably ensue in the aftermath only serve to emphasis the horrible injustice it is to be born in a poor country.
We cannot imagine. We really can't.
We cannot imagine. We really can't.
4
"We cannot imagine. We really can't."
No, we can't. But we CAN take the opportunity to use the misfortune of others to segue into a discussion of our own theological leanings.
No, we can't. But we CAN take the opportunity to use the misfortune of others to segue into a discussion of our own theological leanings.
5
And this would benefit them how? Oh, right, you know jack-all about the history of relations between the United States and Haiti.
I've always thought we should just offer Haiti statehood.
And this would benefit them how? Oh, right, you know jack-all about the history of relations between the United States and Haiti.
9
Seattle connection: several million dollars of US foreign aid grants for health care are managed from offices on First Hill. And those people in Seattle have an office they use in that now destroyed hospital.
14
Statehood for Haiti... have you been checked for end-stage syphilis recently? That a horrendous idea for both parties. This idea is right up there with the "left has lost its moral compass' approach to nation building
15
@13
The Dominican Republic fared well. All the steroids and false birth certificates given to teenage boys desperate to bat and pitch their way out of poverty acted as shock absorption for that side of the island. Much to many Dominicans dismay, this same buffer also protected Hatian migrant workers residing on their side of the island without any rights.
The Dominican Republic fared well. All the steroids and false birth certificates given to teenage boys desperate to bat and pitch their way out of poverty acted as shock absorption for that side of the island. Much to many Dominicans dismay, this same buffer also protected Hatian migrant workers residing on their side of the island without any rights.
16
@13
The Dominican Republic fared well. All the steroids and false birth certificates given to teenage boys desperate to bat and pitch their way out of poverty acted as shock absorption for that side of the island. Much to many Dominicans dismay, this same buffer also protected Hatian migrant workers residing on their side of the island without any rights.
The Dominican Republic fared well. All the steroids and false birth certificates given to teenage boys desperate to bat and pitch their way out of poverty acted as shock absorption for that side of the island. Much to many Dominicans dismay, this same buffer also protected Hatian migrant workers residing on their side of the island without any rights.
17
"I've always thought we should just offer Haiti statehood."
As long as the US government is predominantly run by old white men, this will never happen. Haiti has too many brown people. At best, it could become a US territory (not state), like Puerto Rico, which also has too many brown people.
As long as the US government is predominantly run by old white men, this will never happen. Haiti has too many brown people. At best, it could become a US territory (not state), like Puerto Rico, which also has too many brown people.
18
Ditto #2...to bad they don't have terrorists, that would be worth some US gubmint coin, I believe.
19
To be quite frank, they need something like this to spark riots and force a change.
Cause nothing else will help.
Cause nothing else will help.
20
Haiti is incredibly impoverished, but it's certainly not the world's poorest country; it's not even in the bottom 10. It's not even the poorest country in the Americas. As for "most miserable," that's highly debatable.
21
While offering statehood to Haiti is a somewhat noble yet intentionally naive (and perhaps insulting) gesture, some people should keep from falling into crass labeling and remember that that the "Poorest, Most Miserable Country" title which they assign has been due in great part to the same Europeans and their descendants who now bestow such title:
http://www.nathanielturner.com/haitimake…
Sometimes it's so convenient (for some) to forget history, but for those who don't, we know why things are the way they are, and why a rich and beautiful nation can be thrown into despair and poverty.
http://www.nathanielturner.com/haitimake…
Sometimes it's so convenient (for some) to forget history, but for those who don't, we know why things are the way they are, and why a rich and beautiful nation can be thrown into despair and poverty.
22
I didn't realize that Haiti had just offered same-sex marriage. Isn't THAT why god sends the earthquakes and the tsunamis?
23
@19: Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME, WILL? Of all the fucktarded, stupidass, dumbshit, fucked up things you have ever said - and that encompasses a breathtaking quantity - that pretty much takes the cake.
Congratulations for outdoing yourself on the stupidity meter. Jesus, you're an ass.
Congratulations for outdoing yourself on the stupidity meter. Jesus, you're an ass.
24
This MSNBC story provides links to charitable organizations active in Haiti. Please make a contribution. Even one hour of your wages or one foregone meal out can make a significant difference.
25
@21 Yeah, we should let people starve because France stole some money almost 200 years ago.
Last time I checked, Haiti is our neighbor, and we are the wealthiest country in the hemisphere.
But your post is no surprise, being the spiteful bitch that you are.
Last time I checked, Haiti is our neighbor, and we are the wealthiest country in the hemisphere.
But your post is no surprise, being the spiteful bitch that you are.
26
@20 beat me to the same point. Spare the hyperbole Dan, Haiti isn't even in the bottom 10. Motherfuckers act like they forgot about Zimbabwe.
28
Now is a good time to prepare your own quake kit...
When will have the riots that will stop Will from posting?
When will have the riots that will stop Will from posting?
29
Wow you people suck. I didn't get the memo that says that we can't help someone who is poor because there is someone even poorer. Grow up.
30
@19 - actually, in GDP per capita terms, Haiti is indeed the poorest country in the Americas, by a long way.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications…
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications…
31
Err, I meant @20, not @19. But while I'm at it:
@19 - that's the dumbest fucking thing I've read on the Internet in a good long while. You suck.
@19 - that's the dumbest fucking thing I've read on the Internet in a good long while. You suck.
32
Dan,
I just found out about the quake. As they say in French, C'est dommage. That poor country gets hammered often. I didn't know that the island of Hispanola of which Haiti shares with Dominican Republic lies on a pretty volatile fault. That, in addition to its being geographically situated in hurricane territory makes it one vulnerable area to natural disaster. I also believe like many do, poor countries/areas suffer more disproportionately largely because economically, they're living day-to-day vs. long term let alone preparing for a future natural disaster. Government instability and the fact that essentially speaking, what remaining forest they had has been denuded (that renders Haiti far more susceptible to greater hurricane damage as a result) leaves that country quite vulnerable. Man, what a pity. Seems like the country is cursed.
I just found out about the quake. As they say in French, C'est dommage. That poor country gets hammered often. I didn't know that the island of Hispanola of which Haiti shares with Dominican Republic lies on a pretty volatile fault. That, in addition to its being geographically situated in hurricane territory makes it one vulnerable area to natural disaster. I also believe like many do, poor countries/areas suffer more disproportionately largely because economically, they're living day-to-day vs. long term let alone preparing for a future natural disaster. Government instability and the fact that essentially speaking, what remaining forest they had has been denuded (that renders Haiti far more susceptible to greater hurricane damage as a result) leaves that country quite vulnerable. Man, what a pity. Seems like the country is cursed.
34
@23 - three of my anthropology papers were written about Haiti.
Yeah, they need a change. And it ain't gonna come from us.
Yeah, they need a change. And it ain't gonna come from us.
35
The national palace has collapsed, same for the cathedral, a couple of hospitals, a major hotel that house the U.S. diplomatic corps, and hundreds of houses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IySBl2aq…
Please donate to www.pih.org as I believe they are the best organization that knows Haiti.
www.oursoil.org is great, but not doing disaster relief.
I'm considering going to Port au Prince this week to use my minimal medical training, but I'll likely lose my job and savings in the process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IySBl2aq…
Please donate to www.pih.org as I believe they are the best organization that knows Haiti.
www.oursoil.org is great, but not doing disaster relief.
I'm considering going to Port au Prince this week to use my minimal medical training, but I'll likely lose my job and savings in the process.
36
Also, please call your Senators and Reps in Congress to get Secretary Naplitano to declare Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians. They've qualified for years with both armed conflict and environmental disasters even before today.
38
@34 - the idea that Haiti "needs" a deadly earthquake to somehow make its benighted people angry...
that's just stupid, no matter how many fucking papers you wrote.
that's just stupid, no matter how many fucking papers you wrote.
39
Maybe we could temporarily accept some Haitian refugees the way we accept Cuban refugees?
In Miami, the various ethnic groups all rag on each other. But the lowest group on every pecking order is the Haitians.
In Miami, the various ethnic groups all rag on each other. But the lowest group on every pecking order is the Haitians.
40
Interesting. The fundie Xtians I used to hang with would say this about that: "This is God's retribution for being a nation founded on one of the few 'successful' slave revolts in history. God's wrath for their rebellion from His Divine Will, ie: slaves be subject to your masters. So of course Haiti has never prospered and is one of the most impoverished and desperate places on earth."
I disagree completely, but there are folks in this country that DO believe shit like this.
I disagree completely, but there are folks in this country that DO believe shit like this.
41
@4
Hilarious! 'Coz, in the end, it always has to come back to ME. That about sums it up.
@26
Dan knows very little about anything that goes on outside U.S. borders, but he tries to make it look like he does to appear educated and worldly. Doesn't work. I actually get embarrassed for him sometimes.
Hilarious! 'Coz, in the end, it always has to come back to ME. That about sums it up.
@26
Dan knows very little about anything that goes on outside U.S. borders, but he tries to make it look like he does to appear educated and worldly. Doesn't work. I actually get embarrassed for him sometimes.
42
@35 - Noble sentiment; but it seems to me that "minimal medical skills" aren't what's needed.
Unless you have specific training, equipment, and skills to offer you're as likely to be a burden as a help. Stay home, keep your job, send some of your savings through a reputable organization - you'll do more good.
Don't seek glory in the guise of do-gooding.
Unless you have specific training, equipment, and skills to offer you're as likely to be a burden as a help. Stay home, keep your job, send some of your savings through a reputable organization - you'll do more good.
Don't seek glory in the guise of do-gooding.
44
Haiti is the poorest in the western hemisphere. It is brutally poor and desperate. It has incredible levels of infant mortality rates and its a place where people eat mud pies. Those that are calling it not so poor are freaking stupid. Yes, Burkina Faso is poorer, but remember Haiti has most of its citizens living in the capital.
Its poor. theyre fucked. Send em a check. the dominicans arent going to help, they hate the haitians and use them as virtual slaves in the cane fields.
"I've always thought we should just offer Haiti statehood"
as far as this, dan has a point, yes it would not be perfect. it will never happen.
but, though not a state, puerto rico, despite its crime problems in san juan is light years ahead of haiti in standards of living.
Its poor. theyre fucked. Send em a check. the dominicans arent going to help, they hate the haitians and use them as virtual slaves in the cane fields.
"I've always thought we should just offer Haiti statehood"
as far as this, dan has a point, yes it would not be perfect. it will never happen.
but, though not a state, puerto rico, despite its crime problems in san juan is light years ahead of haiti in standards of living.
45
@42 I am a certified Wilderness First Responder, as in, I know how to keep people alive in extreme situations for limited periods of time with limited resources, but can't perform surgery, etc.
46
How dare you say that God is their enemy! You blind man! God has awaken people's eyes to the poor! Have you seen the generosity of the millions who donate to Haiti?
If God hadn't struck Haiti with an earthquake, that nation would still be poor.
Those who have died in the earthquake now rejoice with God in Heaven, for their suffering is over. But us rich people are to be judged harshly for not attentding to them earlier.
I hope you've done your part.
-Soldier of God
If God hadn't struck Haiti with an earthquake, that nation would still be poor.
Those who have died in the earthquake now rejoice with God in Heaven, for their suffering is over. But us rich people are to be judged harshly for not attentding to them earlier.
I hope you've done your part.
-Soldier of God
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