Voodoo Economics
Just as you think Haiti's problems couldn't get worse, along comes a couple of preachers, one from Vancouver, the other a famous American TV evangelist, who claim that the island's historic "sinful" flirtations with voodoo were the cause of Haiti's calamities. Sin is always a dangerous thing, especially among those who pontificate over other people's mass sufferings. Such proclamations are as sad as they are insensitive.
Part of the island's suffering has occurred through voodoo alright, but the economic kind. Clearly possessed of much potential, the people of Haiti have nevertheless fallen prey to almost every type economic design known to NGOs, the World Bank and IMF, Western political maneuvering and corporate machinations. Yet the fanfare that came with the introduction of such stimulus inevitably gave way to little. Like Afghanistan, Haiti carries its own unique challenges. The secret is to get investment - humanitarian, financial, spiritual and diplomatic - working in a new way this time.
I have a worry about how we might react to Haiti's calamities, and I think it's legitimate. Some are calling for a "Marshall Plan" for the island and its people, much like what was invested in Japan and Germany following the war. That plan clearly worked, reaping huge dividends. Yet both of those nations had been powerhouses, capable of producing industry on a huge scale, and possessing of the kind of infrastructure that could produce at such levels. Haiti's not even close; it's industry is fledgling and investment is scattered.
Then there are those who call for full corporate investment, in partnership with the World Bank and IMF. They cite the country's flirtation with foreign investment in 2009 and its potential for business. There is talk of how Royal Caribbean Cruises wishes to keep docking wealthy tourists on the island and how it will stimulate the local economy.
All of this is true, but misses the mark. Haiti presently suffers from uncontrolled migration, deep poverty, hunger, high violence, drug trafficking and the troubling reality of environmental degradation. In other words, its future hangs in a precarious balance. Businesses and corporations are always reticent to invest in infrastructure, yet that is what Haiti requires now more than anything - a functional education system, adequate health facilities, effective courts, earthquake-proof structures, accountable government, etc. Until such things are in place, investment will merely be the playground of the elites.
The truth is, Haiti is where much of Africa was two decades ago. Only now are we beginning to comprehend that the secret to Africa's recent success hasn't so much been corporate investment but effective development measures over the long haul. Build the roads, the ports, the hospitals, sanitation systems, schools, universities, women's literacy, courts, etc. and the rest will naturally follow: businesses benefit from such staples and will add to them. But more importantly, Haitians are bettered by such investment. Unless such development measures are resourced adequately, the people of Haiti will never own anything, but be pawns in a world of the elites, much as Cuba was 70 years ago.
Haiti requires security, not the kind replete with guns, but human security, the kind that empowers the average citizen and helps dreams of betterment to become a reality. Any investment that bypasses the public sector in Haiti will merely turn it into a kind of touristy banana republic. Haitians deserve better.
To witness Canadians pouring their hearts and pocketbooks out for Haiti has been marvellous, but if all that results in the end of it is the betterment of the wealthy over the poor, what have they gained? No more voodoo economics. Let's stop fooling ourselves that "trickle down" investments will do the trick. Let's invest where it counts - in the people and their public institutions.