A plan for Haiti

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m in an especially grumpy mood tonight, so forgive me if this seems uncaring. The local paper ran an article tallying the amount of money pledged to Haitian relief. I was trying to figure out how many Haitians were living in Haiti and survived. Then I was going to do the math…it seems to me, without knowing either of the numbers involved, that the best plan might be to just give each Haitian an account with their share of the relief money, and tell them to go live elsewhere. Don’t let anyone back for about 25 years until the land has had time to recover from the environmental damage that has been done to that half of the island for the past century…well, maybe allow some limited cleanup of debris.

I know there are a lot of reasons why this won’t work…but it sure seems a bit more cost-effective when they are talking about ten years of recovery.

Go ahead, blast me for being insensitive. But hasn’t the thought crossed your mind?

2

No. Because, as you put it yourself,

Which would make it a waste of money.

3

Well, just for fun, we could discuss those reasons…it’s not like people aren’t already leaving in droves, and have been for years.

4

Less than three billion dollars have been pledged. There’s around three million Haitians. $1000 each will barely buy an air fare to… Miami? LA? Then what?

5

Ah. Well, I told you I hadn’t done the math yet. But since some news reports said the average income was something close to $2 a day, and other news reports say the land is barely capable of sustaining agriculture, and that all the trees have been gone for years…it just sounds very bleak.

6

And yet, to many people it is still home…

I see nothing wrong with encouraging people in Haiti to emigrate elsewhere - IF other countries are truly willing to take them and give them a decent chance at a good life.

On the other hand, I think there are enormous issues with summarily emptying out a country.

Haiti the country is not beyond hope. Two major problems are too damn many people who are too damn poor. Emigration can help with one of those two. Clearly, money will be needed, but I’d rather discuss how it can be spent wisely, to create the greatest benefit for all.

7

I’ve been concerned about all this too – into whose hands is the money being raised go, and what exactly are they doing with it all?

8

I see someone on Slate today has a similar idea. not, Empty the Country…but encourage people to emigrate.

9

This will be a problem. Most Haitians work as subsistence farmers. Less than 30% of them have more than a sixth grade education. That probably means they don’t have job skills that are in demand in a lot of other countries.

A lot of Haitians are illiterate. That’s going to be a handicap in adjusting to life as an immigrant pretty much anywhere.

The language that most Haitians speak, Haitian Creole, is not the primary language of any other country.

What country where Haitians could make a better life is looking for immigrants with skills in subsistence farming, less than a sixth grade education, possibly illiterate, and who don’t speak the main language of the country? My guess would be that not many countries are seeking out that kind of immigrant.