As everyone should now know (unless, of course, they live under a rock), Haiti was hit by a devastating 7.0 earthquake yesterday afternoon. I am glad to hear that our government is sending aid and volunteers to the country in this time of need. However, this entire situation brings up two thoughts I had this morning.
1) Perhaps if the more developed/wealthy nations of the world took some of the money and personnel from things like a War on Terror (a war that we cannot win just by being present in these countries and expecting that they like the idea of democracy as much as we do) and perhaps put it to use as humanitarian aid in countries that are in desperate need, maybe it would be better served for everyone in the long run. While I am in full support of the men and women fighting at home and abroad, I do think that the government has spread the troops and their resources too thin. Yes, we need to keep our citizens safe, but we are shown time and again that despite strict measures, things still occur.
My thought is perhaps to take some of these military trained individuals from a horrific war zone and give them resources to help countries like Haiti (now and in the future) get on their feet. A huge reason for the abject poverty in Haiti is the deforestation of the land, which is directly due to governance issues. We can hand over money to countries in such poverty, sure, but that never seems to solve the problem. The presence and willingness to of outsiders to help teach people what needs to change, and then helping implement the changes will not only help the citizens, but the world in general. Inevitably, a country like Haiti will continue to be hit by natural disaster after natural disaster, and we will continue to come to its aid. The storms that hit earlier this year were exacerbated by the deforestation and habitat loss, and the earthquake was exacerbated by governance issues regarding the soundness of buildings. If we can help by giving resources directly and in a hands-on fashion to help these people, it may help us all in the end. In addition to helping change the mindset of these people, perhaps it will help (however slowly) to turn their economy around. At the same time, we will be helping create positive change in another country instead of having our military presence perceived in a negative and destructive fashion.
2) My other thought is – wasn’t there a warning last year sometime that a huge 7.2 magnitude earthquake was imminent in this region? Why was more not done Haiti’s government, as well as more developed nations, to help make sure this wouldn’t reach the devastating proportions it is certain now to reach?
