#1869: Re: #1867: Stark choices: Risk death at sea or life of misery at home: a comment : Poincy comments

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Jean Poincy <caineve@idt.net>

What I find disturbing is the way Ayitians go about surviving. Their
fight for survival is self-destructive. The most savage individual would
know when his/her life is at risk, act accordingly and at the same time
would risk it if it were worth it. What happens to the Ayitian mind? 

	"Back in Port-au-Prince, people say those nightmarish conditions on
smuggling ships won't keep them from trying the treacherous voyage
again. For those like Rene Fatal, 32, who was on his second attempted
voyage, there is little more to lose. ''If I find a job in Haiti, I
won't go again,'' he said. ''But if I can't find a job to support my
family, I will go again, whether I live or die.'' 

	I doubt very much that Rene Fatal would not attempt to leave if he
found a job in Ayiti. What about those who have a job and take this risk
any away. It is neither political nor economic survival that nurtures
irrationalities among Ayitians. Ayitians live with the dream of a
bourgeois life (nothing is wrong with that actually, but how one goes
about it makes the difference). 

	They think that by living in the US their standard of living will
automatically rise and would suddenly become bourgeois. They feel
somewhat equal to Ayitian bourgeois living in Ayiti. It is more a show
off thing than anything else now.   This attitude is obvious when they
have the chance to go back to Ayiti. 

	Can one think that Babou could not make a living in Ayiti and support
his family with the van that he had. In the last two decades Ayitians
exhibit the same behavior, as they would sell their land and all their
possessions just to leave. Thinking of a way to make whatever they have
productive is substituted by risking their lives. When a rational person
really faces hunger, s/he does not take that route. Any difficulties
encountered would be dealt with. Do they deserve to become poorer or
else? I don't know. However, the solution definitely lies in their own
hands. 

	''As long as we cannot find a solution, this remains our only chance.''
I found this statement quite defeatist and it reflects the fatalist
mentality of Ayitians living in Ayiti today. 

	Ayitians are clapping hands to celebrate victory as the two kids were
returned to their mother. There is something awfully wrong with this.
Protesting and forcing down the authorities' hands is hardly a solution
to resolve the Ayitian dilemma. While it is a political tool for some
both in Ayiti and Miami, it is causing great damage to the people
themselves. 

	These people knowing that there is a group in Miami or elsewhere that
is going to stand up for their situation, each one thinks that s/he will
be the one to be saved and be defended to stay in the US.  In that case,
we will always have a Rene Fatal and a Babou. What if there were nobody
to stand up for them, no US as a land of opportunity or any other
country for that matter wanting to receive them, what would they do to
survive? They would probably have a violent revolution in Ayiti or twist
the land to make it productive.

	A couple of individuals saved with all the benefits to receive from the
US while others killed themselves in the way or become poorer as they
are sent back is nothing to celebrate. Continuing to fight for better
immigration treatment makes matter worse. These are not solutions.
Always ready for already made solutions, Ayitians lost their natural
abilities to solve problems and their misery resides there.


Ayiti has lived, lives and will live
Mozeb