12345: FIRST, A REVOLUTION OF IDEAS (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Robert Benodin <r.benodin@worldnet.att.net>

FIRST, A REVOLUTION OF IDEAS
by Ray Killick, June12, 2002
rkillick@yahoo.com

“And sometimes I saw what others thought they had seen.” (Soren Kierkegaard)

If it took me some time to acknowledge positive reactions to my article,
“Raising the Tone of the Political Debate”, it is only because it was
necessary to convince myself that such an initiative can also bear fruits in
twenty years, in the desert of ideas.  I can assure you that it was a
pleasure to read what you all wrote, Gérard Dorcely, Gérard Tassy, and Jean
Erich René.  I have often thrown myself on the keyboard to play the tune of
the accolades, but I have always found myself hostage of the merciless reign
of barbarism and anarchy in the country of the “chimeres”.  The storm winds
of absurd insecurity have reached my shores, and my flame is still dying,
while it barely rekindles itself.

Insecurity: what are we going to do?  What is the source of all this
insecurity that prevails in Haiti?

THE LAMB OF GOD, WHICH BECAME A WOLF

He who, many moons before, was preaching about love and liberation, became a
captor of the emancipation of the people whom he had claimed to defend.  He
who was lecturing Rome, last June 10, on the necessity of reducing poverty,
on human rights, on transparency, is also the one who adds to the poverty in
his country, and lets the assassins of Jean Dominique, Brignol Lindor, and
so many others walk in complete impunity.  He is ensuring his security at a
high price using retirees from the American army, while he helplessly
witnesses the kidnappings and the murders, which are now becoming routine.

He is destroying a land, which only asks to be loved.  He is polarizing this
country of two peoples – the haves and the have-nots.  He goes to sit next
to Juan Carlos of Spain to aggrandize himself and comes back to recount his
linguistic achievements to the hungry bellies and feed them with pride.
However, hungry bellies have no ears, and they could not care less about
pride, and they show that afterward by looting to appease their hunger.

How then can we have security in this starving country?  Alas, security in
this faithless and lawless country, witnessing its last resources hauled by
Lavalas towards foreign shores!  This resigned country, which watches, with
its jaw dropped, its feuding sons highly wield the flag of shame!

Today, the high helmsman speaks of proper government management like a
social commentator engaged in empty talk to superficial minds.

THEME OF CHANGE

Proper government management is the source of stability and security.  It is
necessary to begin by building the first floor of this tower of Babel, which
can be monumental in light of the realities of this lost country.  But who
will do it, for God’s sake?

When will this country have a chance?

We must begin to work to create the chance.  I agree to launch the movement
of ideas through the Internet, the airwaves, and pamphlets.  It is
necessary, first and foremost, to begin the change by approaching the
Haitian problematic in a way that will allow to address it better.

Nevertheless, we must base the movement of ideas on a restricted theme, and
one of substance. By restricting the theme, we can manage to focus upon
certain fundamental ideas that we can reinforce like the leitmotif of a song
in a just war.  Thus, we go through this experience with the theme “to raise
the political debate.”  It returns again and again.  And so much the better.

OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVANT

The French Revolution was first and foremost a revolution of the ideas
crystallized in the Declaration of Human Rights in 1789.

Human rights, proper government management, respect for the res publica, a
fiscally responsible government, political stability (an unstable country
cannot attract investors), and security, for example, have a common source
whose values we must begin to promote: it is called leadership, the key to
enlightenment.

Napoleon I in France, tyrant and authoritarian, led an enlightened
government.    Upon his arrival in power, he immediately institutionalized
the ideas of the 1789 revolution, after a decade of short-lived governments,
tergiversations, bad decisions, and squabbling among politicians.  He went
to conquer Europe, abolish feudalism and servitude, and impose the values of
the revolution by force.  The Napoleonic Code is still used in France and
its influence can be felt in the laws of many European countries, still
present after two hundred years.  The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, built to
celebrate Napoleon’s victories, is proof of the durability of his legacy.

Although it may be said that the man had delusions of grandeur, it is still
true that he built his personal grandeur on solid, durable achievements for
his people and for all of Europe, in spite of the atrocities that he
committed while conquering.

Napoleon was a dedicated public servant with an incredible capacity.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SHAME

Contrast Napoleon, the public servant, with the one who indulges himself in
immoral pleasure while leading the most deprived people of the hemisphere.
This latter individual is also caught in a frenzy of power, but does not
know how to build.  A smooth talker, he prepares Creole metaphors all day
long instead of engaging the whole country in national reconstruction.  He
never misses an opportunity to recite his shallow discourse in front of
international assemblies, where dignitaries despise him anyway.

He forgets that we truly gain success only when we begin to earn the respect
of intelligent people.  He systematically alienated the support of the
Haitian intelligentsia.  (Twenty years ago, I read that Haiti was the sixth
brainpower exporting country in the world.  I saw cases where we were the
best at an individual level in many areas.  I often noticed the amazement
that salutes and respects our achievements.)

As head of state at this time, a great man would have resigned, humbly
confessing his incompetence or, better yet, would have formed a government
for national salvation which would engage all Haitians, including those of
the Diaspora, in a national reconstruction.

IT IS TIME TO ACT

 It is necessary to stop the negotiations – with Lavalas – which only helps
the regime of terror remain in power.  In fact, Lavalas has already launched
its campaign by making the opposition responsible for the freezing of
resources needed to develop the country. A word to the wise is enough!

The best route for the opposition is the way of the alternative.

If all we think that Haiti is at a time of urgency, then there is no more
room for political demagoguery.  The opposition must regroup like a team
that is losing a game, but wants to win the tournament.  If the opposition
is really serious, it will think about the long term.  If it thinks about
the long term, it will find the way towards stability and security under the
rule of law.

Today, the opposition, which boasts of representing millions of have-nots,
cannot even gather them to convince people of its force.  An opposition,
which cannot mobilize those that it pretends to defend, should go back to
the drawing board to rethink its strategy.  Its credibility and respect are
at stake.  If the opposition had been able to mobilize the people,
negotiations with the Lavalas government would have already been completed
and the climate of insecurity would have disappeared in the bat of an eye.

When it is time to act, we must act.

The time has come for the revolution of ideas, which will have to guide
political action for a renaissance of Haiti.