13094: Simidor responds to Wilcken's post re the Haitian elite (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: karioka9@arczip.com

Lois' observation is on the mark: of course Haiti doesn't deserve this type of "elite" --
no country does.  But what do you do with them?  Pè Lebrun?  Koupe tèt, boule kay?
In this day and age, only as a very last resort.

Stalin tried freezing their ass off in Siberia, it didn't work.  The Chinese tried
reeducation camps, and of course it  didn't work. In both countries, there was a
recognition that, nasty as they are, the bourgeois/elite represented an accumulation
of capital and know-how that was desperately needed to keep the economy from
sliding backward.  And in both cases the "capitalist pigs" used that window of
opportunity to come from behind and seize power again.  (With Uncle Sam's overt
and covert help -- it goes without saying.)

In Haiti today, capitalism goes hand in hand with dependency, with sweatshops.  So
who needs that?  Why not try to go it solo?  Why not disconnect totally from the
global economy?  Ah, maybe because we need "their technology" to stop burning
trees into charcoal?  Maybe because at this late point in time, we do need access to
the global market to sell whatever we manage to produce in the future?

Or maybe because after the collapse of "Gulag socialism," it is time to try socialism
with a human face (democratic socialism).  Which means unfortunately that we are
stuck with our piggish elite.  The challenge for Haiti is not to attain
socialism the first time around, but to build a society where people can
enjoy a modicum of freedom and human dignity IN OUR LIFETIME.

Daniel Simidor