13098: posted by Thor Burnham: the elite debate (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: thor burnham <thorald_mb@hotmail.com>

"Piggish elite"?

Are Thor Burnham, Kathy Dorce, Kathy Grey, Richard Morse, Daniel Simidor and
Gary Pierre-Pierre members of an elite? the world elite? the educated elite?
the Diaspora elite? the financial elite? the religious elite? the technical
elite? the media elite? the U.S. upper middle class? the Haitian middle
class? or the Canadian middle class?
If you are on this list it is probably safe to say you can be categorized in
some kind of elite.

Can anyone really tell me the exact locations of the boundaries that
delineate the above categories? Is a class analysis the best method of
describing Haitian social reality? Is it better described as a caste system?
where is Jean Casimir when we need him? Or Philip Curtin, or Kamau
Braithwaite? sigh. Can Olivier Nadal please re-explain the boundary markers
that define his self-described elite status? How many factors are involved?
How many of those are required for membership in the club? If you are
considered an elite by others, can you decide to not be an elite?

How fluid are the class boundaries? How porous?

In previous posts, both Ms. Hudicourt and Leslie Desmangles effectively
complicated the debate by pointing out some important contradictions and the
difficulty of drawing distinct boundaries between those who are seen to be
"obvious" members of the elite and those who are not. One of the respected
scholars on this list has written in the introduction to his book (i'll
paraphrase) that all categories are prone to contradiction and are falsely
created by us to describe our world. Let me add that we have an obligation
to stay away from Manichean descriptions and a further obligation to
complicate, question, and problematize categories and recognize the limits
of those categories.

Who are the "piggish elite"? Is it everyone who speaks French? Everyone who
has a university education? Is it everyone who has a university education
outside of Haiti? Is it everyone born into a moneyed family? Is it everyone
born into a moneyed family who has a "bourgeoise" appearance? Is it access
to print media? Is it a question of skin color? Is it a question of access
to political power? Is it a question of comportement? Is it a question of a
family name, but without the money? Is it all of these? Is Michel Martelly a
member of the elite? What about Wyclef now that he's made it big? Are there
many elite(s) like there are many Haitis?

I know oil-rig workers in Canada who have more money than some of the people
derisively described on this list as being "piggishly" elite. I know
auto-workers in Ontario who are members of one of the world's most powerful
trade unions and who voted for a neo-conservative member of parliament in
the last federal election because they didn't want to pay such a high rate
of tax on their overtime. A contradiction? absolutely. Those same working
class autoworkers have collective agreements that pay the university tuition
of their sons and daughters and pension arrangements that are the envy of
just about everybody. Are they now part of the Canadian financial elite?
Will their sons and daughters be part of the educated elite?

I have another question about the "elite". Can someone throw out some
realistic numbers that relate to their net worth? How wealthy are the
"wicked and piggish elite" in Haiti? The reason I ask is because it would
seem to me that they probably don't have enough money to turn the country
around on their own. They might be able to help, but to do what people on
this list say needs to be done requires massive state intervention and
expenditure. It also means everyone in Haiti would have to pay a lot more
tax than they are paying now. Haiti's economy is not large. What kind of a
tax regime would be required to provide the services being talked about on
this list?

This is not to say that the Haitian "power elite", borrowing a term from  C.
Wright Mills, is blameless. But who are they? How much do they really have?
Is it feasible to ask of them what you are asking?
Is there a legitimate reason why they are not sharing the way that they
supposedly should? If Aristide is on an anti-corruption campaign, then he is
obviously signaling that the state apparatus has serious problems when it
comes to money collected through taxes. what does that do to block elite
interest in private-public partnerships? The Haitian state has been
described as a "Kleptocracy". Is that the result of the machinations of the
Haitian power elite, the political class or int'l interference?

just throwing it out there

best,
Thor Burnham



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