13824: Corbett replies to Simidor

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Daniel,

Without getting involved in any particular assessment of Aristide and
Lavalas, I do want to disagree with one part of your post.

You say:

The next time people have to vote, they will want to see the fine print.
And if
the same cycle threatens to repeat itself?  Why, it will be up to the
people to throw
the new bums out.  Without waiting five years to do it.

-----------

I am deeply smypathetic to your notion that the people must be on guard
and must participate in their own future.  Absolutely.

However, part of the problem that so plagues Haiti is the long history of
not living by rule of law, but by means of violence, particularly the
overthrow of the (virtually always, too powerful) president.

I'm not convinced that the rule of a very bad president is worse
that the long-term outcome of the rule by violence and the
never-ending mode of resolving political disagreements by coup d'etat.

I wouldn't want to be so adamant as to maintain that a revolution or
coup d'etat is ALWAYS a bad thing.  Always is always too much to say.

However, I do think that when violent overthrow of a government is
the general pattern such that even the thinking people of a nation think
of it easily as a solution, then that pattern is a very grave problem to
any long-term advancement of the nation itself.

Haiti desperately needs to become a country of political life by
constitution and law and non-violent means of resolving political
disputes.

Bob Corbett