16515: Fouche: Re: 16464: Dorce: Re: 16364: Fopuche: Re: 16351: Dorce: Re: 16270: Vishnusurf: (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Reply-To: "[iso-8859-1] Rachel Fouché" <r.fouche@verizon.net>

> OK, the trouble with my writing is that in my effort to make a point, I
may
> say things in a colorful way and some people take offense.  I do not beat
up on
> the middle class, but if you think I'm including them, maybe I should be!
> Please understand, it is not the money nor the nice houses that is the
problem.
> I do not mean to say that EVERY living soul who makes a decent living in
> Haiti is bad and EVERY living soul who is poor is good.  But if a person
grows up
> to believe that some people are worth more because they have money or
houses
> or speak French, they are part of the problem in Haiti.  And except for a
very
> few, most Haitians grow up to believe that.

Kathy, let me break down the problems I have with your postings.  You
continually employ generalizations about groups in Haiti, even though you
admit that this discussion tactic is facile.  In the course of human
history -- both globally and interpersonally -- the use of generalization to
simplify the socio-political discourse has only wrought additional human
misery.  I really don't see a forensic difference between your postings and
that of writings/speeches of Idi Amin (may he rot in Hell) or Adolf Hitler
in respective regards to the Indian and Jewish citizens of their
countries -- both groups that were also part of the middle class.  The
consequences of such hate speech is too high for humanity to allow it to go
unchecked anywhere.  Time to get over the romanticism of revolution, and
buckle down to the real work of reconstruction -- there are too many people
on the list who like to party with their fanciful, unworkable ideas, but
very few actually stay to clean up when the logical ends are followed
through on their evening party chatter.

> The educated Haitians cannot bear to think of the masses voting when they
> obviously don't know what's best for them.  Even the good ones have an
almost
> paternal attitude about the majority Haitian.  I'm sorry if this offends
some
> on this list (because certainly none of you are a poor Haitian) but
Haitians
> know best how to help themselves.  Let democracy work.  If it's not
working now,
> it's not because of the poor....

India has the largest constitutional democracy in the world, with over 98%
of the eligible voting population participating in elections.  One could
argue that its success is owing to the British, who established a history
with western-style bureaucracy; others would point to India's prior
bureaucratic processes as the reason why a population with a plurality of
illiterate persons can successfully allow democracy to work.  No person with
even an amateur interest in Haitian history would argue that Haiti has such
a history with bureaucracy -- and without the stability of bureaucracy (as
much as we groan and gripe about it), democratic institutions cannot be
sustained successfully.  Idiots run for and are elected to office all the
time in the United States, but I don't lose sleep over it because the
bureaucractic systems mostly protect our democracy.  Haiti cannot sustain
neither the best nor worst of governance because the "democratic tradition"
is toothless due to the internal rot of the systems which should protect
democracy irrespective of political ideology.  In order to establish a true
democracy, Haiti needs to be run as a technocracy with initial limited
political involvement that would increase incrementally to a democratic
state.  We tend to forget that "freedom" must be earned -- we all live under
"dictatorships" as young children until we can proove that we understand the
awesome burden that "freedom" entails.  Haiti suffers from a systemic
poverty of stable institutions, and until that is ameliorated through years
of bureaucratic practice, the promise of democracy through "one person, one
vote" is a fallacy.

> The class struggle in Haiti is not an illusion.  It is so blatant as to be
> blinding to anyone who can see.

Well, one really cannot have class struggle when one of the integral parts
to the standard Marxist/Leninist formula largely lives outside of the
country where the supposed social grapple is taking place.  And before I
continue, I need to define my perception of the Haitian class system:

Lower Class:  the largest group in Haiti, consisting of people who have no
means to consistently sustain themselves or their family.  The Lower Class
of Haiti also have no means of additional outside familial support (family
in the US, Canada, France).

Middle Class:  in comparison to the Lower Class, the second smallest
economic group in Haiti yet it is the largest group in many Haitian
communities overseas.  Members of this class have had access to education
lasting longer than five years and past the elementary level.  There are two
subclasses within the Middle Class, which can be termed as partial
sustaining ("lower middle class") and fully sustaining ("upper middle
class").  Partial Sustaining Middle Class may also not be able to
consistently sustain themselves or their family, but additional means of
outside familial support prevents them from falling into the Lower Class.
Fully Sustaining Middle Class are able to consistently sustain themselves
and their family through provision of goods and services (engineers,
doctors, businesses that are located in buildings).  Fully Sustaining Middle
Class members have had to flee Haiti due to political persecution and
inability to develop consistent institutions needed to protect the human,
economic, and social rights of all Haitians.

Upper Class:  the smallest economic group in Haiti.  There are also two
subclasses within the Upper Class, which can be termed as "dependent" and
"independent."  Politicians, irrespective of actual economic class, and
government officials are part of the Dependent Upper Class because of the
power they wield in Haitian Society.  The independent Upper Class of Haiti
is rarely seen but their influence on public and international policy is
overwhelming.

Because Haiti does not have a true three-class system, socio-political
institutions never stabilize themselves -- the never-ending revolution that
only increases misery.  We can pretend the miniscule middle class currently
living in Haiti has concocted such ills, create the Haitian version of the
"Final Solution," and be stuck right back in the same miserable situation.

Yup, why think these porch monkeys can run their own country?  They don't
even like each other!  Especially the middle class ones -- let's make them
some beautiful tire "necklaces" and our larger problems like food,
education, health will magically resolve themselves. Sig heil, Kathy!
You've solved the Haitian Problem with your astute analysis of the porch
monkey -- oops, I meant Haitian -- psyche!


Rachel Fouché