30821: Leiderman: viewpoint: three Haitian patients (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leiderman@mindspring.com


1 August 2007

dear Readers:

I.  SPIRIT OF PRIORITIZATION

hmmm, what the heck is "the spirit of prioritization"?  acknowledged, Mr. Spinelli's and Mr. Bick's preferences may be at opposite ends of a spectrum, the former, all-of-a-package and the latter, one-at-a-time.  but priorities and strategies aren't the same as personal preferences.  when I think about the spirit of prioritization for Haiti (or for any other trampled part of the world), some kind of systematic investigation and analysis comes to mind, not just a bleacher full of fans cheering for their favorit team.  survival is not "only a game."

Mr. Spinelli seems to have done his homework thoroughly.  it's not his fault that the results point toward a  big set initiatives -- policies and projects -- rather than a bunch of volunteers out somewhere hammering nails.  no one purposely aims to bite off more than they can chew, and Iâm sure Mr. Spinelli would have preferred his results to point toward something he could do all by himself.  but what if they don't?  wouldn't it be nice, for example, if the problem of broken axles in Port-au-Prince could be solved by simply replacing axles?  imagine our (disheartening) surprise to learn that nothing less than filling potholes will fix the problem.  what a bother!  changing axles is more fun than preventive roadwork.

II.  FRIENDS OF HAITI

on the other hand, Mr. Bick's advice to go the âdoableâ route, is neat and clean.  full stop.  no messy analysis or persuasion required.  and no surprising results.  he'd advise you just get out there and make a garden or dig a latrine or donate a solar cooker or distribute toothbrushes.  you can do it without interference, no permits necessary, and you can do it for the rest of your natural born days, with our blessings.

but I think Haiti is not this kind of "one off" problem, with pockets of difficulties here and there, amenable to repetitive acts of kindness rather than synergistic ones.  I think Haitiâs problem is systematic, embedded and widespread...the equivalent of an antiobiotic-resistant infection.  itâs a âHurricane Katrinaâ kind of problem.  that means simplicity and doability, per se, arenât viable remedies.  instead, someone will have to link them in large numbers, then coordinate, implement and enforce them by a set of overarching motives and methods.  said another way, no matter how diligently Haitians grow tomatoes, if they can't get them to market, no one buys tomatoes.  while Mr. Bick's spirit of prioritization and doability seems to make tomato-growing attractive, what good is a bumper crop?  tomatoes donât fix roads, people do.

III.  CRISIS OF PERSUASION

basically, this is a crisis of persuasion.  this is a source of concern to me.  in the midst of massive Haitian population displacement at home and abroad -- the rich are retreating from the poor in Haiti's cities, the poor are retreating from exhausted countrysides, the Diaspora are retreating further and further into Middle America -â I think too much prioritizing for Haiti is still coming from a place of personal heartbreak.  you can see this on numerous websites.  it's a kind of turnkey charity not born of systematic observation, analysis, design and coordinated hands-across-the-border.

but action motivated by heartbreak can be capricious, short-lived, misdirected and jealous.  the passing fancy to adopt Haitian babies a few years ago, comes to mind.  did it save Haiti, by any stretch of the imagination?  did it make a dent in starvation or illiteracy?  I donât think so.

further, most victims anywhere nowadays â Haiti's boat people, Darfur's  nomads, Iraqi translators, Louisiana flood refugees, etc. -- aren't big lumps of individual anecdotes, they are gigantic population sets, often millions or tens of millions in each location, suffering from systematic crimes of commission and/or omission.  the victims have needs that are not reachable by what is conventionally and individually doable in the way that I undertood Mr. Bickâs advice to Mr. Spinelli.  âdoableâ is not persuasive; it doesnât cut it for me, not as a charitable act nor as national strategy nor as an international aid philosophy.  thereâs no doable way to exit Iraq, no doable way to isolate nuclear wastes, no doable way to reforest Haiti by having a bunch of people go out somewhere and plant trees as their individual time, money or inclinations permit.

IV.  INDICATORS

for Haiti, this crisis of persuasion is fueled by differences of opinion and knowledge of actual conditions and trends on the ground.  tell me, is Haiti is better off this year than last, by how much and compared to what benchmarks?  much more than heartbreak, I know that the answer would affect my own spirit of prioritization.  but I find no comprehensive, periodic, reliable assessments of Haiti.  you canât look at a map or a simple matrix to see where forests-planting or innoculations are needed next year, or where landslides are imminent, or which village have electricity and which donât.  thus, there's no direction and incentive for realistic prioritizing.  even to suggest it for Haiti at the moment is foolish, but also negligent.

even the Audubon Society goes out a couple times a year to count birds, describe their habitats and project trends.   from this, Audubon gets their spirit of prioritization from evidence that's based in fact, not personal preference.  their findings reflect real causes and impacts, namely, people are taking over the world in ways that extinguish animal species.  on the coasts, itâs a purely physical displacement.  too many hotels on too little beach spells disaster for shore bird populations and coastal food chains.  the priority remedy is non-negotiable:  buildings and shore bird ecosystems canât occupy the same space, so stop covering the coasts with hotels and condominiums.

V.  THE HAITI-NEEDS-EVERYTHING SYNDROME

again, I think priorities that come from heartbreak are neither systematic nor effective, and on the other hand, itâs not persuasive to tell me, "Haiti needs everything; so you can start anywhere."  I need something better.  imagine you were a doctor with three Haitian patients:  the first, a whole, normal-looking person with two hands, two arms, two legs and feet, etc., but with none of them working together.  every effort to move in one direction was countered by another to move in the opposite direction.  as a result, the patient gave the appearance of activity, was constantly twitching, but actually was paralyzed in place.  the second, a whole-looking person with a full set of limbs and appendages, all well-connected and coordinated, but without the faintest idea of what direction to walk or how to pass the day.  this patient would habitually wander off, only occasionally return home at night, and never remember where theyâd been or what they did.  the third was missing a limb or two, and maybe an eye, but wanted to live a full life no matter what came next.

what would you prescribe for them?  would you give them all the same medicine because thatâs what you hand on hand?  would you give them different treatments and send them on their separate but inadequate ways?  or would you tie them together, as a threesome, to pool their strengths and reduce their individual handicaps?

don't tell me anything will do.

thanks,

Stuart Leiderman
leiderman@mindspring.com