#3700: GU's Creative Survivalism - Antoine comments (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Guy Antoine <GuyAntoine@windowsonhaiti.com>

Of course, to people who are new or relatively new to the list,
this will appear like a new discussion, and they are entitled to 
hear from fresh new voices... and I certainly welcome Gina's 
(what a poet!)

Poincy, in my opinion, lives in a world inhabited not by people
with flesh and bone and blood, but only in a world of ideas 
that do not have the proverbial snowball's chance of surviving 
in hell.  Though I often disagree with his logic, but have no 
absolute pretense that my logic MUST be the right logic, I can
see clearly that he is a man who wants the best for Haiti, but 
with an autocratic model of government and absolutist ideas 
of how people properly behave.  I wonder if it ever occurs to
Poincy that he could be wrong, but I do know that his chances
of making a mark on Haiti's future are certainly no greater than
mine.  Poincy appears to see people only as abstract entities, 
who ought to behave robotically for the good of their society, 
like in an ant or bee colony.  People are anything but.

Of course, when Haitians do not behave according to the 
constructs of Poincy's logic, and his idealized system of 
government, he labels them as behaving irrationally (what else?),
and often displays in his writings to the list an astounding lack 
of compassion or respect for the individual, for the conditions 
in which they live, for the choices they feel they have to make
because they somehow did not get trained in Poincy's rigid 
school of thought of how people ought to behave.

In other worlds, in Poincy's world, there is no room for the 
heart, only for reason and logic, and the certainty of his system
of logic, above all others, a system that he would not refrain 
from imposing by all means necessary... as Papa Doc did 
before him, and he often and brazenly chooses that government
reviled by most Haitians as a model of government to follow by
(of course) a well-meaning leader.  But let me emphasize for
those of you who are new to the list that everything that I have
said here is based on Poincy's writings to the list over the last
several years.  I do not know the man, I do not know where 
he lives, I do not wish to disrespect him in the least.  In fact, I 
do not even know his real name.  So, please do not read into 
my comments a personal attack, which I could not even 
formulate, were I inclined to do so.  I often think to myself, 
here's a man that I could not possibly disagree with more... 
and yet, when someone had the wild fancy to propose a 
government formed of Corbettland writers, Poincy seconded 
the choice of my being the prime minister of that government!  
What a laugh!  Go figure... What a mystery that man really is!

(Of course, since he does not disfavor coups d'etat, this 
might have been part of a wildly fanciful but machiavellian 
plan!  Thank God I have never wished to live the life of a 
politician.  I know that this is an uncommon Haitian trait, 
but hey, there are exceptions!)

I think that Gina's poem sends us a significant message, 
particularly to middle class Haitians who were born into a
world of privileges, sons and daughters of medical doctors
and what have you, who have never tasted what it really is
like to live like a peasant, and yet prominently profess our 
expertise (as well as disdain) about those poor people who
are too lazy, who lack any sense of initiative, who are too 
hungry to ever think beyond their stomachs, who do not 
seem to have the capacity to behave rationally, who must 
truly be a disgrace to the minority of their compatriots who 
"think well", and would of course only do the right thing by 
those idiots, if only they would let them.

Gina's poem sends the right message, but will they understand it?
Hmm...  Just follow the threads. 

Guy S. Antoine
Have a Proud Flag Day, Haiti!
http://windowsonhaiti.com