9986: Dictator? (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Mihoko_Tsunetomi <miho0087@tctv.ne.jp>

  As the one who posed original question to Poincy, I thank
members for very interesting discussions, and I feel qualified
to speak what I think within the limit of my freedom of 
speech. I am not a beginner nor am  simply curious about
Haiti. My 9 years of providing Haiti Information in Japanese
have given me a kind of status as Honorary Haitian without
command of kreyol, and I am also a witness of Japan over 
 50 years which started exactly from Haiti today. I have many
points which I don't like with  present Japan, but economic
development is undeniable.
 In many points I share Florestal's argument. Although I
understand Poincy' passion when things do not move forward,
it is not so easy to say "Lets take plan B simply because A does
not work." It is a siren song which sounds attractive, but
will destroy you eventually. His arguments are too simple, and
lack deeper comparative studies vertically (history) and
horizontally (world).
 Now that my first question who is the benevolent  dictatior,
I got the answer. I do not deny the contribution Christoph
made to Haiti, but he cannnot be the model in this case.
Unless the man is God Almighty himself, we have to have
means to veryfy. When somebody claims he is the one,
we need the guarantee that his mind will never change all
through his lifetime. People liked Duvalier, that is why they
elected him president and even gave the pet name Doc.
Democracy by no means is a perfect system, but it could
work at least as a means to say No when the system takes
a wrong course. Why don't you look around and find some
models from where you can learn?
. We have Saddam Hussein, Castro, Pinochet,Fujimori
etc. and many Asian leaders in their initial stages were, and
are still a kind of modified dictators, and they have contributed
greatly. I quite agree if you mean them while general
public is still too underdeveloped to  have healthy judgement.

 I love the creativity of Haitian people. They are struggling to
find some means of producing. Brightly colored tap-tap wall
hanger made of drum-cans reminds me the days when we
were very poor. We made all daily necessities by ourselves
 out of something we could find around, and I am angry we
are wasting too much today. But that is the limit. When you
are very poor and uneducated, unemployed, what can you
do beyond? How can you say feeding is not a government's
responsibility! when we hear everyday that people have no
food, making desperate voyage into the dark sea? Doesn't
your constitution guarantee the very basic human rights?
Poioncy should separate the  basic necessity from
luxury. It is not the matter of only Haitians that no outsiders
should intervene, but is the matter of my brothers and
sisters in Haiti which we should not, or cannot be indifferent.

 How can he say Haiti should not beg without any concrete
blueprint? The similarity between Haiti and Japan is that
both of us have no natural resources such as oil or diamond,
on which we can live conformtably. The only thing we can
do is to produce something out of nothing. Japan started
begging, begging, and  produced copying things with the 
lowest quality and price." Made in Japan" was the brand
for poor, cheap goods as is so with some developing 
countries. We buy things "made in China" because the
prices are attractive. Empty pride is to be hidden until
the poor, less talented people come up to a certain level.
I cannot think of a loving mother who does not beg
for their children, that is why I am so unhappy with the
political arguments which have nothing to do with nation-
building. A nation's prosperity does not exist with a
handful of top elites. It can never be realized without
the participation of the majority. One of the reasons of
Asian development is in the education where once given
a chance, to grasp it quickly and even improve. When 
we see how quickly the Northern Alliance of weak coalition 
in Afganistan could take over with the support of  a
superpower, it is silly for a tiny ant to fight with a
giant elephant. Perseverance please, even if it is bitter
so that you can really grow to fight.

 With the very best wishes for the Christmas to all
members here, my dream is to see the Happy Haiti
tomorrow. Please understand my prayer.
                                        Mihoko