Opinion

Will US Help or Hurt Haiti?

Skeptics have reason to fear that soldiers distributing aid will also enforce exploitation.

By Sean Condon, 20 Jan 2010, Megaphone Magazine

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Author Naomi Klein: Beware the 'Shock Doctrine'

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As Haiti frantically struggles to rescue shattered survivors from the devastating earthquake that struck the nation last week, there is growing concern around the world about what role the United States will play in the country's relief efforts.

With 10,000 American troops in the country, and U.S. soldiers having turned away relief planes so its own citizens can flee the island first, there is a fear that the earthquake will be used to occupy and exploit the ravished nation once again.

The earthquake is just the latest in a long line of tragedies for Haiti, which has suffered two centuries of vindictive and brutal punishment from white, Western countries for being the only slave colony to fight for -- and win -- its independence.

"We have to be absolutely clear that this tragedy -- which is part natural, part unnatural -- must, under no circumstances, be used to, one, further indebt Haiti and, two, to push through unpopular corporatist policies in the interest of our corporations," said Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, in a recent interview on Democracy Now. "This is not conspiracy theory. They have done it again and again."

From coup to chaos

The most recent chapter in the history of Haiti's abuse occurred six years ago when Western troops swooped into Port-au-Prince in the middle of the night and whisked Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide out the country. While American officials insist Aristide left voluntarily, the exiled president insists he was kidnapped at gunpoint. Either way, five years after the rebellion, the Caribbean country was still ravaged by violence, corruption and poverty.

In 2008, just a month after then-First Lady Laura Bush was in Haiti to bask in the "progress" and hope that "success continues," the country was besieged by food riots that killed at least a half-dozen people and forced Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis out of office. A 50 per cent rise in imported food costs had a devastating impact on a country where three-quarters of the population lives on less than $2 a day.

Critics charge that the U.S. and Western nations have let Haiti suffer in chaos because of the skin colour of its inhabitants.

"Shadowed by a long past of cruel experiences, contemporary Haitians have ample reason to believe that where the world's white nations are concerned, notions of democracy and other abstract decencies weigh little against the ageless and seductive traditions of color prejudice and greed," wrote Randall Robinson in An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President. "The leaders of the white world simply do not accord to the constitutions and laws of black countries the near sanctity they accord to their own."

The price of freedom

NINE THINGS US SHOULD DO FOR HAITI

1. Allow all Haitians in the U.S. to work. The number one source of money for poor people in Haiti is the money sent from family and workers in the US back home.

2. Do not allow US military in Haiti to point their guns at Haitians. Hungry Haitians are not the enemy. Do not allow the victims to be cast as criminals.

3. Give Haiti grants as help, not loans. Haiti does not need any more debt.

4. Prioritize humanitarian aid to help women, children and the elderly.

5. Respect human rights from day one. The UN has enacted Guiding Principles for Internally Displaced People. Make them required reading for every official and non-governmental person and organization.

6. Apologize to the Haitian people everywhere for Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh.

7. Release all Haitians in U.S. jails who are not accused of any crimes. Thirty thousand people are facing deportations. No one will be deported to Haiti for years to come.

8. Require transparency. All the non-governmental organizations which raise money in the U.S. should have to be transparent about what they raise, where the money goes, and insist that they be legally accountable to the people of Haiti.

9. Treat all Haitians as we ourselves would want to be treated.

-- This is condensed from an article by Bill Quigley, a human rights lawyer and professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, published on CounterPunch and distributed by Alternet.

When a group of former slaves chased Napoleon's armies from the island in 1804, the rebellion sent shockwaves throughout the imperial world. Not only did France lose its richest colony, it also signalled the end of the African slave trade. Led by Toussaint L'ouverture and Jean des Dellalines, a free Haiti had a vibrant economy and racial and social equality. It was a victory that would not be forgiven.

The U.S. and Europe quickly imposed a global trade embargo on the Republic of Haiti, with France demanding exorbitant financial reparations for Haitian freedom. The tariffs and ensuing debt would cripple Haiti socially, politically and economically for the next 200 years. Completely bankrupt, it was now open to American exploitation and interference.

As the European countries fought imperial wars around the world, the U.S. occupied Haiti in 1915 in order to defend its strategic interests in the region. During the occupation, more than 2,250 Haitians were killed by U.S. troops. Haitians peasants, enslaved once again, were forced to labour for the American soldiers.

After leaving Haiti in 1934, the U.S. continued to destabilize the country by supporting two of the most brutal dictators in the Western world -- Dr. François "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his son, Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Between the two, who controlled the country from 1957 to 1986, tens of thousands of Haitians were killed, exiled or fled the country. While Papa Doc may have been more brutal, it was Baby Doc who did the most economic damage to the country. By accepting the neo-liberal "American Plan," Duvalier transformed the country into a giant sweatshop for foreign corporation and consumers.

Not content to just use Haiti as a cheap factory, the U.S. pressured the impoverished country to lift its rice tariffs in the 1980s and 1990s, only to dump its heavily subsidized rice into the country. Haitian farmers were run out of business and the country became completely dependent on imported food -- the root of it current poverty.

Democracy Deposed

To prove that the U.S. would not allow Haiti to free itself from this economic imperialism, American, Canadian and French troops helped depose Aristide during a 2004 rebellion, forcing the controversial, but democratically elected president into exile in South Africa. Although Aristide was accused of human rights violations and drug trafficking, he initially pleased the U.S. by accepting many of the neo-liberal policies imposed on his country. But he quickly fell out of favour by doubling the minimum wage, turning down some privatization projects and, most brazenly, demanding that France repay the reparations it forced on Haiti at independence (now valued at $21 billion).

Haiti, though having proved itself more than once over its history to be capable of being a proud and independent country, was reduced once again to a fragile government propped up by international soldiers.

"It's still under occupation," Robinson said in a 2008 interview on the PBS Charlie Rose Show. "It's under a UN occupation. And until Aristide is allowed to come home, until there's a removal of American and Western meddling, external foreign meddling, allowing Haitians to take over their own business, it will be troubled and unstable. America has committed against that country an unpardonable sin."

The earthquake means the country is occupied once again.

Haiti's Tree of Liberty

Two centuries ago, black Haitian slaves rose up to break the shackles of foreign imperialism. When he was captured and shipped to France just two years before Haiti secured its independence, L'ouverture told his captors that they may "have killed the trunk of the tree of liberty of the black people," but that "it will grow back by the roots because they are deep and numerous."

To keep L'ouverture's words from bearing fruit, Western countries have raped Haiti's lands for the past 200 years. Free in name alone, Haiti continues to be a country of slaves.

Let us hope that history does not repeat itself during Haiti's most recent crisis, which the United Nations called the worst disaster it has ever dealt with. As the international community responds with donations and supplies, it is everyone's responsibility to keep a close eye on the country and ensure the relief effort and eventual rebuilding actually benefits the people of Haiti.

"In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti earthquake offers opportunities to re-shape Haiti’s long-dysfunctional government and economy as well as to improve the public image of the United States in the region," Klein quotes the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank on her website.

It is time for the the West to stop interfering in Haiti's business and help it's tree of liberty to finally grow. [Tyee]

Sean Condon is the editor of Megaphone Magazine and regularly writes for The Tyee and its political news blog, The Hook. His article profiling the life and death of a Vancouver homeless man received the Special Award for External Press given by the International Network of Street Newspapers.

33 Comments:

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  • Frank

    2 years ago

    Editor

    9th paragraph problem, in regards to French troops being forced out of Haiti, it should say "1804", not "1904".

    Assuming we all believe Napoleon died on St Helena.

  • realisticman

    2 years ago

    Which is it?

    above:

    "From coup to chaos

    . In 2008, just a month after then-First Lady Laura Bush was in Haiti to bask in the "progress" and hope that "success continues", the country was besieged by food riots that killed at least a half-dozen people and forced Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis out of office. A 50 per cent rise in imported food costs had a devastating impact on a country where three-quarters of the population lives on less than $2 a day. ..."

    Yet, we are also to believe that the LOWERING of tariffs caused the country to become reliant on the importation of cheap foods and caused the agricultural industry in Haiti to seriously decline, causing increased unemployment.

    "The Issue

    Haitian rice which is most likely of West African origin has been cultivated in Haiti for over 200 years. Rice is the staple food of Haiti and up until the 1980s Haiti was self-sufficient in its production. In the mid-1980s Haiti's domestic rice production decreased rapidly. By the1990s rice imports outpaced domestic rice production. This displaced many Haitian farmers, traders, and millers whose employment opportunities are extremely limited. Two factors are identified as being the most significant causes for the decline in Haitian rice production: the adoption of trade liberalization policies and environmental degradation.The trade liberalization policies at their center have involved the lowering Haiti's lowest tariffs on rice imports. Currently the rice import tariff is 3%, which is much lower than rice import tariffs of all other nations in the Caribbean Community. The Haitian market is now flooded with US rice imports ("Miami rice") and some have accused the US of dumping its rice in Haiti. The impact of the decline of rice production in Haiti has been devastating to its rural population which is already desperately poor. ...

    This case demonstrates how often trade liberalization can have devastating consequences for the rural populations of the developing world. Haiti is now the least trade restrictive country in the Caribbean, but in spite of this openness to trade, Haiti remains the poorest country in the Caribbean. While those in the pro-liberalization camp believe these policies are more helpful than hurtful to Haiti because they have lead to a decrease in the price of rice, this decrease in the price of rice has benefited mostly the relatively wealthy, urban population of the country. Liberalization has been very hurtful to the rural poor who are finding it impossible to earn a decent living in rice production. ..."

    http://www1.american.edu/TED/haitirice.htm

    Does this mean that the increase in imported foods just a month after the visit of Laura Bush, as the article says, was actually a good policy that should have given the local small farmers and agricultural workers a chance to make a living? Or, is it best to keep tariffs low?

  • Jeffrey J.

    2 years ago

    Western Imperialism At It Again

    The tiny number of elites who help run US imperialism (gleefully joined by Canada from the sides, cheerleading away just as George Bush did in Andover) are at it again. And never has there been such incompetence in empire building. The UK was much, much 'better' at it. They realized you needed to invest your own people, infrastructure, training and transportation to successfully influence other nations. India, Fiji, Cook Islands, Hong Kong, the list is very long. It was still colonialism, make no mistake. But even now, western visitors can see the legacy of town squares, train systems, communications systems and the like. Gandhi, India born, was a British trained barrister in the UK because of those policies.

    But the US (and Canada) loves the mindless bullying without even a hint of hard work. We need to clear out of other people's countries unless we're asked to help. There is something staggeringly myopic and almost pathological in the US reach for empire. Thomas Frank's The Wrecking Crew is well worth reading on this point.

    An excellent article.

  • StephenHinchey

    2 years ago

    That last quote not Naomi Klein's

    That last quote is not Naomi Klein's! She was quoting the Heritage Foundation website, a neoconservative think tank, the same group that after Hurricane Katrina (quoting Klein):

    "issued thirty-two free market solutions for Hurricane Katrina... close down the housing projects, turn the Gulf Coast into a tax-free free enterprise zone, get rid of the labor laws that forces contractors to pay a living wage."

  • David Beers

    2 years ago

    Administrator

    Frank and StephenHinchey

    Thanks for the catches! We'll change that date (blame editor's tired eyes) and double check the origins of that quote.

    We are always grateful when our readers catch our errors and let us know.

  • kl

    2 years ago

    One more error

    Albeit small:

    wrote Randall Robinson in An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President. "The leaders of the while world simply do not accord to the constitutions and laws of black countries the near sanctity they accord to their own."

    while should be white.

    An otherwise outstanding article.

  • leftofcentre

    2 years ago

    Typical...while people who

    Typical...while people who actually care about what's happening in Haiti are either raising money or pulling bodies out of rubble, the Tyee is wringing its hands and worrying about the bad 'ol Americans. What's worse, Naomi Klein is practising her own brand of "Disaster Capitalism" by using this tragedy to sell more books. Disgraceful!

    There are people who do things and people who whine about problems in this world. This article is the worst form of capitalizing on a disaster while there are responsible people actually trying to do the work to help people.

    Give to the Red Cross today.

  • Jerry Munro

    2 years ago

    The Global Satan...

    Good article. Even if it seems a silly question, for sure. Look at the historical record.

    Indeed the historical record of The Empire in entire Latin America, including Haiti in the Caribbean, like the entire "under developed" world, especially since the end of WW2, is that Amerika, armed with its virtual monopoly of weapons of mass destruction, is certainly no less dangerous or damaging than any goddamn earthquake, tsunami or volcanoe, for the area of its devastation trail.

    The main problem of the modern world, certainly in terms of the immediacy as well as extent of its threat, which has to include its obstinacy at finding useful global warming joint action, is Amerika. And then they feign surprise that the entire world, increasingly, is coming to see them as indeed, a kind of Global Satan.

    And then there is Canada, Satan's shoe shine boy.

  • Skywalker

    2 years ago

    That's always the problem with Canada's relief efforts.

    Right coyoteman. "And then there is Canada, Satan's shoe shine boy." Canada could have very real influence in world affairs if it wasn't always hitched to the U.S. corporate interests.

  • G West

    2 years ago

    BS - leftofcentre

    It's possible to do both things - help out effectively and criticize both the origins and the effectiveness of the way things are being done.

    The one doing the whining is pretty obviously you.

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    When our day of disaster comes.

    Those in the know can see that the global elitists with their military battering ram (USA) and their global administrative body (the UN with all their phony health, environmental, and charitable arms) are progressing with their global mission to:

    - supplant legitimate sovereign governments and replace with puppets such as our own

    - impoverish by pillaging all their wealth

    - depopulate by what ever means necessary

    Now that all the little guys around the globe who desired independence and freedom have all but been eliminated, who’s left? You and I folks... and that includes the Tyee gang. The people of Canada and the US are the final takedown, the final accomplishment, the big prize. The puppets and propaganda arm are already in place and so is the battering ram:

    On February 14th, formal agreement (illegal according to Canadian and US Law) was reached when a Canadian Lt. General and a US Air force General signed an agreement which allows for the deployment of US troops inside Canada.

    “…for civil support operations such as floods, forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes and effects of a terrorist attack…”

    http://www.northcom.mil/News/2008/021408.html

    When Canadian dead bodies of men women and children are strewn and rotting all over the streets, and the injured and dying are left to pine away for weeks, and the US military with the assistance of a UN multinational “peacekeeping” force is rounding up all the “looters” and “criminals” who haven’t eaten for 2 weeks, do you think our elitists media is going to be reporting the "facts" as they are on the ground?

  • mikev

    2 years ago

    thank you

    A good article.

    People need to talk about these things while Haiti is in the public eye. Otherwise we have people push a few buttons to donate a bit of money and say to themselves there, I did my bit to help out when needed, now Haiti can go back to the steady improvement brought about by western charity. And think everything has gone back to normal so all is well and good.

    When normal is brutal repression.

    Some people would prefer not to think about that. Some people would prefer to believe that Canada is exclusively a force for good in the world. Some people would rather not be aware of crimes Canada has committed. Some people need to wake up, and articles like this can only help.

    Thank you again.

    And right on soleprobe. People really need to think more about how they would feel if the shoe was on the other foot. It's easy to sit here and say well order must be maintained when nobody is pointing a gun in your face and your children aren't going hungry.

    realisticman - just put a little thought into it. They were self sufficient in rice production. It doesn't matter how great a sale you have on rice - 50% Off! 80% Off! - if nobody has any money anymore because all the jobs making rice have been eliminated. It's not very complicated.

  • barney

    2 years ago

    Two distinct issues

    1. The natural disaster and the epic level of human tragedy.

    This needs immediate, urgent action, from anyone who is able, including the US. In fact, I was impressed by Obama's swift, decisive response, which was far swifter and decisive than Bush's response to his own Katrina-inflicted citizens!

    2. The political, historical context.

    This is a critical question, and I agree it must debated. This question is especially important to discuss now because of the expectations and conditions the US, Canada and others have in providing relief. But I do sympathize with those among us who would like to see the rubble cleared and the bodies identified before we debate the imperialist legacy.

    I'd like to expand the question to a more regional one, and demand that the US lift it's ridiculous, cruel embargo on Cuba, which I think is an issue at the root of US foreign policy in the region. Ya, and what the article says, too.

    Good report.

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    "...if the shoe was on the other foot."

    "If"? The shoe is already on the other foot (the illegal agreements and covert alliances). It just hasn't been stomped down on our face yet.

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    "Obama's swift, decisive response...."

    Good grief.... Please stop torturing people's intelligence.

  • G West

    2 years ago

    Obama's no leftist radical

    He's a middle of the road pragmatist...I don't like everything he's done in the past year, but to pretend that there hasn't been a seismic shift in the nature, style and implementation of US foreign policy since he came to power is to ignore the obvious and play fast and loose with the facts.

    If for no other reason than his overtures to the Islamic world and his acknowledgment that the USA is far from perfect and all-seeing he'd be a breath of fresh air.

    As for the American response in Haiti - it's way too soon to tell. Canada, France and the USA have a very blotted copybook in that benighted region so it does bear watching.

    What's really pathetic is the media's feverish concentration on imaginary 'looting' and violence and its equally sad fixation on the understandable (but private) concern of the parents of those Canadian school kids who were caught - but safe and sound - and haven't suffered more than a few sleepless hours and missed meals.

    Talk about misplaced concern and manufactured angst.

  • Jerry Munro

    2 years ago

    The Rose and Satan...

    "He's a middle of the road pragmatist...I don't like everything he's done in the past year, but to pretend that there hasn't been a seismic shift in the nature, style and implementation of US foreign policy since he came to power is to ignore the obvious and play fast and loose with the facts." wrote GWest.

    Hmm, other than a black face on US Imperialism, I don't see any signigicant policy change at all. He's just a little smoother talker.... maybe.

    Iraq and Afghanistan, and now around Yemen, the entire Middle East policy of US Imperialism looks and feels the same. Talk, but no change on Cuba, or in the rest of Latin America where it continues to intervene as of old, with the same surreptitiousness. Same pro-Israel policy and ignoring Zionist genocide policies in Gaza/ Palestine.

    I think I'll pass on that toke of whatever you're smoking GW.

    A rose by another name, or behind any other facade front, Black or White, remains a rose... or in this case, Satan.

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    As for the American response in Haiti it's way too soon to tel

    Ya... 10 days is just not enough time to get food, water, most basic medical supplies, surgeons, etc....

    Of course they can have a fully equipped military and a fully equipped military propaganda machine (CNN) swarming throughout the country within two days.

    Over a week later the Canadians come ashore, about 2 or 3 army medics with no medical equipment. The Canadian medic was using a pocketknife to redress a wound.

  • Jerry Munro

    2 years ago

    New Orleans and Haiti...

    "Of course they can have a fully equipped military and a fully equipped military propaganda machine (CNN) swarming throughout the country within two days.

    Over a week later the Canadians come ashore, about 2 or 3 army medics with no medical equipment. The Canadian medic was using a pocketknife to redress a wound.f"

    The words that came to my mind were, New Orleans.

    They were mostly Black as well. Ohh, that's right, the President was White.

    What a change Obama has made!!!!

  • atrumble

    2 years ago

    further reading

    i saw another good article along similar lines here:

    http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/01/20101196265844450.html

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    The words that came to my mind were, New Orleans.

    Exactly. People could have easily walked out of New Orleans over an overpass but were shot at by armed Gretna sheriffs who formed a line across the foot of the bridge.

    http://www.hurricane-katrina.info/testimonies.html

    Katrina was a test run

  • frank2

    2 years ago

    Situation is intractable. US

    Situation is intractable. US has means to help with immediate disaster. Inevitably, it will influence longer term as well, even if only indirectly through its trade policies (as referred to in the article). A total hands-off policy is unlikely, especially if whatever regime emerges in Haiti seems to become dependent on US competitors (either regional, or international such as Russia, China). What can CANADA do? For one thing, we should seek to ensure that the neo-cons don't control the process. Fat chance, with Harper and Co. In the longer term, the fundamental mismatch between resources, population, and modes of thinking (and systems in place) which affects the whole globe is simply highlighted in Haiti.

  • zalm

    2 years ago

    non sequitur

    "Does this mean that the increase in imported foods just a month after the visit of Laura Bush, as the article says, was actually a good policy that should have given the local small farmers and agricultural workers a chance to make a living? Or, is it best to keep tariffs low?"

    Laura Bush was only there to emphasize the basic lack of understanding of neoliberal economics by its greatest proponents. The liberalization regime ignored the other half of Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage that its economics is founded on - two economies can only benefit from lowering tariff barriers by means of comparative advantage if both have some specialization that is worth trading for.

    The US still has a few comparative advantages, apart from overwhelming military force. But what comparative advantage does Haiti have? A bit of fertilizer, and that's it? Exactly what trade were all these people whose work was displaced by trade liberalization supposed to do?

    This is what government is supposed to look out for. This is the kind of government Haiti has not had since Aristide, and not really even then.

    And especially food - that's nothing to be experimenting on if you don't know what you're doing. You can change the food trade laws in a day, run out of food in most cities of the world in three days, and it would take you 6 months to grow more at the best of times, and 15 months at the worst. An awful lot of people can starve in that time. The economics of the food supply simply CANNOT be trifled with.

    Trade liberalization has to be a two-way street - Ricardo said so himself. Neoliberal economics insists it's a one-way street unless it's OK by them that a little traffic flows the other way. And that's why it doesn't work.

    It wasn't a good policy to begin with, and it was badly implemented. Larua Bush's quote is a red herring - I'd be surprised if she'd even heard of David Ricardo.

  • G West

    2 years ago

    coyoteman

    Maybe you missed the second para:

    If for no other reason than his overtures to the Islamic world and his acknowledgment that the USA is far from perfect and all-seeing he'd be a breath of fresh air.

    Furthermore, I'd say my first para wasn't exactly a slap on the back - I'm kind of sick of middle of the road pragmatists too.

    But, and this was the only point I was trying to make, Obama is a huge improvement of George W Bush...furthermore, at least he's 'talking' about forcing some change to the US tax system and skimming some of the cream from the financial sector.

    Compared with Flaherty and Pee Wee he looks at least half-decent to me.

    Never have been a smoker.

    Cheers and happy new year.

    As for his overtures to the Islamic world, why not have a look at what he actually said and then tell me whether or not it isn't a major change?

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/us/politics/04obama.text.html

  • G West

    2 years ago

    Whoops!

    And forgive the redundant construction in that last sentence.

    Should be: ...why not have a look at what he actually said and then tell me whether or not it is a major change?

  • Jerry Munro

    2 years ago

    Support a Regional Solution over US Troops...

    My own personal "charity" suggestion alternative.

    300 Cuban Medical Brigade personnel have already been working in Haiti for years before the earthquake. Plus, Cuba sent additional doctors and supplies immediately after the quake (before the US took control of Haiti's main airport). There are also 500 Haitian doctors in Haiti, who were trained -- free of charge -- in Cuba! (In striking contrast, there are many more Haitian doctors than that working in Canada who were encouraged to leave their country and come here by the Canadian government. It's the other brain drain carried out by the Capitalist World... of desperately needed trained people from Haiti, as well as the rest of the Third World.)

    You can now make a "tax free" donation to these Cuban Medical Brigades in Haiti, part of a self-help Regional solution to Haiti's massive ongoing needs as well as the current catastrophe. Which I would urge all you fine folks to do. You can check the legitimacy of this appeal alternative with The Cuban Embassy in Ottawa and the Consulate General in Toronto. Or contact the Mac-Paps below.

    In Canada, I urge you to send your donations to:

    The Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund &
    Friends of the Mac-Pap Battalion, Int'l Brigades
    Att: S. Skup
    56 Riverwood Terrace
    Bolton, ON L7E 1S4

    The Mac-Paps guarantee that 100% of all donations are used for medical support and aid to Haiti.

    Also charitable receipts will be issued by the Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund (Charitable Org - Revenue Canada Reg, #88876 9197RR0001).

    Just my own personal suggestion to those of you of a somewhat different ideas and morality bent than the more conventional Charity Industry model of the countries that are, and have historically been, part of the problem, rather than the solution.

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    I quit being a Canadian about a year ago

    I was an eighth generation Canadian. Part of my ancestry escaped from slavery and came up to Canada through the Underground Railroad…. part of my ancestry came from England Ireland and Wales… part of my ancestry came from the Caribbean… and another part of my ancestry came from the Blackfoot Indian tribes out west.

    My dad fought in two wars: (WWII and Korea). He was a Sergeant in the Black Watch, an elite Canadian regiment, he was a Canadian Army boxing champ, he was 9 months on the front lines when they found him crawling around by himself in the bushes, on the brink of madness, looking for “Gerrys”, that’s when they finally had to ship him home.

    I think of the past struggles for freedom of my ancestry and the ancestry of many other Canadians who have been here for generations and I look at what this country has become: Murders, liars and robbers…oppressors of the poor and destitute, people who will deceive for a few paper dollars… sickos promoting impoverishment and enslavement… phony lying puppet politicians, lying commies, fascists, socialists… haters of freedom, lovers of total state control and power… constantly covering up the real elitists perpetrators of evil, promoting all the their evil eugenicists schemes…. and the majority of the rest are just a bunch of mindless zombies who only wanna get laid, drink beer and watch hockey.

    Since that’s what “Canadian” has become… as of about six months ago, I stopped being a “Canadian.” I simply quit. I will not be counted among this trash. I am a free man…. living on the earth and hopefully for not much longer… and NO credit for my freedom goes to this evil, insolent, soulless piece of trash generation of a bunch of lyin murderous scumbags who would burn their mothers alive if it meant they could get a steady paycheck.

  • margot

    2 years ago

    CNN(!) video on Cuban medical teams

    http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/01/17/kastenbaum.haiti.la.paz.hosp.cnn?iref=allsearch

    Hard to believe this is CNN!

    Once again the details for donating to the Cuban effort in Haiti:

    support Cuba in this work by giving a donation to “The Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund,” indicating on your cheque’s memo line “Cuba for Haiti”.

    Charitable receipts will be issued by the Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund (Charitable Org - Revenue Canada Reg, #88876 9197RR0001).

    Your donation should be mailed to:

    The Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund &
    Friends of the Mac-Pap Battalion, Int'l Brigades
    Att: S. Skup
    56 Riverwood Terrace
    Bolton, ON L7E 1S4

  • G West

    2 years ago

    Thanks for that margot

    And you too coyoteman - for suggesting the same target for our dollars...

  • Frank

    2 years ago

    International brigades

    The Mac-Paps were heroes, nice to see they're not forgotten.

    I recommend reading "The Gallant Cause" by Mark Zuehlke

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    Police kill man in Haiti over allegedly stolen rice

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERJVizL71P4

    All the aid from these star studded telethons are going towards this UN/USA trained and backed government with their police death squads

  • alive

    2 years ago

    ass backwards approach!

    Yup we watch containers sitting for days with security guys all around, while they make up spreadsheets to determine who is deserving of help!
    this is typical of our newfound craze of categorizing everything instead of just taking action.
    Out Northshore rescue team, demonstrates the opposite approach, they go immediately and worry about paperwork till later!

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    "our newfound craze of categorizing everything"

    you're kidding... surely you can come up with a better line than that to coverup UN crimes

    Category A:

    Haitian puplic (No aid)

    Category B:

    Haitian government/police death squads(provide aid)

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