Apparently some Haitians were so angry that the world was taking its time rushing to their aid that they were going to build roadblocks with the corpses of earthquake victims as a sign of protest. How very intelligent I thought. Not only will the stench and sight of a pile of rotting bodies make the rescuers feel really welcome but it will delay the convoy’s progress. Clearly intelligence is not a commodity much in evidence in Haiti. (…)
It doesn’t have oil or any minerals that are cheaply accessible. It’s not an ideal holiday destination because it gets hit by hurricanes fairly regularly and it is an ecological disgrace. Worse though, it has a population that seems incapable of sustaining itself without having to beg for aid from other nations. It is just another African disaster story transposed to the Caribbean.
In the animal kingdom it would have been a weakling killed off long ago. But we compassionate humans are above the animal kingdom. Which is why we rush to help the weak and the poor in places like Haiti, even though we know that no amount of our money can bring a better life to people who are simply not equipped to survive in the 21st century.
