Saturday 16 January 2010
Haiti
Slí Eile: The terrible human tragedy unfolding in Haiti has shocked the world. The outpouring of help and practical civic action to do something - anything - to help the victims is a striking testimony to the human spirit. Still, even at this dark hour for the people of Haiti difficult and hard questions need to be asked of us and our Governments in the prosperous world. The story of Haiti is not only one of natural disasters and tyrannical regimes - it is also one of colonial exploitation and exploitative trade, political and aid relationships with the various super powers. We also have to face up to, and address, these issues in every part of the world. See Peter Hallward's piece in the Irish Times yesterday (Haitian tragedy compounded by long, ugly history of exploitation).
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Watching C4 news last night, I observed three things 1) nobody seemed to have thought about doing something immediate with parachute drops i.e. water/food/basic medical supplies which I thought was a no brainer to help people while aid was on its way there 2) the French search and rescue team went straight to a hotel occupied by non-Haitians (some lives are worth more than others?) 3) the 550 million the UN are asking the public to dig in their pockets for is but a few days profit in Q4 2009 for just one investment bank (JP Morgan in this case) and I haven't heard them or any other bailed out institution say they will come up with a substantial sum. It makes you think....
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