On Oct. 17, 1989, a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Bay Area in Northern California. Sixty-three people were killed. This week, a major earthquake, also measuring a magnitude of 7.0, struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Red Cross estimates that between 45,000 and 50,000 people have died.
This is not a natural disaster story. This is a poverty story. It’s a story about poorly constructed buildings, bad infrastructure and ...
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I'm nervous about this story. Brooks's prescription is reasonable—poverty is the subtext of this disaster, current forms of aid are inadequate—but I wish he would have explained in greater detail some of the solutions he proposes and backed up some generalizations about Haiti with more evidence (I'm honestly unaware of how fair it is to say voodoo religion inhibits progress, for example). Also suspect to me is his citation of Samuel Huntington, the widely-criticized author of "The Clash of Civilizations." It puts his call at the end to foster "No Excuses countercultures" in a context that, read one way, smacks of cultural imperialism. I don't doubt Brooks's good intentions, but I left with more questions than answers.
Thoughtful opinion about addressing Haiti's deep challenges, beyond emergency relief. The author makes a reasonable point that current forms of aid do not seem effective in helping some developing countries like Haiti grow out of poverty. He cites reputable economists and scholars to suggest that what Haiti needs is cultural change -- programs to develop a "culture of achievement" through new child-rearing practices, stricter schools, and "intrusive paternalism." Food for thought.
It is not clear to us that the best way to get growth is to do growth policy of any form. Perhaps making growth happen is ultimately beyond our control. More »
This is another well written commentary by David Brooks. He makes some good points that beg the reader to consider what was written. Why not hire some of the unemployed to help in the clean up and recovery.
Yes, yes, and yes. Some cultures clearly produce better results for their members than others, and we need to stop being so shy about identifying them. The author suggests a proactive approach, and I would applaud that with one reservation: cultures don't change until a critcal mass of the members of that culture WANT change. Cultural change cannot be imposed from on high, though it can be encouraged from on high.
I don't want to be cold about the suffering in Haiti, but this article accurately makes the point that the underlying problems of poverty and overpopulation should get as much attention as a dramatic earthquake.
David Brooks is dealing with the part of the Haiti story that normally journalists and government officials deal with a year or more after the tragedy. By talking about it now, aid workers and ngos might finally get it right in Haiti and set a formula that could work in Somalia and elsewhere.
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