A devastated country full of young men with no jobs

[SoCalDem]

and oddly enough that same country needs to be rebuilt.

Nations all over the world seem to want to help, and people everywhere are donating money.

Does anyone but me see the obvious solution?

PAY THESE YOUNG ABLE-BODIED MEN TO REBUILD THEIR COUNTRY.

This has two positive outcomes:

Pride in what they built
A shared experience that reinforces community.

Lands that are "owned" by rich and/or absentee owners just need to be reclaimed (bought?) and distributed to the people who need places to live.

Men with tired backs & busy hands are less likely to cause trouble too.

All these humanitarian missions that have existed in Haiti for a century, can certainly follow the populace as they vacate Port au Prince. By gathering in smaller more viable communities across the countryside, it might even be easier to tend to their needs.

Once a population has a school, a church, a safe place to live and food, they can concentrate on building a real society.

Threy will need to be fed, housed, clothed and tended to somewhere, so why not allow a re-population of "other places"?

The capitol city , if rebuilt, will take a very long time, and would be easier accomplished without huge quantities of poor people to care for.

There are millions of cargo containers parked all over the world, now that shipping has decreased. These could be modified into much more habitable accommodations than a blue tarp strung between two sticks pounded into the ground...... or even a well built "storage shed" building or a compound built with linked sheds would be better and safer than "camping out".

Children can be taught anywhere....school buildings are preferable, but Socrates taught out in the open, wherever he was, and many smart people have emerged from pretty awful schools. Doctors have proved this week that patients can be treated anywhere, IF they have medical supplies and the basic necessities of life.

With the average income yearly, of $580.00, why not dedicate $1K to each person in dire need, and dedicate it to water, food, shelter....first..

The countryside is deforested now, but fast growing trees and ground cover could be planted, and once out of the city, I think most of these poorest of the poor would find life a lot better too..

[anonymous171]

1. That's not very neoliberal of you. How are they supposed to "compete" in a global market?

Seriously, if they aren't in poverty, they won't work for shit wages. Do you want our corporations to suffer?

[EFerrari]

10. Clinton and Bush, who between them have done more for corporations in Haiti

than anyone in recent memory are on it.

Corporations are people too! :sarcasm:

[dkf]

2. I thought you were talking about us.

[undeterred]

5. Yeah, we should try that here too.

[grasswire]

7. +1

Me too.

[That Is Quite Enough]

9. Samesies, I thought that too.

[Joe the Liberal]

18. Lol same here.....

went into this thinking it was about the US.

[hlthe2b]

3. How is that compatible with salvation via "the great white hope?"

:sarcasm:

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. The UN is doing that just for starters

they started the program today.

Their wage is 3 bucks\ day

Prevailing wages are 1 buck\day

[eilen]

And how much for a bottle of water or a loaf of bread? nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. And how much for the free food and water at distribution points?

Mark my words, many of these people WILL get emergency rations.

Oh and one more thing...

How much for a bottle of water after Katrina?

You think this is UNIQUE? It happens EVERY FUCKING TIME. That is human nature...

[SoCalDem]

16. and yet the guy with a 7-11 who boosts battery prices? he gets prosecuted

and jailed/fined..

but the corporations that skim off aid money and do little for it..they get bonuses & medals :puke:

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Will there be skimming from the top?

Absolutely, it happens all the time. I don't care where, that is a reality that all rescue workers deal with.

But there are significant differences already from SOP.

You asked about employment, I told you they are...

Oh and as to prosecuting I am not so sure... we have had many in this country who have made small fortunes and never faced the music.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. That makes too much sense

Just like it made too much sense to employ residents of New Orleans to rebuild their city so the contractors brought in illegal immigrants.

Another thing that people could be put to work at is planting trees. Deforestation and erosion are terrible problems there.

Back in the 1960s, my parents had friends who were missionaries in Liberia. One of the things they said when they came back on furlough was that U.S. aid programs were a joke. The officials skimmed off most of the money, and much of the aid consisted of in-kind donations of machinery that nobody knew how to run or repair. The missionary noted that the prevailing wage in Liberia at the time was 10 U.S. cents per hour and that there were unemployed men everywhere. He said that it would make much more sense to hire those men and have them work most of the building projects in low tech ways.

[madrchsod]

8. i to thought you were writing about this country.

i know to many young guys and gals that can`t find work...

[scarletwoman]

11. Excellent solution. It makes perfect sense!

Land redistribution might be one of the hardest parts -- the elite don't give up their holdings easily.

But I love your plan, and wish with all my heart that it would be implemented.

:thumbsup:
sw

[EFerrari]

13. The thing is, you're solving the wrong problem.

The problem with Haiti isn't the poverty, devastation or disappeared government.

The problem is the sweatshops are down, the mining is at a standstill and the people's needs may get in the way of business.

When the PTB say they want to rebuild Haiti, they don't really mean they want to rebuild Haiti, they mean they want to secure their assets.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. That is why the IMF and the WB have cancelled debt and called for

a marshall plan and ... even Naomi Klein understands how this has short circuited disaster capitalism...


This is different... we just don't know yet how different...

But that's ok...

[yurbud]

14. we didn't do it in Iraq or even New Orleans, why Haiti?

:sarcasm:

[G_j]

29. +1

[L0oniX]

15. Hmmm ...at first I thought you were talking about the USA.

[MichiganVote]

22. Me too! But that can't be right. We're the richest country in the world doncha know.

[jwirr]

20. That is the answer. I went to the Habitat for Humanity site because

I am thinking that would be a good way to continue helping Haiti in the coming months. They could help local men to rebuild housing in the rural areas and include gardens, orchards and other things that supplement wages. The site did not say exactly how they are going to help but I know it will be in housing.

[daninthemoon]

21. New Orleans

[amborin]

23. thought you were referring to the U.S. at first n/t

[UTUSN]

24. That's why *I* volunteered into Vietnam at the height n/t

[salguine]

25. I was about two-thirds of the way through this when I realized you were talking

about Haiti and not the United States.

[applegrove]

26. They'll need so much more money to rebuild. The price of rebar is very

high cause of all the building in China. But for sure the locals will get construction jobs. I just hope more money exists to help with that huge job.

It is so sad that all this is happening to Haiti. The police were three years into a trend of not being corrupt. Hopefully during the rebuilding corruption will not be an issue.

[lib2DaBone]

27. Haiti has oil.....

As soon as they can figure out how to get it out of the ground without paying Haiti anything.. construction will begin..

[C_Lawyer09]

28. Do you know where most of Haiti's income is from?

Repatriation, that's right, money from jobs in the United States that Haitians have. So the irony is numbing. Yes, the U.S. has lost its manufacturing based economy, probably for good. Global competition is fierce, and it is unlikely, that at this point restrictive tariffs could effectively fix that problem. Here is the absolute truth. Before much thought goes into rebuilding above aid, we need to figure out how to rebuild in such a way that the next natural disaster doesn't do the same damage. If we don't do that then we are pissing in the wind.

The inescapable truth is that Haiti, much like Africa, will emerge from the third world because, and not in spite of globalization. That is one thing many on du have a problem realizing. The same instrument, cheap, low-tech manufacturing that lifts third world economies into the second world, is the same phenomenon that chipped away at our once dominant manufacturing based economy. That said, the writing was on the wall, that we needed to shift priorities, vis a vis adjustments to how we responded to export business. Case in point: As our timber exports were faltering, Japan ordered a shitload of wood, which they wanted cut to specs. We refused. Canada quickly and happily complied. This coupled with automation, and replaced with no viable alternatives quickly led to our undoing.

It needs to be remembered what led GM to their current predicament. Failure to adjust and do the things necessary to compete on the global level. When we emplace tariffs to ensure jobs, we stifle competition, which usually leads to an inferior product. In fact the only thing that has forced GM to honestly face competition from Toyota, Honda, etc. is failure. Would it be great if we could go back a few decades and have terrific union jobs with almost perfect job security? Yes it would, but that is not the reality. The reality would have surfaced because of global competition, regardless of politics. Protectionism as it pertains to business, is fine if the market supports it. The market does not. Therefore, it is imperative that we regain the inventive spirit, and the creativeness that propelled us into the industrial revolution, by diversifying and reinventing our capabilities. Unless our educational system becomes competetive again, and our currency once again has real value, this is not going to happen. That is the hard reality.

[XemaSab]

30. Cargo containers are a great solution

Food and building materials can be shipped in them.

They can be used for houses once they are empty.

They're secure, solid, and they won't collapse in a quake, even if stacked.

They can be made big or small, and rigged up with all the modcons or no modcons at all.

Since the climate is balmy, even a few holes cut in the side and covered with screens and shutters will help with the climate-control issue, so even if no other materials are available, people can live in them.