Haiti, past and present, exposes the ugliness of humanity

By Ben Roberts:


We see the devastation in Haiti. We see the broken and lifeless bodies removed from the rubble. We see the walking dead with their bloody wounds, skin whitened by plaster and falling dust, and their hands caked with blood and abrasions from pulling each other from the crushing skin of the earth. We see the hand-wringing of anxious relatives wanting to know about the fate of their loved ones.

We see and hear Pat Robertson expound on his ‘pact with the Devil’ attempt at logical reasoning. We hear of Rush Limbaugh, in all his omniscience, claiming ‘Don’t bother trying to donate to relief efforts. We’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the US income tax.’

We see the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, President Barack Obama, in no uncertain terms, directing America’s military, medical, recovery, and whatever else resources, post-haste to assist this stricken country. We see regular genuine human beings from all creeds, colors, and walks of life of trying to be of help in this disaster.

We see all this and cannot help but wonder about our own humanity, about what we are doing in this world, and what we have done in this world. This calamity in Haiti wakes us up to what we are and need to be doing. But Haiti has been a never-ending calamity because of what we have done in this world. Haiti needs us to keep its anemic body and soul together, but we need Haiti just as much to maintain our humanity by reminding us of how ugly the human spirit can be, and how low it can falter at times.

Pat Robertson claims that Haiti made a ‘pact with the Devil,’ and has suffered ever since. For those not well-informed on the history of Haiti, it must be explained that, after Haiti defeated France and got its Independence from the yoke of slavery in 1804, the French demanded one hundred and fifty million francs as compensation for its loss of the wealth it would have realized had slavery remained intact in that former colony. How diabolical! But that is not all.

Think of the world in 1804. In 1804 a hundred and fifty million francs would have amounted to a king’s ransom. Where would a shattered Haiti have gotten this money? A loan from Britain? From America? From Spain? From private entrepreneurs? Not a chance. And who, on moral grounds, would stop France from making this demand? No one, since all these nations were profiting beyond their wildest dreams from slavery.

So this new nation of Haiti, if it wanted to join the club of nations, thought its best bet was to comply with this diabolical demand. Believe it or not Haiti’s way out was to borrow the hundred and fifty million francs from France at extortionist rates. Now that is a pact with the Devil if there ever was one.

In most wars in history the victor demands reparations of the vanquished. In this instance the victor has to compensate the vanquished and has no choice but to get the loan from the vanquished to do so. How low can humanity sink? What a stain on us all who claim to represent a civilized world. No, Haiti did not make a ‘pact with the Devil.’ It made the mistake of not abiding by this long-held saying: ‘When you sup with the Devil be sure to use a long spoon.’ The Devil being all those who had designs on that bountiful nation.

Rush Limbaugh, as stated above, exhorts that we should pass on donating to Haiti since we already do in the income tax we pay. I sometimes wonder who actually listens to this man who pretends to be so informed and all-knowing. Does he even know that his own President James Madison initiated contact with Toussaint L’Overture, imploring him not to send his Haitian agents provocateurs into the US to disseminate word to American slaves that Haiti had defeated their French masters and attained their freedom?

This would have been a disaster to American wealth and profits if American slaves got wind of this and challenged the institution of slavery. Because Haiti wanted to maintain good relations with the United States, Toussaint apparently complied with this request. Now that is a pact.

Honoring such a request from the leader of a country which, a scant twenty nine years earlier, had fought its own war of Independence guaranteeing the rights of man. A war of independence where a number of the prominent Haitians in that nation’s War of Independence had fought valiantly with American soldiers in its War of Independence from the British.

So you see why Rush Limbaugh needs to be informed or read some more before coming out and pretending to be some repository of knowledge about what America has donated to others. If Pat Robertson wants to know about the human capacity for diabolical violence then he should read about the top French military man in Haiti, General Rochambeau, and his mass drowning of Haitians in the harbor of Cap Haitien.

He should read about British military overlord for the region, General Maitland, and his unrivaled wolfish propensity for deception. (Yes. The British were also present in Haiti at this same time, complete with a fort, with designs on Haiti, the bountiful prize sought over by all the major world powers of that time).

If Rush Limbaugh wants to know about outlays to other countries he should read about the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution where his country insisted that the Haitian government change its Constitution to allow outsiders to own property. A decision that affects Haiti to this day. In order to learn about all this these men should find and read: The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James. In fact anyone who takes the time to read this text will have no choice but to rethink what they thought they knew about Haiti.

Definitely a country with a dual personality. On the one hand it represents the hopes, dreams, indomitable spirit, and ability of a people and segment of humanity to fight and succeed against unimaginable odds to establish their unquestioned legitimacy as members of the human race. On the other hand it represents the fears of another segment of humanity at the prospect of losing their privileges and presumed superiority in the human race.

Simply put, Haiti represents the unlimited potential for the human race to overcome and move into the light. Alternately, it represents the ugliness and darkness of the human race.

But enough of gloom and these bombastic individuals claiming to be authorities on something of which they seem to know very little. They remind one of a quote by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu in his book The Tao Te Ching: ‘Those who know don’t talk, and those who talk don’t know.’

It is heart-warming to see President Obama taking charge and, in no uncertain terms, making it a priority to put resources into Haiti. What a sight to see the potent military assets of America, such as the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, and a Predator drone, being put to use in this calamity. Weapons of war highly capable of raining down death and destruction being utilized to extend hope and life. America never looked so good or so strong. It gives hope for a better world. Too bad it takes a calamity of such earth-shattering proportions for us to get to that point.


Ben Roberts is a Turks & Caicos Islander. He is a newsletter editor, freelance writer, and published author. He is the author of numerous articles that have been carried by a variety of Internet websites and read worldwide. He is often published in Turks & Caicos news media, and in the local newspapers where he resides. His action adventure novel, Jackals of Samarra, can be found at Amazon.com, and most of the major Internet book outlet sites.

January 20, 2010

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