In David Brooks’ op-ed “The Undying Tragedy,” he discusses four main hypotheses regarding poverty and aid in Haiti. His ideas about poverty, as viewed through the modernization, dependency/world-systems, and post-structural theoretical perspectives lead to three different conclusions. Specifically, as viewed though a modernizations lens, the “truths” Brooks puts forth seem fairly in accordance with the perspective, with some minor addendums needed. The dependency and world systems theories again agree with some of Brook’s hypotheses, but would disagree with some of the assumptions he makes in regards to culture and paternalism. Finally, the post-structural theory would find the most problems with Brooks’ claims, likely disagreeing with his assumptions about the effects of culture on poverty and his view of the development process. Brooks’ hypotheses fit best with the modernization theoretical perspective. Like the perspective, Brooks attempts to find social variables that are impeding on Haiti’s economic success, and provides his solution. His first hypothesis, however, is the one that diverges the most from the theory. He states we do not know how to direct aid and there is no one consistent policy leading to economic growth. Modernization theory on the other hand is more determined to look at the internal factors of a country for the source of the problems with aid management and attempt to change the effectiveness of the government or the elements of a cultural that are keeping it in a “traditional” stage (Rostow 1960). Brooks does later hypothesize however, that Haitian cultural is one of the elements keeping it from escaping poverty. The modernization perspective is aligned more so with Brooks’ opinion about the ineffecti... ... middle of paper ... ...d determinations of the truth. The mechanisms that result in “one story” truth may also affect the way poverty manifests itself and why so many solutions have proved to be ineffectual. Works Cited Ferguson, James. (1990) The Anti-politics Machine: ‘Development’, Depoliticisation, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho, Cambridge, New York, Melbourne; Cambridge University Press McMichael, Philip. (2000) “Development and social change: a global perspective.” pp 41-84. Pine Forge Press, Thousand Oaks, Calif. Pigg, Stacy Leigh. (1997) "Found in Most Traditional Societies: Traditional Medical Practitioners between Culture and Development.” International Development and the Social Sciences, pp 259-290. University of California Press. Rostow, W.W. (1960) “The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto.” pp 100-109. Cambridge University Press.
The Nation of Haiti has been plagued with excessive bad luck when it comes to external invasion. Whether it be larger countries taking control, or outsiders brought in as slaves, Haiti has endured many hardships. These issues, while very common in a lot of countries, are exposed in a short story by a native Haitian. In “A Wall of Fire Rising”, Edwidge Danticat illustrates a myriad of historical issues in Haiti from the 17th to the 20th century through a series of events in one family’s life.
Today I bring to your forefront of thought, the island of Hispaniola. This island is the namesake for the two countries who run the land, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Both nations hail from a joint introduction into the world market and post-European colonization, but as time progressed, each one had a different outlook to the world stage. The present day Dominican Republic and Haiti are worlds apart on an island which keeps them together. Their culture is separated by the colonial residuals that lay imbedded into their communities. They are on different sides of the spectrum of structural growth due to the resulting outcomes from decades of political ruling and policy making. On one side we have the second independent state of the Americas,
In chapter three Isbister explains that social scientists wrestled to justify conditions in the third world, as a result, a mixture of indefinite theories developed. A point often overlooked, by social scientists is that the struggle and growth of Asia, Africa, and Latin America cannot be measured “in statistics, nor in treatises of social scientists and historians.” After reading the chapter, an obvious conclusion stood out poverty is tangible for most of the world’s people and nations. Why is this and who is to blame? Are the poor people to be blamed for their own poverty? The answers are arranged into three different groups: mod¬ernization, dependency, and Marxism.
The author champions the thesis that there are several factors such as the occupation of Haiti, the referendum on the foreign ownership of land, and a backward and savage culture among others that might have contributed to the country’s failure to overcome its problems and become a successful independent state, which, arguably, could be inherently solved and mitigated if good governance
...s and has thus paved the way for foreign intervention. With this in mind, it is important to note that the political insecurity all stems back from the solidification of colour lines within Haitian society – of which is not a new concept to Haiti. The issue of racial supremacy was first laid down by the French during colonial rule. Colonialists truly believed they were the ‘superior’ race in all form and manner and so it was generally understood amongst the them that “nothing good and civilized comes” out of their colonies (Nicholls 1993). Hence, the mulattoes, believing themselves to be more closely akin to the French than their Haitian counterparts, have enshrined and upheld this view even long after French occupation. For this reason, it is thanks to colonialism that there is a gradual erosion of Haiti’s political autonomy during the end of the nineteenth century.
Several of the problems that Haiti faces today have their genesis in the country’s colonial history. The country was like a toy being fought over by spoiled children. The first of these children arrived in the early sixteenth century in the form of Spanish settlers in search of gold. They enslaved the native Taino population and, poisoned by avarice, nearly eradicated the indigenous work force. Thousands of African slaves were brought in to take their place. Eventually, the Spanish left the island to grab their share of newly discovered treasure in other lands. Tiring of their toy, the Spanish
The economics of Haiti has deceased in the last 4 years after the devastating earthquake that struck it 4 years ago. The Haiti economy has become very poor and one of the poorest country in the south, Central America and Caribbean region making it ranked 24 out of 29 countries in this area and its overall score is below average. Haiti’s economic freedom is 48.1 making it economy the 151st freest country while in the last several years Declines in the management of government spending, freedom from corruption, and labor freedom make its overall score 2.6 points lower than last year. Recovering from the disastrous earthquake in 2010 with the support of the U.S. recovering efforts “Haiti’s post-earthquake reconstruction efforts continue, assisted by substantial aid from the international community. Governing institutions remain weak and inefficient, and overall progress has not been substantial. The parliament has not renewed the mandate of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, which had been tasked with overseeing reconstruction efforts but was unpopular.”( .heritage.org). The open market of Haiti trade weighted to be 2.1 this is because the lack of tariffs hamper the trade freedom of Haiti. Foreign investors are given national treatment but the investment is small and the financial sector is remained underdeveloped and does not provide any adequate support.
Haiti is drenched in poverty, corruption, and lack of education. Due to these aspects Haiti is “the least developed country in the western hemisphere”. With only one-third of suitable land...
The result is that Haitians are oppressed because they feel that they are hopeless and that they are trapped in the mold that the media has created. “You will hear these words until you are sick to your stomach, until you no longer recognize [their land], until you start to believe the news stories are true, that nothing else matters, that [translation to English: you cannot buy things you don’t need, you don’t exist, you don’t count, you do not deserve respect].” This quote perfectly articulates the effects the media has on the people of Haiti. Gay pinpoints the media for creating a self-fulfilling prophecy or mold for the Haitians. Because Haiti is represented as poor and stricken by misfortune, the citizens believe this and feel a sense of hopelessness. Overall, the symbol of the media results in Haitians not being able to live out their full potential because of this oppression from the foreign
America and Haiti’s social system works by everyone belonging into a different category of class. Few people belong to the 1 percent, some in the middle and the rest live in poverty. Some people many argue that poverty doesn’t exist in United States because it is one of the richest countries, but poverty seems to be hidden. Meanwhile in Haiti, poverty is every visible because natural disasters and the people on top have caused it. In both countries, poverty turns into misogyny because people view women as object. Therefore, the system of social class in America is similar to other countries in their problems, although the main difference is that poverty in America can be invisible.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Agriculture is one of the incomes of the population. However, everything changes after the 2010 earthquake. The losses caused by the quake were between 8 billons and 14 billons dollars (Haiti earthquake). Joblessness, the lack of Foodland, the lack of clean water, further affected the economy because people chose to emigrate to other places for work such as the Dominican Republic (Haiti earthquake). Furthermore, “Haiti was a Republic of non-governmental organization to become a Republic of unemployment,” and in order to accomplish an economical growth Haiti needs the investment of companies that can help many of the people find jobs. Companies such Royal Oasis, are creating hundreds of jobs for many Haitians. Thayer Watkins, an economics teacher at San Jose State University, provides his review in his analysis of the Political and Economic History of Haiti, which states more than 80 percent of th...
...judge a person in poverty based on what we see on the outside. Sociologists around the world do research and come up with theories to help prevent increases in the poverty numbers. Theories are changing based on how society is today. Not all of the conflict theorist’s theories are relevant to today’s society because our society is different from when they first conducted their research. The ideas of these theorists have made a base of how society distributes its wealth and power unequally. In today’s society there is a capitalist society, but changes are being made to help poverty in Canada. (MacDonald, 1963) There are organizations that provide support and necessities to poor people. It is difficult for people living in poverty to make the change of getting out of it, but with the help of the government dividing the wealth poverty could be drastically decreased.
Poverty has conquered nations around the world, striking the populations down through disease and starvation. Small children with sunken eyes are displayed on national television to remind those sitting in warm, luxiourious houses that living conditions are less than tolerable around the world. Though it is easy to empathize for the poor, it is sometimes harder to reach into our pocketbooks and support them. No one desires people to suffer, but do wealthy nations have a moral obligation to aid poor nations who are unable to help themselves? Garrett Hardin in, "Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping The Poor," uses a lifeboat analogy to expose the global negative consequences that could accompany the support of poor nations. Hardin stresses problems including population increase and environmental overuse as downfalls that are necessary to consider for the survival of wealthy nations. In contrast, Peter Singer's piece, "Rich and Poor," remarks on the large differences between living conditions of those in absolute poverty with the wealthy, concluding that the rich nations possess a moral obligation to the poor that surpasses the risks involved. Theodore Sumberg's book, "Foreign Aid As Moral Obligation," documents religious and political views that encourage foreign aid. Kevin M. Morrison and David Weiner, a research analyst and senior fellow respectively at the Overseas Development Council, note the positive impact of foreign aid to America, a wealthy nation. Following the examination of these texts, it seems that not only do we have a moral obligation to the poor, but aiding poor nations is in the best interest of wealthy nations.
Inc. Rostow, Walt W. 1960.. The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Darwin, John.