Why have so many died?



We all know that if an earthquake of the same magnitude that hit Haiti struck a developed Western country, the death toll, while possibly significant, would be much lower. Why? This article from Socialist Worker explains how the policies of the United States and other developed countries towards Haiti have contributed greatly to its impoverished state. I won't vouch for every statement in the piece, but overall this analysis is correct.

Thanks to PG for the heads up.

More about why. From Tracy Kidder, an opinion piece in the International Herald Tribune.

Is the Haiti rescue effort failing? From Danny Schechter on Alternet.

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1 Comments

Anne Gilbert said…
I think there is a lot to the comments. I think some of them are definitely exaggerated, but OTOH, many of Haiti's problems stem from the fact that it has been, over the years, treated at best like some poor relation. A few bones have been tossed Haiti's way, but not enough of them to overcome that unhappy country's deep structural disorganization, which is one reason the earthquake has caused such devastation.