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EducateWorthington.org

The 912 Project - Glenn Beck

912 Group of Central Ohio

Please let me know if you'd like your link added

[Economic freedom saves lives. The ultimate tragedy in Haiti was not the earthquake. It was Haiti’s lack of economic freedom. That tragedy plays out every day in most of the third world.]

Economic freedom saves lives. The ultimate tragedy in Haiti was not the earthquake. It was Haiti’s lack of economic freedom. That tragedy plays out every day in most of the third world.

A Tale of Two Quakes

Today we talk about "disaster relief" in Haiti. But we should also talk about what could have prevented most of the deaths.

George Mason University Economist Don Boudreaux again opens my brain to what should have been obvious:

(T)he Haitian earthquake killed tens of thousands of people. But the quake that hit California's Bay Area in 1989 was also of magnitude 7.0. It killed only 63 people. This difference is due chiefly to Americans' greater wealth. With one of the freest economies in the world, Americans build stronger homes and buildings, and have better health-care and better search and rescue equipment. In contrast, burdened by one of the world's least-free economies, Haitians cannot afford to build sturdy structures. Nor can they afford the health-care and emergency equipment that we take for granted here in the U.S.

These stark facts should be a lesson for those who insist that human habitats are made more dangerous, and human lives put in greater peril, by freedom of commerce and industry.

Outrageous.  To use such a tragedy to try and make a political point.  And especially when it shows ignorance.  What protected the people in California was REGULATION in construction.  The people of Haiti (and other third world countries) are free of such regulations so that the MARKET allows for shoddy construction with substandard materials etc.  Adam Smith's "invisible hand" sure struck with a vengeance.

The Shadow is disgusted

You post is either ignorant or partisan.  Either way it supports the enslavement of the people of Haiti.  Why should we answer the calls of Haiti's leader if he and his predecessor could have prevented many of these deaths?  Stossel's point is quite valid and it is apparent in numerous 3rd world countries.  Your view ignores the real problem and would have these people living on the streets and in worse conditions than they already are.  Yes, what they need is more regulation.

It is difficult for The Shadow to reply to this balderdash (to be polite) in a way that  is educational and not insulting.   Economic freedom exists in the third world countries for the powerful and well connected who have prospered at the expense of the multitudes.  During the French colonial days, Haiti's powerful  relied on slaves for their economic well being.  Following the French departure,  the well connected continued their economic activities. 

Fast forward to Baby Doc and his corruption to  the election of Aristide (who inspired by liberation theology tried to change things in Haiti) and his eventual overthrow by what is considered influence by Regan and a conservative French government    http://www.socialismtoday.org/82/haiti.htm l.  Aristide's tenure degenerated with gangs roaming the streets in murderous fashion.

More outside influence on economic "freedom"

  Jean-Claude's kleptocracy, along with his failure to back with actions his rhetoric endorsing economic and public-health reform, left the regime vulnerable to unanticipated crises that were exacerbated by endemic poverty, including the African Swine Fever (ASF) epidemic and the widely publicized outbreak of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the 1980s. A highly contagious and fatal disease, ASF plagued pigs in the Dominican Republic in mid-1978. The United States feared that the disease would spread to North America and pressured Jean-Claude to slaughter the entire population of Haitian pigs and to replace them with animals supplied by the United States and international agencies. The Haitian government complied with this demand, but it failed to take note of the rancor that this policy produced among the peasantry. Black Haitian pigs were not only a form of "savings account" for peasants because they could be sold for cash when necessary, but they were also a breed of livestock well-suited to the rural environment because they required neither special care nor special feed. The replacement pigs required both. Peasants deeply resented this intrusion into their lives.    http://countrystudies.us/haiti/18.htm

There is much more available  and The Shadow is surprised that one that uses a papal shield (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/elezione/stemma-benedict-xvi_en.html) as his/her avatar could swallow and post such nonsense.

Economic freedom exists in the third world countries for the powerful and well connected who have prospered at the expense of the multitudes.

EXACTLY!

What you describe is not freedom.  The enslavement of Haitians to the system led to the magnitude to the problem.  If Haitians were free to prosper, casualties would be far fewer.

Here you are S, maybe we're not that better off.

Food security collapses in Haiti as machete-wielding gangs fight in the streets

(NaturalNews) Overnight, Haiti has gone from an organized, civil nation to a scenario of total chaos with gangs running wild through the streets, ransacking shops and fighting over food with machetes.

Learning this, many an ignorant westerner might naively say, "That could only happen in Haiti. It's because those people are so poor, so uncivilized. It could never happen here..."

Oh but it could.

 VO this is for you to read.  Haitians are free for there has been very little or NO government to tell them what to or not to do.  Remember that according to conservative lore "the government is the problem"  Thus, no government complete freedom.

http://www.sphere.com/world/article/photo-essay-remembering-haiti-just-before-the-quake/19318665

The Shadow

Thus, no government complete freedom.

No this is anarchy.  There is a role for government.  Too often the government oversteps its boundaries.  Unbridled Capitalism can enslave people as well.

Admit it, Haitians do not have the liberties we do.

VO:  we both are wrong.  Pat Robertson set us right.  It is all because of a "pact with the Devil" supposedly entered when Haitians were trying to get rid of the French.  Who are you and I to doubt the word of such "eminent" religious figure

The Shadow is amused  (NOT)

Now we know....

http://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand=61ugnq0fdj80p

Sorry try  this one

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/01/the_devil_writes_pat_robertson.html

I read today that Robertson apparently said something stupid about the earthquake in Chile.  On checking it looks as (although plausibele)  it is not true. 

But anyway, in relation to this earthquake that was 500 times stronger than the one in Haiti had a lot of destruction (but not as much as in Hati) a many dead but again fewer than in Haiti two comments can be made.  1) Chile is much wealthier than Haiti and 2) Chile has building regulations (prompted by earlier and very destructive earthquakes.)

Regulation is the difference


The Shadow

Shadow,

You can't expect better building codes without having the wealth first. 

"You can't have one without the other..."