A buttload of corporatist shill bullshit.
ShempMcGurk wrote: > Haiti's Avoidable Death Toll > by Walter Williams > > > Some expect Haiti's 7.0 earthquake death toll to reach over > 200,000 lives. Why the high death toll? Northern California's 1989 Loma > Prieta earthquake was more violent, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, > resulting in 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake > measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, about eight times more violent than > Haiti's, and cost 3,000 lives. > > As tragic as the Haitian calamity is, it is merely symptomatic of > a far deeper tragedy that's completely ignored, namely self-inflicted > poverty. The reason why natural disasters take fewer lives in our country is > because we have greater wealth. It's our wealth that permits us to build > stronger homes and office buildings. When a natural disaster hits us, our > wealth provides the emergency personnel, heavy machinery and medical services > to reduce the death toll and suffering. Haitians cannot afford the > life-saving tools that we Americans take for granted. President Barack Obama > called the quake "especially cruel and incomprehensible." He would be closer > to the truth if he had said that the Haitian political and economic climate > that make Haitians helpless in the face of natural disasters are "especially > cruel and incomprehensible." > > The biggest reason for Haiti being one of the world's poorest > countries is its restrictions on economic liberty. Let's look at some of it. > According to the 2009 Index of Economic Freedom, authorization is required > for some foreign investments, such as in electricity, water, public health > and telecommunications. Authorization requires bribing public officials and, > as a result, Haiti's monopolistic telephone services can at best be labeled > primitive. That might explain the difficulty Haitian-Americans have in > finding out about their loved ones. > > Corruption is rampant. Haiti ranks 177th out of 179 countries in > the 2007 Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. Its > reputation as one of the world's most corrupt countries is a major impediment > to doing business. Customs officers often demand bribes to clear shipments. > The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom says that because of > burdensome regulations and bribery, starting a business in Haiti takes an > average of 195 days, compared with the world average of 38 days. Getting a > business license takes about five times longer than the world average of 234 > days -- that's over three years. > > Crime and lawlessness are rampant in Haiti. The U.S. Department > of State website (travel.state.gov), long before the earthquake, warned, > "There are no "safe" areas in Haiti. ... Kidnapping, death threats, murders, > drug-related shootouts, armed robberies, home break-ins and car-jacking are > common in Haiti." The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade > warns its citizens that, "The level of crime in Haiti is very high and the > police have little ability to enforce laws. Local authorities often have > limited or no capacity to provide assistance, even if you are a victim of a > serious crime." Crime anywhere is a prohibitive tax on economic development > and the poorest people are its primary victims. > > Private property rights are vital to economic growth. The Index > of Economic Freedom reports that "Haitian protection of investors and > property is severely compromised by weak enforcement, a paucity of updated > laws to handle modern commercial practices, and a dysfunctional and > resource-poor legal system." That means commercial disputes are settled out > of court often through the bribery of public officials; settlements are > purchased. > > The way out of Haiti's grinding poverty is not rocket science. > Ranking countries according to: (1) whether they are more or less free > market, (2) per capita income, and (3) ranking in International Amnesty's > human rights protection index, we would find that those nations with a larger > free market sector tend also to be those with the higher income and greater > human rights protections. Haitian President Rene Preval is not enthusiastic > about free markets; his heroes are none other than the hemisphere's two > brutal communist tyrants: Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro. > > Haiti's disaster demands immediate Western assistance but it's > only the Haitian people who can relieve themselves of the deeper tragedy of > self-inflicted poverty. > > Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason > University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by > other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators > Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. > > COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM > > > >
