Why US All the Time?
Iâm feeling surly and iconoclastic, so Iâm going to ask: why us all the time?
Why is it that no matter what goes wrong everybody expects us to fix it?
How many billions have we tossed blithely at Haiti over many decades only to see it frittered away, confiscated by assorted inept warlords, or used for purposes contrary to the general beliefs of their fat-headed benefactor?
We havenât thrown away enough recently? $1.4 trillion, or whatever it is in less than a year, with Obamacare being stuffed down our throats, cap & tax and âforced union membershipâ next up, Bailout #5 on the drawing board for the benefit of fat cats and unions, and trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see and we still think we can afford to rebuild Port au Prince and feed 200,000 homeless? Even if we could afford it, it simply isnât our job. It isnât our nation. We donât want it. We donât owe those people anything out of the âpublicâ treasury.
Our soldiers arenât stressed enough after six months in Afghanistan, back only a month, that they need to leave their families and go play in the mud as a change from sand and mountains, while Hugo Chavez complains that weâre putting troops in the airport? Yeah, nothing like a new source of misery and back-breaking work to get a fellow all relaxed and ready to go back and fight useless wars–pardon me, âoverseas contingency actions.â At any given time one of my dear friends has one son in a war son, alternating with both sons there.
At what point do we realize we cannot be Santa Claus for the whole world? At what point do we show some compassion for our citizens and our soldiers?
Stop looking shocked and exclaiming, âBut Mrs. Traynham! Americans pride ourselves on our kind hearts!â YOUR kind hearts are fine. My gripe is that from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli the government spreads around whatever money Helicopter Ben isnât showering on Democratic voting blocks and friends at Goldman Sachs, et al.
We donât have a rainy day fund. We donât have a Haitian Relief Fund. We canât even pay our bills. So what in the name of Sam Hill are we doing racing off to ârescueâ Haiti again? You know what happens when you build on flood plains in Louisiana. You know what happens when you build on fault lines in California. What do you think happens in deforested areas on top of antsy tectonic plates in hurricane zones? They are not prime building sites. We have enough problems with upside down mortgages without trying to right upside down houses in perennial disaster zones. Weâve been messing with Haiti since the time of Woodrow Wilson and accomplished absolutely nothing other than increased debt.
The island of Hispaniola is one of the glories of the Caribbean and a favorite stopping place for cruise ships–or, at least, about two-thirds of it is. If the Dominican Republic can flourish on the rest, whatâs the matter with the land of Papa Doc and at least four other unpleasant leaders with sticky fingers? Gee, do you suppose it could be cultural? What sort of people think they can make âcookiesâ out of butter, salt, sugar, and dirt? Itâs a tropical paradise, for Godâs sake. Surely they can manage to grow something on those denuded hillsides to substitute for the dirt. While weâre on that subject, the French cut down all the timber to plant sugar cane. Let them repair the damage and replant timber to prevent mudslides. The Dominican Republic is highly forested at 25%; only 4% of Haiti is. You do recall that the âdirt cookiesâ last year were in protest to the prices of food, not a scarcity of food? Nobody over in the DR was begging for the recipe.
Most of the buildings destroyed were built by the French. Hmm…perhaps we can blame all this on the French, something I am always glad to do, and let them pay for it. I never forget that France supported the American Revolution not out of any ideas of liberte, egalite, and fraternite but purely and simply to annoy the English, something they have been doing with great success for well over a thousand years and expanded to us.
Let us recall George Bernard Shaw, who received a begging letter: âSir, I must have five pounds or I am ruined.â GBS wrote back, âMadam, any woman who can be ruined for five pounds is not worth saving.â It seems probable that he was merely living up to his persona of caustic wit, but I think we can make the case for real where Haiti is concerned: any two bit, twice by nothing, off-and-on dictatorship that cannot manage to find peace, prosperity, and success as frequently as soft-hearted Uncle Sugar has charged to the rescue should be left to sit there and contemplate the futility of what they have been doing for the last couple of hundred years and look around for better role models. Iâll bet those in the Domincan Republic are guarding their border carefully. As usual.
Donât give me any, âBut Mrs. Traynham! People are dying and hurt and homeless.â Yeah? So what else is new? There is a lot of that going on all around the globe. You ever hear of âtriage?â The only thing Haiti has produced in longer than any of us can remember is more pathetic stories and emotional blackmail for more, and more, and more of our increasingly worthless money.
Somebody name me a single strategic interest in Haiti. Not even Kruschev thought it worth putting missiles on.
I am not, of course, an ogre. If your kind heart, Christian or otherwise, is touched by the plight of Haitians, by all means give until you have assuaged your grief, guilt, kindness, or whatever emotion is involved. My point is that our tax lords have no right to appropriate funds needed for and intended for other purposes, nor have they any right to send our soldiers intended for other purposes off to play Red Cross. Unless you want to set off another diatribe, do not ask why I did not say âneeded for other purposesâ when speaking of the armed forces. Iraq and Afghanistan want democracy the way we want Sharia law and we arenât even taking enough oil to cover that consumed in those overseas contingency operations, far less making a profit, in addition to which the ROE (âRules of Engagementâ) make it virtually impossible for our kids even to defend themselves, far less win a war. In both cases I must ask: why are we there? Whatâs in it for our nation, our financial well-being, or anything else it is sometimes necessary to fight wars about?
I have no problem with volunteers rushing to Haiti or private donations made voluntarily. Obviously, I object vehemently to being made party to endangering our economic situation and our armed forces further.
Now, as Paul Harvey said in his later years, âthe rest of the story.â Off and on for the past two years I have counseled, consoled, and encouraged a young man I taught to read when he was five; he grew up on the ranch and is very much extended family to me. Clay is 22 now and starting his first year in college this week. He took time out, you see, to serve his country… two tours, virtually back to back, in Iraq–with a month of Katrina in between. When I talk about what our kids–and they may be tough, trained Marines, but theyâre still kids, at least when they start–have been through I know. I could tell you stories of what they have seen and experienced that would rip your hearts in half.
Clay came to me about a week ago and asked, very diffidently, for a favor. No, not for himself. For a friend since childhood from a very dysfunctional family trying his best to survive on his salary as Night Manager of a carwash. Audie was dossing on the floor on a sleeping bag in a small house with his father and eight half-siblings, all by different mothers. (Need we say more?) Clay wanted to know if he could borrow one of my numerous travel trailers to take just down the road to his motherâs house so Audie would have a place of his own to stay–instead of Clay using it himself, as I had offered. My heart aches far more telling you about these two young men than it ever will for a bunch of faceless strangers.
The answer was, âNo.â
Because Clay is staying with his mother who has the worldâs greatest one-lady house, and having him there is a stress for both of them, even though they love each other dearly. What do you do when two sons visit and your house is one giant bedroom, a nice big living room, one bathroom, and a very large kitchen/family room? I told Clay to take one trailer over to his motherâs house, as we had planned, giving him a private âguest suiteâ and letting her have a little solitude back, and another for Audie to use. The boys are stunned, awed, and so grateful it hurts. Audie is ecstatic over having his very own place for the first time in his life; heâs a couple of years older than Clay. It might not seem like much to most of you, a 32â motor home, maybe a bit bigger, but to him it is his own private bedroom with a genuine bed, his own private bath, his own kitchen, heat/AC, and a separate table and banquette seating so he and Clay can talk or play games. It is blissful silence for the first time in his life. He and Clay have scrubbed it all but sparkling clean and are still working happily–another chore I had been avoiding. We bought it used and it was a mess. City water and electricity are available readily at his motherâs house.
For most of us here in the Bar that motor home is a place to spend a weekend at the lake in, perhaps, or good for a deer lease, but for Audie it is a dream he hadnât dared consider. Clay has privacy and a place to study…and his mother, my friend of thirty years, has her home to herself except when she and the boys want to eat together or play dominoes. (You have to be a nut to play dominoes with Marolyn, who is a truly ferocious player.)
Think carefully, please, before you write yet another check for yet another anonymous disaster in some alien, distant land. Charity really does need to begin at home again and spread to our deserving neighbors who need only a little help and will pass it on to others in time. There is only so much money in the world, and I, at least, am not rich, at least in money. That makes it all the more important to choose my charities carefully. I know what will happen if I send a couple of hundred to Haitian Relief and give Sally Struthers or someone fifty a month to feed a child with no future who will spawn more starving brats in twenty years. Nothing Iâm in favor of.
I also know what happens when I give a kiddo who is vouched for and can show what he has done with pathetically little the very small amount of help he needs. Audie isnât my first ârescue,â you see, but my third, not counting Clay. Helping the boys costs me nothing; a thriving industry in Texas is buying used motor homes and travel trailers because more and more people are living in them–such as those who walk away from upside down mortgages and discover apartment managers donât think they are good risks. I buy carefully, usually at fifty dollars a running foot, closer to a hundred for an exceptional motor home, and I expect to turn handsome profits in the next few years. It costs me nothing to let the boys use inventory I have about $3000 in…and the cleaning and small repairs they do up the value of my stock significantly. My regular readers know why I urge each of you to buy a suitcase on wheels you can live in should you ever need to flee a hurricane or a city full of rioters.
America grew great on helping one person at a time who deserved it and is dying from funding largesse to every bum, con artist, and âvictimâ with a hand out. Letâs get back to basics.
My next project is to think of something Audie can do around the ranch to earn a thousand dollars so I can sell him one of our nice older cars at what I paid for it. Why? Because I asked him if he had a driverâs license, and he replied with sweet, calm resignation, âNo, maâam, because I never expected to be able to own a car.â If that doesnât hit you harder than a pack of Haitians, it does me. You canât get out of High School in Texas without learning to drive, and heâs worked his way up to late afternoon and night manager of a three million dollar carwash (which I am certain pays very badly, given that he couldnât afford an apartment.) Clay takes him to town and picks him up around his class schedule. Thatâs what friends do, even when it isnât the most convenient for either of them.
Now you know where my compassion is. It is for kids with very little more than the Haitians had who try their best to earn a living. It is for the old folks I frequently donate half a dozen hens and a rooster to, thereby giving them, as I frequently hear, âSomething to get up in the morning for. I gots to feed my chickens anâ gather thâ eggs!â Six chickens provide three dozen eggs a week, so the old folks–mostly black, not that it matters at all except they live in the country or small towns and can keep chickens–now have plenty for breakfast and the hope of the hens hatching new chicks. My extra roosters go to them for dinner. No…I donât take such things off my income tax.
It was giving my tenants a fifty dollar break on their meager rent in December because I know what toys cost for their grandchildren…and telling them that so long as the rent covers the taxes on this place I wonât raise it. It hasnât been raised in over fifteen years. Ordinarily I dislike seeing people cry, but not in that case.
You probably donât live in the country or have âold family retainersâ and their kin who need help, but if you look around you Iâm sure you can find some American more worthy of your assistance than a bunch of nameless foreigners. Given that the average Social Security check is under a thousand dollars, if you took dinner to an older couple once a week with a graceful explanation that you had made more than your family could eat…or mowed the lawn twice a month for an elderly widow…or asked your pastor who could use your childrenâs clothes you were just going to give to Good Will or throw out…open your eyes, America. There are a lot of us who could use help who are too proud to ask for it and donât have an âentitlementâ mentality.
Cyrus of Persia lost his throne a couple of millenia ago proving âforeign aidâ doesnât work. No country ever went wrong doing the simple, obvious kindness to those who need a brief hand up, but donât demand a hand-out. Ask the older generation how your family got through the Great Depression. The chances are good that a neighbor helped them, or they helped a neighbor who got back on his feet and helped someone else.
Regards,
Linda Brady Traynham
January 22, 2010
Linda Brady Traynham
Linda Brady Traynham is a former editor and analytical project report writer and is now a Whiskey & Gunpowder field correspondent on a ranch in the Republic of Texas. She studied Counseling at Boston University and got her Masters degree in Philosophy from the University of Hawaii.
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“Most of the buildings destroyed were built by the French. HmmâŚperhaps we can blame all this on the French, something I am always glad to do, and let them pay for it.”
I think you’re on to something here. Almost every single country that started out as a French colony has gone on to have major problems in the decades following: Haiti, Vietnam, Laos, etc. Only the French would be foolish enough to build a city, New Orleans, in an area below sea level and therefore prone to major flooding. You look at the history of France, and you mostly see a history of bad decisions.
I’m feeling surly and iconoclastic, so I’m going to ask: why us all the time?
Why is it that no matter what goes wrong everybody expects us to fix it?
Who is this “everybody”, of which you speak?
The answer to all of this is obvious: Geopolitical posturing, a new base of operations strategically located on a huge oil reserve, untouched, and many other natural resources that we will invade, occupy and steal at our whelm.
God Bless America.
[...] Iâm feeling surly and iconoclastic, so Iâm going to ask: why us all the time? Why is it that no matter what goes wrong everybody expects us to fix it? How many billions have we tossed blithely at Haiti over many decades only to see it frittered away, confiscated by assorted inept warlords, or used for purposes contrary to the general beliefs of their fat-headed benefactor? [...] [...]
Linda, I agree with Ellis,
The French have made many poor decisions, but to this day they don’t excessively tax their wine. The USSA could learn something from that….(Whiskey taxes and all) Or wait maybe because the wine is good, cheap, and plentiful they have made all those mistakes. Can’t be true…. Must be snail eatin and the purdy military uniforms their fighting men have worn over the years that have caused all the mistakes.
Truth be told the French mistakes are more due to their following the ideas of Robespierre instead of Frederic Bastiat. Dem french chickens keep comin home to roost. Wait! I didn’t even hear about Bastiat in my Western Civ class….. Looks like we need to keep an eye out for french chickens here to.
perhaps an antipathy for compassion should have started with the depression/new deal era, or before that with the civil war, or any other good fight, really. but then where would our consumptive classes come from. or is it just a little atonement for the evils of colonialism — full-fledged or post (including supporting the coup that overthrew haiti’s populist aristide). it is ultimately our government, and whether it’s in your backyard or not the larger community in conscience rather than this clear shades of black and white.
Dear Beulah Man:
You wrote: :Who is this âeverybodyâ, of which you speak? The answer to all of this is obvious: Geopolitical posturing, a new base of operations strategically located on a huge oil reserve, untouched, and many other natural resources that we will invade, occupy and steal at our whelm. God Bless America.” Name me a disaster of any sort anywhere in the world in, say, the last 60 years, that Americans haven’t donated generously to alleviate. Precisely what are we stealing, I suppose you mean at our “whim,” from the Iraquis or the Afghanistanis? Where are those “huge oil reserves, untouched, and many other natural resources?” While we’re at it, name me a single Middle Eastern country that has ever succeeded at anything other than an occasional war in the last 1500 years until the world’s growing dependence upon oil gave them something other than slaves, camels, and dates to sell. Cite me a source that shows exactly how much oil we have pillaged in return for trillions of dollars and the blood of our young. Try reading or watching an alternate news source for a change. Do a little research and attempt to see why Venezuela was better off in the Nineteen Fifties when Sacony-Vacuum (later Sacony Mobil) developed the oil fields than it is now. Better yet, try to make the small portion of the world around you a better, happier place instead of running with the “America is evil” crowd. Yes, we have had, and still have politicians seeking power…but here at home, not abroad.
Dear Ellis: Beautifully said. Regards, Linda
Very well stated! Thanks for the great read!
I agree with Pickdog.”very well stated”. I have no problem with people who want to give their own money for Haiti{never mind Americans who are living in homeless shelters or on campgrounds eating dogfood because of the job situation] but when our broke country that depends on China to fund our nation wants to give 100M and the cost of the troops to backward Haiti,well, the lunatics ARE running the Funney Farm.
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Well, ma’am you need to do a little reading to alleviate your ignorance.
Can’t Haitians grow something on their land, you ask? Well, sure they can and once did, until Uncle Sam decided that US farmers could make money selling food TO the Haitians instead of having them grow it themselves.
Now, you go back and read the history of the US and Haiti. From the very start, the US has opposed and belittled Haiti. I mean, what self-respecting white nation is going to praise and support a bunch of black slaves successfully revolting against their white, French, masters and instituting a free republic. No, unacceptable! And the US made them pay for it, and pay for it and pay for it. First, they forced the country to pay reparations to France for having destroyed France’s richest colony in the new world. For over 100 years the US forced the poor Haitians to pay reparations. Then when they were through with that, they invaded to set up their own puppet presidents so that US capitalists could force the Haitians to allow foreign ownership of their land–and so we could have large plantations reinstitute slavery and ship bananas to the rich Americans. And what about the de-forestation? Well, people need energy to cook their food, and when it turned out that the only alternative to charcoal was kerosene from the US sold at exorbitant prices, the people chopped down trees for charcoal. Go ahead, take a look at history: the blatant racism, the oppression, the way the US propped up dictators who supported the few elite who controlled the economy, the way they overthrew presidents who opposed US plans. Look at the way the US decided that Haitians would be better off off the land and in big cities providing cheap labor for US manufacturing–which is one of the reasons Port-au-Prince grew so large.
No one is asking the US to re-build Haiti–the US was front and center because they know that unless Haiti can become a functioning country, you’re going to have millions of boat people trying to enter the US–and they’re already 1 million in NYC and another million elsewhere, including Canada. Haiti would be far better off if some other country, like India, were to lead the re-building with appropriate technology and local building materials. But, no, the US needs a nice tropical paradise for its cruise ships, so we’ll build roads and piers in the middle of nowhere so the rich tourists can enjoy the sun, and to hell with the Haitians.
Hi Linda.
A collection for Haiti relief is being raised by the company I work for. Will match dollar-for-dollar all contributions. I gave 100 Tenge, or about $70.00. Money well spent. Not for Haiti, but for the image. I care! Isn’t Jeff wonderful just like the rest of us! You think your sentiments would go over in an office environment? You would be crucified.
Haiti is a cesspool and we have no business there. American’s wants to feel good about themselves. Trouble is, we are tapped out.
And by the way, my son wanted to join the Marine Corps when he got out high school 5 years ago. I told him no. I am a former Viet Nam era Marine Corps vet; my mother served in the Corps during WW 2. My family’s blood will not be spilled over our foreign policy blunders and the self serving idiots that are running our nation.
Jeff
Jeff…you crack me up, and I’m with you. Every male on both sides of my son’s heritage back several generations was career military, and long ago I would have been very proud to to have my son serve, but in this day and age I am incredibly grateful that my only son crunches numbers instead of Iraqui sand beneath his combat boots. I have no….well, not much…objection to Andrew going to war if there is a really good reason for it, but you know what I mean all to well: Viet Nam was our generation’s war, and we know all there is to know about the blood of our own being spilled uselessly because of wimpy, politically correct politicians. Are you aware that if you send proof to Bill Bonner that you donated to Haitian Relief he’ll give you a year’s subscription to Byron King’s newsletter?!
where is my comment along the lines of Dayahka, and can you not muster a response to D? i have subscribed to too many feeds already. i’m looking for a reason to dump one.
Dear Mr. Dayahka:
You certainly sound as though you know a great deal about Haitian history and I will come fully up to speed on that subject as soon as a very rare visit from both my wonderful children is over. Is it reasonable to suppose, from your passion and the allegations that you make, that you are Haitian? If so, do you live in NYC or Canada? Canada, one would suppose, because how could you bear to live in a land that had repressed what we are hypothesizing are your people? I find your version of history fascinating, and the only reason I treat it seriously is that I am a dauaghter of the Old South and I certainly know what reparations (known, erroneously, as “Restoration”) did to that country following the “Civil” war and continuing to this day. Few are as vindictive as Liberals (more usually known as “progressives” or “statists,” at present), but….by what authority did the USA force Haiti to pay the French? You say this went on for a hundred years (again, believable, since it sounds much like what went on in the Confederacy after it was defeated) and THEN the US invaded? What for? The “new” world is full of banana republics. Where are those banana trees now–and who planted them? Did the Haitians cut them down for firewood? To whom did they belong? As for boat people–many of whom barely manage to make it 90 miles from Cuba to Florida–a quick glance at a map reveals that iHaiti is relatively close to Puerto Rico but not a sensible sail to any other connection with the USA. Yes…it is about 70 miles to Cuba, but somehow I doubt that Raul Castro would be willing to provide temporary respite unless he thought it would annoy the USA,. The Castro brothers have spent 50 years showing that it is possible to mess up a simple agrarian economy with a great tourist attraction. Where would Haitians get the boats? Steal them from the elite? There are too few trees left, apparently, to construct outrigger canoes or trimarans. There are three solution to abuse by governments: flee, rebel, or work within the system to succeed. I would leave the USA myself if it were feasible economically and there were no restrictions I find unacceptable (such as leaving behind my goats and cattle, among other things.) Rebellion is a very chancy business and they hang the losers, you know. What, precisely, is manufactured in Haiti? Why is that more advantageous to cruel American overlords than cheap labor on the banana plantations which appear no longer to be extant? I think Haiti makes a good case for why useless people left to breed endlessly become a drain that no economy can afford. What DO they do in Haiti other than reproduce? The Caribbean is full of beautiful islands that cruise ships can visit, and you need to check the registry on the cruise lines. One of life’s simple choices is whether to stand around feeling abused and blaming failure on someone else, or whether to get up and become productive. Why is it that half of all Haitians (according to an MSM report) have no education at all and the rest average 2.5 years? If they aren’t laboring on those putative banana plantations (I don’t remember any bananas marked “Product of Haiti” but we all know I’m an old lady, and we eat banans only rarely), why aren’t they in school? Not originally, when you point one finger at others you point four back at yourself. There are almost always those who succeed…and there are those who settle for what is known as the damnyankee excuse for why the pigs got in the garden 150 years later because the bluebellies knocked down the fence. Stop complaining and go fix the fence.
âMost of the buildings destroyed were built by the French. HmmâŚperhaps we can blame all this on the French, something I am always glad to do, and let them pay for it.â
The Hatians murdered every white man, woman and child when they overthrew the French.
As for why is there an expectation that the US be involved?
The US would do better to be honest. Honest to the world and to themselves. “We’re here for your treasure and to get our rocks off using our weapons on poorly armed and trained foreigners”. Instead the US says “We’re here to make the world a better place” all the while looting the nations wealth and destroying their infrastructure. Because the US claim that they are here to help they are expected to help.
where is my comment along the lines of Dayahka, and can you not muster a response to D? i have subscribed to too many feeds already. iâm looking for a reason to dump one.
Dear Mr. Pobaldy: Regular readers are aware that the spam filter has to be set high to prevent this site from being innundated by computer-generated responses. It is wary of those who write too much (as I do frequently), and those who write multiple answers–as I do. I answer every reader immediately. My response to oilwelldoctor posted; my answer to Mr. (or M., as the case may be) Dayahka, did not. It will probably show up Monday when a human cleans out the trap.
I suggest cowardice is a good excuse to “dump” Whiskey & Gunpowder. If you do not want the best analysis, information, expert advice, and common sense in the field, by all means go somewhere else. My best wishes in finding something that matches your style and beliefs. LBT
Dear Mr. Castle:
You wrote “The US would do better to be honest. Honest to the world and to themselves. âWeâre here for your treasure and to get our rocks off using our weapons on poorly armed and trained foreignersâ. Instead the US says âWeâre here to make the world a better placeâ all the while looting the nations wealth and destroying their infrastructure. Because the US claim that they are here to help they are expected to help.”
Precisely what treasure does Haiti have that anyone wants? How about Afghanistan? Iraq has some oil, but we aren’t doing anything as sensible as taking it. I certainly disapprove of everything the Obama nation does, and I didn’t usually disagree with either of the Bush boys much. I loathed Mr. Clinton. The Statists are doing their best to turn us into a poorly armed nation at the mercy of those who would be delighted to invade us if they thought they could prevail. If any government since before LBJ had enjoyed killing frequently far-from-defenseless foreigners the ROE as far back as Viet Nam would not have made it so difficult for our troops even to defend themselves, far less do what they are supposedly trained to do. Have you served in the military? Do you work for a company which trades with a foreign nation? Upon what facts did you base your strictures? LBT
Hi Linda. South Africa is donating huge amounts of money to Haiti while many of our own is starving, living in shacks, without water or even the basic infrastructure needed to survive. The wonderful SA government think it important enough to support the previous Haiti dictator Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family in his multimillion-rand lifestyle with protection package bankrolled by South African taxpayers. This while South Africa is quickly sliding into a Haiti type failed state, just like the rest of Africa.
Linda – Your articles are stimulating and encouraging to those of us with even a thread of common sense.
The US coffers have long been drained. We currently borrow daily $5 billion above tax receipts to fund our consumption and current military and charity endeavors in over 130 countries. Our government has taken on the role of saving the world from it’s enemies and apparently from all forms of natural disaster – at the expense of it’s citizens and it’s currency. This role will end, one way or the other – either through fiscal responsibility via political will, or financial collapse. Any guesses which one?
P.S. If a disaster leveled Texas, or if Linda lived in Haiti, I doubt she would be standing in a food line with her hand out. Why is that?
Dear Froggy: Good to hear from you again! You wrote: “Hi Linda. South Africa is donating huge amounts of money to Haiti while many of our own is starving, living in shacks, without water or even the basic infrastructure needed to survive. The wonderful SA government think it important enough to support the previous Haiti dictator Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family in his multimillion-rand lifestyle with protection package bankrolled by South African taxpayers. This while South Africa is quickly sliding into a Haiti type failed state, just like the rest of Africa.”
I wish I knew more of the history of your country, but there have been so many name and regime changes throughout the last few decades that I can’t even keep up with where malachite is (used to be?) mined. (Seems like the supply is getting very low and I need to give up a life-long dream of a malachite coffee table. Beautiful green and black stone is a nicer subject than dictators.) Do you suppose that dictators have a “gentlemen’s” agreement to take care of each other? There is always lavish retirement/asylum for them somewhere…and I don’t think I ever heard of a tyrant who hadn’t made very sensible plans for his eventual overthrow. Swiss banks were the old favorite. Honor among dictators? Makes Mr. Obama’s policy in South America all the more interesting, doesn’t it? Support Chavez and insist that the “President” of Honduras, wasn’t it, could take over the joint if he wanted to? Who cares what their Constitution and Supreme Court say—either? Thanks for a great comment. Linda
Dear Liberty Phile: Thank you for a pair of terrific compliments, starting with “Linda â Your articles are stimulating and encouraging to those of us with even a thread of common sense.” With very real modesty, Tex Norton and I grew up in an entirely different universe. We know what America CAN be because we know what it WAS. We remember when the nearest adult corrected a child who needed it (and every adult in the vicinity looked approving) and if you got in trouble at school you were in FAR more trouble when you got home. When Charles was a boy if the principle saw a rifle in the rack in your truck he knew you were going hunting later and stopped to admire it. You make me think, too, you know! I have a friend who has over a hundred goats. Pita spends enormous amounts of time trying to keep his electric fences working because it is extremely difficult to keep goats (surely the most curious of all creatures) penned. I only have 15, but as I say “mine are caged by love.” They want love, companionship, and (admittedly) interesting yum-yums like baby carrots and “sweet feed” (mixed grains with a bit of molasses) more than they want to roam. The parallel is the difference in how kids today are abandoned to TV, day care centers, and the Nanny State. They have no real guidance and grow up almost feral. They not only don’t have stay-at-home mothers, many of them don’t have two parents at all. They are given a false sense of self-esteem (and they know it is fake. You shouldn’t get a trophy just because you played in the game. Trophies are for winners. They are taught that their ignorant opinions are as good as anyone else’s. A lucky few discover books or acquire a mentor…Now that I think of it, pretty much grandpa and grandma are still working, aren’t they? Or on welfare. The Statists not only keep encroaching on parental rights and duties, but caught most of us in wage slavery. One of my consistent themes is that the biggest luxury a man can provide his family is a full-time mother for their children…and that unless Mama is a neuro-surgeon, a connected attorney, or a senior banker an analysis of the actual costs and returns will reveal that she is clearing less than minimum wage. I think I’ll go write an article on that, thank you! At what point is the money the least-highly-paid parent (to allow for families where the wife makes the most) not worth the frustration, neglecting the children, and feeding the tax monster? How much money does it take to be worth more than children who are loved and taught at home (whether home-schooled or not), a calm, relaxed mate, a well-run home, and something smelling good for dinner when the “bread-winner” gets home? If you could have that by giving up a thousand channels of TV and all those cell ‘phones you wouldn’t need if your kids weren’t running around unsupervised? Here’s a great parenting tip: pay the chip and soft drink bill and make YOUR house the gathering place. That way you not only know what your kids are doing but what sort of people they’re hanging out with! Thanks again, Linda
Very good! Thank you.
âLinda Brady Traynham January 24th, 2010 2:02 pm : I wish I knew more of the history of your country, but there have been so many name and regime changes throughout the last few decades that I canât even keep up . . .â
Linda, it seems you really do need to brush up on SAâs history. Weâve have two regimes in 62 years, the Nationalists from 1948-1994, and the ANC from 1994-until Jesus returns (according to them). Hardly âso manyâ regime changes. As far as I am aware there have been no name changes during this, or the past century. But I guess you can be forgiven as you appear to have your hands full . . .
P.S. . . . I support your views by the way. The earthquake was tragic force of nature, but the real tragedy is the Haitian people, who appear unable to see past their outstretched hands.
@Mr. Dayahka
As a white African I have to say you hit the nail absolutely on the head in your comment.
When I cut down a tree to make charcoal I plant 3 more (if American kerosene is more expensive than charcoal obviously there is a market for charcoal). From personal observation when a black african cuts down a tree to make anything he does NOT plant another and the water washes away his topsoil (See Black African countries for details on how this works – or Hiati for example, why does the Dominican Republic not have these troubles I wonder?)
@Linda Brady Traynham
The answer to your question is as the poet Kipling said “it is the white mans burden”
But you dont have to take it up if you dont want to.
As a democracy you can “vote the rubbish out” if you dont like what they are doing.
Even though the present US Govt is racist in assuming the black people in Hiati cannot get themselves out of the hole they have found themselves in unaided, ask yourself why has no other black african country other than South Africa sent aid?
Would you expect Hiati to send aid to the US of there was a disaster (such as Katerina)? Of course not! That is NOT the “black mans burden”
Dear Andrewa:
My immediate response to “the white man’s burden” was the thought that it is time for Atlas to shrug. I could go with a learned discussion of what that fact has meant in America–and still does–but it sounds simpler to acknowledge that those aren’t OUR Haitians. Their ancestors wanted “freedom” enough to slaughter every white man, woman, and child on their part of the island–and no, it isn’t fair to blame any of us for what our ancestors did. If the Haitians want to be a protectorate again, I suggest they ask the French, first, although I was quite amused by the idea of sending them Bill Clinton as a governor.
Dear HBP:
I didn’t mean South Africa in particular, I meant all of Africa in general. I still have trouble thinking of Constantinople as “Istanbul!” What was wrong with Ceylon as a name, anyway?
You really nailed it, though, that the problem is holding out hands immediately instead of solving problems. Perhaps it is part of what we lost with the dissolution of families and all of the changes since the industrial revolution, which is what I’m writing on today. More and more people relying on machinery, gasoline, electricity, and “entitlements” is a recipe for disaster, and we’re going to have one. More likely there will be quite a few. I wonder frequently if BRIC, OPEC, and so forth really understand what will happen world wide if America goes down. If we are bankrupt, or the dollar ceases to be the reserve currency, if any number of things…there go their markets, to say nothing of all those billions of dollars in aid we’ve been scattering recklessly since the end of WWII. If our currency is devalued–under one scenario we wake up and discover our bank balances have been reduced to 10% of what was there the day before, would an exception be made for foreigners holding FRNs? Could be! Might not be.
I knew a delightful young man from SA when I was in college–tea-planting family, I think, although perhaps it was coffee. So, how is life under the ANC, or is it politic to say? Regards, Linda
Dear Andrewa: Hurrah for you, and that’s sound business practice. Trees are useful things, but they do take a while to grow. Do you really make charcoal? Would you explain how it is done? And, for that matter, how it works? Other than coming in smaller chunks, it has never made sense to me that partially-burned wood was a better source of heat than a log. What do you do with the heat produced by burning it? Heat’s good stuff, useful for powering steam engines. One of my fascinations is the EXTERNAL combustion engine which–to the Greenies dismay–I expect to become quite common if the world breaks down over the peak oil business or any of the other factors we subsume under TEOT-WAWKI. It is one thing to have mushy thoughts about Mother Earth while there is ample oil, but I rather think that a good many would feel otherwise if transportation were limited to foot and horse-drawn vehicles. About that time a nice little steam-powered coal-burning wagon could look very attractive. I was tickled to have one reader in Africa, and it turns out I have TWO? Isn’t that amazing. Thanks. Linda
Linda, Ceylonâs in Asia, not Africa . . . ď
The ANC in SA is showing its true colours (!). It is much like the Haitians, great as a revolutionary movement, i.e. breaking things down, but poor at management and development, i.e. building things up. They have shown themselves to be little more than a criminal gang, with no plan for the future of SA, other than to play the race card at every opportunity. Sadly our country is sliding backwards.
A lot is said about what the USA gives to the world, rightly or wrongly, but as an African I am increasingly of the opinion that the USA should give less. As long as Western nations give, the Africans will take, and that is not a good thing. Africa needs to become accountable for its state. It needs to become independent in ways other than political. It needs to take responsibility for itself.
Dear HBP: What a great post–and exactly what I supposed is going on in SA. The only explanation I have (see my answer to Nick under “Landslides” when it posts) is that the problem is cultural. (Yes, I know where Ceylon is, but my point is “Why call it Sri Lanka?”) It would be too easy to say, “They don’t succeed because they are black,” and when one looks at the history of the African continent there haven’t been enough successful nations/regimes/kingdoms to talk about. Over in my part of the world there are a couple of black countries that produce superior (gimme a break on that one, guys) individuals consistently. Our own Gary Gibson is one of them, and my talented young musician and Philosopher friend, Marcus, is another. If I were a true bigot I would dismiss that as “sports,” an odd chance of genetics. I don’t. I attribute failure to implement the currently much-despised tenets of western civilization to why the others fail. We’re back to heredity or environment. Do Haitians fail because they are black or because of the way they live? When a new gang of thugs takes over from a Papa Doc or a Nelson Mandela why doesn’t anything change except the number of the Swiss bank account? Attaturk dragged Turkey out of the Middle Ages, but it has slipped into islamo-facism due to the changing ethnic percentages. Money doesn’t solve problems, it just buys great toys. Look at what the sheikdoms have done with the incredibly vast sums made from selling oil: in Saudia Arabia, for example, $70 of every barrel of oil is spent on “entitlement” programs to keep the ruling family in power. Rome fell through a combination of bread for the masses, increasingly violent politics, buying off their enemies, and loss of the old Roman virtues. The USA is going the same way. Do I have any solutions? No. Cordially, Linda
Dear Andrewa:
You guys from Africa are really sharp! Unfortunately, you two aren’t running countries and neither am I. Voting the rascals out is a great deal more difficult than you suppose. Each new Congress (or many, any way) puts in new legislation that favors incumbents. I was surprised to learn that SA is sending aid to Haiti, and while I would like to say that I am pleased, I’m not, really. Have you no better ways to spend the money in your own country? No, I never expect anyone else to send us anything other than terrorists and those who want to live off our supposed bounty. My outlook for the future is not rosy. What WILL much of the rest of the world do when Uncle Sugar’s currency is worth even less than it is now? Ask for raises in their allowances? Good to hear from you, as always. Linda
Linda, Kudos. You said it all, all the things I have been thinking for the last two weeks and long before that too! I will not add to what the other readers before me have said, a great post and judging by the responses you really got this one right. Thanks again. CanadaNorth
Thanks, CanadaNorth. I appreciate the intellectual and emotional support I get around here. Rueful laugh at self. Some days I really do feel like Cindy Lou Who after I have sent an article in. I came over here to check for responses (answering my mail is a pleasure exceeded only by my darling Charles) partially to put off re-reading what I submitted for tomorrow. OH, yeah, I have my moments of uncertainty and right now I’m wondering whether to pull a comment I made or write another paragraph to explain that it is meant to be humorous. You make me feel as though I can have faith in my readers and it doesn’t bother me when “progressives” call me Elitist Scum. It’s probably a badge of honor when they do. Y’all tell me, band of brothers, when you look at how our lives have deteriorated in the last twenty years, do YOU get an urge to expostulate in sort of laughing dismay, “Hey, I’ve always had a pretty privileged lifestyle and I don’t LIKE what’s going on around here?” We all worked hard, followed the rules that lead to success traditionally, and expected to enjoy our older years without having to worry about “outliving our money,” lunatics who set their briefs (or were they boxers?) on fire, or obtaining permission from the government to plant peanuts. I didn’t make that up. I have to have written permission from our overlords to plant PEANUTS. I can’t buy seeds without the little form, even though all I want to do is enrich the soil. (Pastures are like bank accounts; you have to put money into them regularly if you want to keep taking it out.) If I ever put a bumper sticker on my car it will ask, “Just when WILL we have enough laws?” If we ever rewrite the Constitution I propose that the legislature meet in alternate leap years for two days and be required to rescind one law for every new one it passes. Thanks for listening. I needed that. Linda
Hi, CanadaNorth. The response I wrote last night still hasn’t posted, but thanks a lot.
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You, maam, are a dried up , ignorant old hag who wouldn’t know “compassion” if it bit you on your right tit.
I personally am revolted by your so called rational. You are definitely not my neighbor, eeewww! yuck, barf!
Your rational compassion is as welcome as a used tampon.