[OPE] Haiti Everywhere

"Much was said this night against the parliament. I said that, as it
seemed to be agreed that all Members of Parliament became corrupted,
letter to chuse men already bad, and so save good."

James Boswell

In my book, The Pathology of the US Economy, I wrote about how I was
witnessing the United States following when I called "The Haitian Road
to Development." What I meant was an economic strategy based on pushing
wages down to make the economy productive.

Over the last two days, I have been thinking about the Haitian Road to
Development more broadly. We lost our power. I don't mean political
power; I mean electricity that powers our house. Without electricity,
the computer was dead. Reading was possible only during particular
hours. We were dependent upon a corporation that has been attempting to
maximize profits by cutting back on maintenance.

Yesterday I had to ride my bike about 12 miles in a heavy rainstorm with
winds up to 60 miles an hour. The rains stung my face. At times, I had
to dismount and walk the bicycle to avoid getting pushed into oncoming cars.

Finding myself at the mercy of the elements, for brief moments, I would
think about my minor difficulties and inconveniences for brief moments,
then imagining how conditions in Haiti were infinitely worse. Everybody
who knows anything about Haiti realizes the way that outside forces
(largely the United States) have crippled the public sphere. Poor people
have no choice but to denude hillsides for charcoal and build shanties
that are vulnerable to the inevitable mudslides.

More at:
http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/haiti-everywhere/

-- 
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901
www.michaelperelman.wordpress.com
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