Political Lipskip

Haiti Crisis – Can the Outpouring of Generosity Rebuild This Country? Or Will the Money Again Be Wasted?

My wife asked about what we could do for the relief effort in Haiti last night. It’s a difficult question to answer. Ultimately we decided to give to the Red Cross as they will have the resources and organization to get the money to where it needs to go. I feel sorry for those folks down there. So much pain and suffering. It never ends for them. Ever.

Millions, if not billions, of dollars of aid has been given to Haiti over the last 10 years or so. The U.S. is  a huge contributor. We are a country that is broke yet we are among the first to open up our wallets and hearts to help these victims. Of course the developing world will say we aren’t giving enough or doing enough.

The government of Haiti sucks. They have destroyed that country. It’s not like Haiti is a huge country. With all the money that has been funneled into that country, hell, every single citizen should be a business owner by now. Every kid should have an education that is among the world’s best. But no. Almost every single dollar sent to that hellhole is siphoned off by the corrupt leaders. It is pathetic.

We all feel compelled to do something but in a year from now we will see that it was a waste. The country has no government control. Now I’m no big government guy, but there are some things that government should do and that is protect the people. Protect the property. That Haiti government has failed and will continue to do so. We will be pumping millions more dollars from our own depleted Treasury years from now and those people will have nothing to show for it.

I was most shocked by the scenes of planes traveling over the Dominican Republic. Beautiful lush forests. Gorgeous part of the island. Then there is like a line demarcation where Haiti begins. A freaking dust bowl. Simply pathetic.

I hope the world can help these people. I did what little part I could.

Some of the generosity being shown to the people of Haiti:

Gisele: Haiti Earthquake Relief Donation A Whopping $1.5 Million

The benevolent Gisele Bundchen yesterday wrote a $1.5 million check to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti, according to a source close to the supermodel.

Haiti’s humanitarian crisis grows grimmer by the hour – Carol E …

President Barack Obama pledged $100 million to relief efforts in Haiti on Thursday and promised more help is on the way as the initial wave of search and rescue teams, medical supplies, food and clean water reached the ground in a …

Perez Hilton: Madonna Donates $250K To Haiti!

“My prayers are with the people of Haiti. I can’t imagine the terrible pain and suffering they are experiencing. Sadly the depths of the tragedy are just becoming known and the need for our support grows more urgent with every passing …

As Wallets Open For Haiti, Credit Card Companies Take A Big Cut

Update at 9:03 AM Friday: Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover have now all announced that they will waive fees for some donations related to the crisis in Haiti.

Stanford Hospitals will match Haiti donations (The Unofficial …

Stanford Hospitals will match Haiti donations …fairly self-explanatory title. Stanford Hospitals will match any amount you donate to the last hospital standing in Port-Au-Prince. If you donate $10, you’re actually donating $20. …

Haiti text donations to Red Cross pass $5M | CY.TALK News Blog

US cell phone users have contributed more than $5 million in $10 increments to the Red Cross for Haiti disaster relief, by far the largest outpouring of support via mobile devices in history.

Yele Donations: Mobile giving to help Haiti exceeds $7 million …

Many people want to donate but they are unable to decide how because there are so many appeals flying around print media, electronic media and Internet…

Kroger Co. grocery stores collecting donations for Haiti relief …

Kroger Co. grocery stores across the country are helping collect donations for the American Red Cross’ Haitian earthquake relief effort.

This is but a small sampling. Money, supplies, resources…all being provided to this country. Like Rahm Emmanuel said about the U.S. economy crisis: “Never let a crisis go to waste”. What I hope is that they use the outpouring of generosity from around the world and actually (re)build a country they and the rest of the world would be proud of.