Friday, January 15, 2010
We Do What We Can
(3)
The big news this week is Haiti, of course. Pat Robertson wants you to think that the earthquake was a signal of God's disapproval of Haiti's 'pact with the devil' wherewith African slaves revolted succesfully against their French slaveowners back in the 1790s. Haiti was the first example of what eventually became known as 'the black evolution' (my characterization - feel free to correct me) as African slaves eventually won freedom in the West, step by step. Pat Robertson is an idiot, of course, and blamed the current earthquake on that supposed Pact with the Devil: God might take a long time to 'get even' but He eventually gets even! Watch out!
My take on the subject is that the 'Haitians' were premature in their rebellion. As a result they missed out on the natural processes associated with the societal dynamics involved. They were left behind, and remained in a relatively primitive state as other black Africans elsewhere absorbed western genes and western culture and became relatively prosperous as a result.
But we do not blame them, of course. Indeed, as we watched the tragedy unfold on TV these last few days we were moved to intervene in the form of money contributions. We contributed what we thought appropriate. I thought 50 dollars was appropriate in my case. If you are a billionaire you probably thought that a similar fraction of your rescourses was appropriate. We do what we can, you and me. Right?
The big news this week is Haiti, of course. Pat Robertson wants you to think that the earthquake was a signal of God's disapproval of Haiti's 'pact with the devil' wherewith African slaves revolted succesfully against their French slaveowners back in the 1790s. Haiti was the first example of what eventually became known as 'the black evolution' (my characterization - feel free to correct me) as African slaves eventually won freedom in the West, step by step. Pat Robertson is an idiot, of course, and blamed the current earthquake on that supposed Pact with the Devil: God might take a long time to 'get even' but He eventually gets even! Watch out!
My take on the subject is that the 'Haitians' were premature in their rebellion. As a result they missed out on the natural processes associated with the societal dynamics involved. They were left behind, and remained in a relatively primitive state as other black Africans elsewhere absorbed western genes and western culture and became relatively prosperous as a result.
But we do not blame them, of course. Indeed, as we watched the tragedy unfold on TV these last few days we were moved to intervene in the form of money contributions. We contributed what we thought appropriate. I thought 50 dollars was appropriate in my case. If you are a billionaire you probably thought that a similar fraction of your rescourses was appropriate. We do what we can, you and me. Right?
