Experts said the presidential and legislative elections could very well be the economic stimulus quake-ravaged Haitians have been awaiting since the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake left an estimated 300,000 dead, and wiped-out jobs. The campaigns are expected to hire tens of thousands of Haitians.
“It's like a cash transfer to the population, a sort of cash-for-work program,'' said Leslie Voltaire, a former government minister who plans to hire 10,000 Election Day monitors and a helicopter to get around Haiti's mountainous terrain.
The full story is here. And was the last election a model of Downsian competition? Maybe not:
In the 2006 presidential race, which saw Haitian President René Préval beat out 34 other candidates, experts speculated that a candidate needed between $3 million and $6 million to mount a strong challenge.
It is now also believed that the country can no longer afford to have senatorial elections every two years.
Con-census
Viewing Haiti entirely as an outsider, it seems to me, much like Liberia, to be a country populated by individuals who mostly lack ability and energy. Those who wait for others to carry them forward often have to wait for a very long time. In my view, those who provide aid to Haiti provide a major disservice, subsidizing idleness and lack of local initiative. The most creative leave when they can and those who remain wait for saviors who never arrive. The most primitive of ancient tribes learned how to build shelter for themselves out of whatever was available. Haitians appear to have regressed even from that basic level of survivorship.
It is now also believed that the country can no longer afford to have senatorial elections every two years.
What does that mean?
Is it an assertion that there is a baseline infrastructure for having elections that is lacking and currently not purchasable?
I find it strange to think that, say, the U.S. in the 1850s could have elections, and a much smaller country in 2010 could not, even if the much smaller country is per capita poorer.
Viewing Haiti entirely as an outsider, it seems to me, much like Liberia, to be a country populated by individuals who mostly lack ability and energy.
Truly spoken as an outsider. If you wish to understand the plight of Haitians, investigating foreign meddling would be a good start. It isn’t that Haitians are Randian cartoon-beggars; it is that every time someone there sets up a lemonade stand, a western country kicks it over and then usually tortures the entrepreneur for good measure. Lately, this is by proxy, but the same outcome obtains. Mother nature certainly isn’t helping, but if Haiti had been allowed to develop, it would have had far less trouble recovering.
“It is now also believed that the country can no longer afford to have senatorial elections every two years.”
Why shouldn’t they have elections every year if it is so stimulating experience…?
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