From David Brooks' The Underlying Tragedy, this morning, an incredible statistic. Considering the amount of press coverage this event has received, that I had only heard/read this now, is even more surprising.
On Oct. 17, 1989, a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Bay Area in Northern California. Sixty-three people were killed. This week, a major earthquake, also measuring a magnitude of 7.0, struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Red Cross estimates that between 45,000 and 50,000 people have died.
This is not a natural disaster story. This is a poverty story. It’s a story about poorly constructed buildings, bad infrastructure and terrible public services.
Brooks' column is worth a read. Its summary is as tragic as the event itself, but almost more so, as first world countries, and Haitians themselves, have been unable to figure a way out of their impoverished state. Throwing money at the problem - both through macrodevelopment and/or microaid - hasn't made a real dent in this country's realities. I'm not even near knowledgeable enough to say whether or not Brooks' ideas of tackling the Haitian culture head, similar to solutions brought to impoverished American communities, like the Harlem Children's Zone and the No Excuses schools is the right approach. But based on these incredulous statistics, it's clear he's right about one thing. This is a not a natural disaster story. But a poverty story.
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