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No one would confuse Haiti, with most of the other countries in the Western Hemisphere, but with assistance from first world nations around the world, and the UN it is amazing the country is still in existence.
Haiti has been plagued with every kind Of bad luck, poor decision making, bad judgement, U.S. meddling, horrible corruption and ineptitude for its entire existence. The last thing they needed was a massive earthquake. And it came with strings attached support of the United States, The Clinton’s, NGO’s, Hollywood, and the UN.
United States- a country that has meddled with Haiti from the beginning and Haiti is no better for it.
The Clinton’s- no two people have been better examples of offering empty promises while enriching themselves at someone Else’s expense.
NGO’s- with the exception of about 5 they are organizations-that if you give money to them- you can bet with near 100% certainty the money will benefit no one but the said NGO.
Hollywood- in this case Sean Penn, who at first was a worthwhile force, but like everything social/politics that he gets involved in became about Sean Penn.
Lastly The UN. An organization who makes the American government look efficient. Who employs the dregs of its members to act as soldiers, who do so because the pay is better than what the countries military pays, this institution is so inept and corrupt that its very existence is embarrassing. Everything they touch goes to shit. In the case of Haiti, literally as the troops from Nepal brought with them Cholera, a disease that had not previously been found on the island EVER! And is still killing Haitians.
You also learn about the games countries play with pledged financial support and how very little if any is ever delivered.
This is an outstanding but terribly sad book of how when disasters happen around the world the response of the world powers is pathetic.
… (lisätietoja)
 
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zmagic69 | 6 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Mar 31, 2023 |
I was very surprised by this book. I thought that I was quite well read in the history of American foreign policy, but thanks to this book, I now realize that I was subjected to quite a biased education of it. You know, the "you-rah-rah" America that we were all taught in school. How the U.S. was a force of good, bringing freedom to those places that needed it.
Katz opened my eyes to a different perspective. That of the U.S. as an imperialistic force, out to further the advances of big businesses and the rich.
He does this through the eyes of a famous U.S. Marine, Smedley Butler. Raised as a Quaker, he somehow finds himself enlisted in the Marine Corps. And on to his adventures! Beginning as a tough, literally take no prisoners hellhound, he is sent to the Philippines, Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, China, and Panama. As he "grows", he discovers that the reasons are not just to promote the freedom-loving ways of the U.S., but to benefit the rich. He grows more and more disillusioned to the fighting and killing. Finally retiring, he finds himself being recruited into a plot to overthrow the Federal Government. To which, to his great credit, he exposes.
On a personal level, I really enjoyed the sections on China. My grandfather was in the Navy there at the same time, and now I think I have a feeling about what we went through, and why he would never talk about it. Also, regarding the ending, with the plot to overthrow the government; I could not help but draw parallels with the machinations of the Trump administration after the 2020 election (and continuing to today).
This is a long, and sometimes tiring book. But it is never boring. I really think that if you read it, you will come away with a much greater sense of our place in history. And why we have some of the problems we have today. And why some nations do not trust us.
Very educational!
… (lisätietoja)
 
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1Randal | Dec 7, 2021 |
‘The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster’ (2013) was written by Jonathan M. Katz, an American journalist who was in Haiti when the earthquake struck, and writes about the aftermath. His description of the post-earthquake period is quite good, a balance between general observation and personal drama, and brings back memories – I was there, too. As so many others, Mr Katz also vents a lot of criticism about what happened with the massive aid campaign, and to be sure, not everything went well, he does have a few points to make. But like all those others that made those points, Mr Katz doesn’t really come up with solutions on how to do better next time. His suggestions, for instance more NGO meetings in French? You simply cannot get enough French speaking people together for such an operation. More Haitians involved? There is simply not the capacity, locally, like it or not. More money to be disbursed, sooner and through local government? Here, too, history – and present day reality -really suggests otherwise. It is easy to be critical, more difficult to come up with a plan to do things differently next time. Of course mistakes were made, with hindsight things could have done better. But many, very committed people, did the best they could, in extraordinary difficult circumstances. And when Mr Katz recognises, at the end of the book, that Haiti is different, different from so many other places in the world, he fails to make the link with what has gone on before, during the aid operation.… (lisätietoja)
½
 
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theonearmedcrab | 6 muuta kirja-arvostelua | May 17, 2020 |
No one would confuse Haiti, with most of the other countries in the Western Hemisphere, but with assistance from first world nations around the world, and the UN it is amazing the country is still in existence.
Haiti has been plagued with every kind Of bad luck, poor decision making, bad judgement, U.S. meddling, horrible corruption and ineptitude for its entire existence. The last thing they needed was a massive earthquake. And it came with strings attached support of the United States, The Clinton’s, NGO’s, Hollywood, and the UN.
United States- a country that has meddled with Haiti from the beginning and Haiti is no better for it.
The Clinton’s- no two people have been better examples of offering empty promises while enriching themselves at someone Else’s expense.
NGO’s- with the exception of about 5 they are organizations-that if you give money to them- you can bet with near 100% certainty the money will benefit no one but the said NGO.
Hollywood- in this case Sean Penn, who at first was a worthwhile force, but like everything social/politics that he gets involved in became about Sean Penn.
Lastly The UN. An organization who makes the American government look efficient. Who employs the dregs of its members to act as soldiers, who do so because the pay is better than what the countries military pays, this institution is so inept and corrupt that its very existence is embarrassing. Everything they touch goes to shit. In the case of Haiti, literally as the troops from Nepal brought with them Cholera, a disease that had not previously been found on the island EVER! And is still killing Haitians.
You also learn about the games countries play with pledged financial support and how very little if any is ever delivered.
This is an outstanding but terribly sad book of how when disasters happen around the world the response of the world powers is pathetic.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
zmagic69 | 6 muuta kirja-arvostelua | May 18, 2018 |

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