eating bleach

In North America we are getting a little freaked out about the coming economic crisis. People are tightening down on their personal spending as the prices of gasoline and food increase. But for the most part many of us are living as usual and hoping that things will level off eventually. Chances are that will happen too with only the poorest of the poor feeling a serious impact.

How much do you pay for a pint at the pub? $4.50 or $5 perhaps? Then maybe leave .50 cents to a $1 tip. Let’s just imagine that it comes to $6 per pint including tip and you drink 3 pints. That $18 represents 18 days of what the average person in Haiti has to live on. People in Haiti at the moment are living on $1 per day! Can you imagine? What do you reckon you could eat if you had $1 measly dollar per day? And that’s not counting paying for education or even basic services like a roof over your head, electricity, medical services, dental, etc. The Caribbean is not cheap either. Just because it’s one of the poorest countries don’t mean foods are cheap.

I don’t know where I’m going with this. Maybe I’m reminding myself how good I have it. Maybe I wish to make a statement to the few people who stop by here once inna while. Maybe I feel guilty for indulging while others are storming their government offices chanting “we are hungry!” –risking being shot at by security forces like and left to die like dogs in the street. I wish I had answers but all I have are questions. It won’t be a surprise if Haiti becomes completely unstable and death rampant in the coming months. People there are trapped with no food, no fuel, and worst of all –no hope. Haiti boasts the only successful slave revolution in the New World. I wonder what Toussaint L’Ouverture would think of his country now. The effects of colonization and resource mongering are being felt as much as ever these days.