General Discussion

SoCalDem

(103,856 posts)

97. Disaster capitalism is rarely "helpful"..

Sat Feb 23, 2013, 05:11 PM

Feb 2013

I kept thinking about how they could have made homes for the homeless, from shipping containers, and could have created new communities where the people fled to.

They could have helped to "nationalize" the land and let people LIVE where they fled to...higher ground..away from the devastation.

The destroyed area could have been bulldozed, and earthquake/hurricane-resistant buildings for commerce built in their place.

They had a chance to create something new..and they put a bandaid on it, and gave the lion's share to capitalist ventures....

Nothing new..but sad just the same

Just as micro loans (like Yunis gives) are very successful in poor countries, so is micro-aid.

Use the international help for big/necessary things like sewage treatment, water delivery, infrastructure, and save the heartfelt aid given by "the little people" to impact INDIVIDUALS/communities. That's who people want their donations to help...not some hotel chain or corporate entity.

Ages ago, after a disaster in the Dominican Republic, my father was TDY there, and saw bulldozers pushing C.A.R.E. boxes still on pallets, into the sea.. The reason given? There was not enough, and they did not want food riots to start..

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The Clinton-Bush Fund has closed up shop in Haiti: Here are the fruits of neoliberal "charity" [View all] HiPointDem Feb 2013 OP

K&R redqueen Feb 2013 #1

I don't...nt joeybee12 Feb 2013 #2

The stated purpose of the fund was microeconomics, not disaster relief... msanthrope Feb 2013 #6

Criticizing what fundraisers call a 'charity' is not "attacking" any individual. nt redqueen Feb 2013 #9

Sean Penn took money from this charity. Should he give back the 1.35 million? msanthrope Feb 2013 #15

This message was self-deleted by its author SidDithers Feb 2013 #14

How can you have sulphurdunn Feb 2013 #21

Rebuilding homes is infrastructure. Small business is infrastructure. Some projects build roads and msanthrope Feb 2013 #22

Well now, isn't that exactly what we should be doing right now in the USA? xtraxritical Feb 2013 #36

No, that's actually incorrect. TiberiusB Feb 2013 #100

They're all inter-related... George II Feb 2013 #120

With the Bush name attached to it... no. gtar100 Feb 2013 #78

loans are aid hfojvt Feb 2013 #118

How much did you give? msanthrope Feb 2013 #3

The funds were misused davidthegnome Feb 2013 #10

The fund stated from the start it wasn't going to do disaster relief, but long term msanthrope Feb 2013 #11

That's Good news then. peace13 Feb 2013 #73

in 2007 hfojvt Feb 2013 #119

what is the extreme left? datasuspect Feb 2013 #101

The 1-Percent at Work. Octafish Feb 2013 #4

i've heard similar things about drug-running through haiti. HiPointDem Feb 2013 #7

The stated purpose of the fund, from the start, was long term financial, and not disaster msanthrope Feb 2013 #5

OP and their cohorts are not interested in the truth. They have an agenda and are going to twist stevenleser Feb 2013 #53

J/P Haitian Relief Organization gets my support rather than Clinton/Bush. Bluenorthwest Feb 2013 #8

They got a 1.35 million grant from Clinton/Bush. Should they have given it back? msanthrope Feb 2013 #12

Why should they? I simply pointed out where my direct support goes and where people who Bluenorthwest Feb 2013 #95

Should Sean Penn give back the money he got from this fund for Haitian relief? msanthrope Feb 2013 #13

Hannah must be ignoring you...nt SidDithers Feb 2013 #16

Dead Man Walking, we should call this thread...nt msanthrope Feb 2013 #17

We raised over $26,000 for Haiti in my department Catherina Feb 2013 #18

Sean Penn took money from this charity. Should he give back the 1.35 million? nt msanthrope Feb 2013 #23

Who is Sean Penn? And why are you so obsessed with him? Fuddnik Feb 2013 #29

Sean Penn founded a charity the poster says is a better example. That entity took money msanthrope Feb 2013 #37

Sean Penn is an actor who is a favorite target of FOXNEWS. JackRiddler Feb 2013 #103

No entrepreneur left behind! another_liberal Feb 2013 #19

Something Awful Goons sponsor this school FreeBC Feb 2013 #20

And just exactly, What is new with this?, ... CRH Feb 2013 #24

That's what they'll do to us, too. Make no mistake. Keep voting Republican't judesedit Feb 2013 #25

The Obama administration likes the conditions in Haiti very much. OnyxCollie Feb 2013 #77

Thanks for the links...interesting info. n/t KoKo Feb 2013 #82

Beyond words. Beyond contempt. Thanks for posting this. snagglepuss Feb 2013 #84

I read years ago that is the reason Aristede was ousted arikara Feb 2013 #87

This is 2013 - got anything current? Two year old news, and maybe not even true any more. George II Feb 2013 #89

Ego Pros. GeorgeGist Feb 2013 #26

Sleeping with the enemy rarely ends well. eom littlemissmartypants Feb 2013 #27

Corruption takes many forms, and if the United States seems like it has less of it than many HiPointDem Feb 2013 #28

Right, most corrupt nation on earth, but of couse it's legal. xtraxritical Feb 2013 #39

Neoliberal philanthropy is a fucking scam of the highest magnitude alcibiades_mystery Feb 2013 #30

Looks like Naomi Klein got it right Bainbridge Bear Feb 2013 #32

"It does nothing of value, and convinces some people that capitalism must be alright after all." redqueen Feb 2013 #71

+1000s (n/t) bread_and_roses Feb 2013 #76

It's hard to even think about this. truedelphi Feb 2013 #31

yeah, it's all the haitians' fault. what could we do, they're so corrupt... that's the ticket. HiPointDem Feb 2013 #35

Did you read my last sentence? I pretty much truedelphi Feb 2013 #66

here's what i was reacting to; my apologies if i interpreted it wrong: HiPointDem Feb 2013 #67

Travesty in Haiti: Christian missions, orphanages, fraud, food aid and drug trafficking HiPointDem Feb 2013 #33

Just another way corporations can fleece the American taxpayers. xtraxritical Feb 2013 #40

A five-year old book....years before the earthquake..............amazing! George II Feb 2013 #90

What a disgusting post. Bashing Clinton because a charity distributing $54 million wasn't enough FSogol Feb 2013 #34

Did you actually read the OP? davidthegnome Feb 2013 #55

well, haitians can get mortgages, loans and insurance now!!!!! progress!!!!! HiPointDem Feb 2013 #58

The money was used to do what the stated objective for raising the money in the first place George II Feb 2013 #91

That was my first impression, too treestar Feb 2013 #74

Gee almost 1/3 rd of the total replies on this thread from one poster Egalitarian Thug Feb 2013 #38

Hmm. That must be 'Ignored". HiPointDem Feb 2013 #41

This message was self-deleted by its author lunasun Feb 2013 #43

well, merck to my knowledge didn't get it; a health clinic with a partnership with another HiPointDem Feb 2013 #44

sorry my bad - anyway still not a priority given the circumstances there lunasun Feb 2013 #45

someone may be getting a juicy speaking tour for that. Whisp Feb 2013 #47

Glad I never gave any money to that. Zoeisright Feb 2013 #42

Wow & they made it so easy for you: HiPointDem Feb 2013 #46

Obama is not like either of those fleabags. n/t Whisp Feb 2013 #48

Thank you! eom BlueCaliDem Feb 2013 #75

Yep....just add it to your cell-phone. Quick as anything. KoKo Feb 2013 #83

No Matter how Haiti Relief is SPUN..the "Clinton Initiative" was failure... KoKo Feb 2013 #49

yes; they're leaving haitians to 'chart their own course' now. lol. HiPointDem Feb 2013 #51

That is so sad to read.. I guess some here will applaud and KoKo Feb 2013 #60

yeah, we're spozed to believe that clinton/bush told us from the get-go that they were gonna HiPointDem Feb 2013 #61

This is a good example of why davidthegnome Feb 2013 #50

i'm totally on-board with the idea that smaller groups who actually care about the project HiPointDem Feb 2013 #56

Yes...but, truly I think we thought we had "good problem solving minds KoKo Feb 2013 #63

You get a lot of flack, but I appreciate your posts OP RedCappedBandit Feb 2013 #52

thank you for saying so. HiPointDem Feb 2013 #57

For people like them, charity begins at home and in the long run, stays there MotherPetrie Feb 2013 #54

haiti's 1 percent so.bc360 Feb 2013 #59

And..there's the history where Haiti overthrew their SLAVERY KoKo Feb 2013 #64

So brown folks shouldn't have mortgages, business opportunities, or computers for schools? michigandem58 Feb 2013 #62

yes, well, see how much use all that is when 1) they have no jobs, so no income -- & 3/4 HiPointDem Feb 2013 #65

So in this country, you will oppose publicly funded cancer screenings, small business assistance, michigandem58 Feb 2013 #70

The same kind of "good work" Poppy and Clinton performed for tsunami victims. Fuddnik Feb 2013 #86

my guess is that this kind of orwellian denial is the reason no one trusts politicians HiPointDem Feb 2013 #98

Excellent post malaise Feb 2013 #68

K&R MelungeonWoman Feb 2013 #69

thanks for posting this. never trust a clinton and a bush Whisp Feb 2013 #72

Poverty pimps pscot Feb 2013 #79

My jaded bleeding heart breaks yet again........ joanbarnes Feb 2013 #80

Democrats who believe in neo-liberalism and compromise with their Baitball Blogger Feb 2013 #81

Rather cynical and selective criticism of the fund.......... George II Feb 2013 #85

If you have information that contradicts the OP davidthegnome Feb 2013 #93

You can't build homes without money, and that $47M would go far to build homes...... George II Feb 2013 #104

feb 2013 working in the tent city HiPointDem Feb 2013 #94

Bill should just spend his foundation's money elsewhere. Beacool Feb 2013 #116

omg... Whisp Feb 2013 #121

I knew those crooks were up to no good arikara Feb 2013 #88

Great post. Neo-liberals are assholes with faulty economic dogma even PufPuf23 Feb 2013 #92

Seems to me one of our biggest problems evilhime Feb 2013 #96

Disaster capitalism is rarely "helpful".. SoCalDem Feb 2013 #97

Disaster Capitalism is it's own disaster. The money should go directly to the people mountain grammy Feb 2013 #102

"They come, but they do nothing": Haiti: where did the money go? HiPointDem Feb 2013 #99

Impressively researched post. Thank you! JackRiddler Feb 2013 #105

All they had to do was get clean water, cement, tools, and a few heavy eqpuipment pieces there and kelliekat44 Feb 2013 #106

that's what's so sad about it. donations could have allowed ordinary people to get some work, HiPointDem Feb 2013 #109

HiPointDem, thank you for all the work and this awesome thread! tpsbmam Feb 2013 #107

Great thread. Very informative. DU could use more thought provoking threads like this. limpyhobbler Feb 2013 #108

This is from one of the links. Beacool Feb 2013 #110

of course you would. :) Whisp Feb 2013 #111

Yawwwnnnn............ Beacool Feb 2013 #113

in a way it's kind of cute how you are defending The Chimperor's reputation of honesty & good work. Whisp Feb 2013 #115

the haitian government exists because of US support. The us could withdraw that support & HiPointDem Feb 2013 #112

I know what we can do. Beacool Feb 2013 #114

lol. sure, that's the ticket. HiPointDem Feb 2013 #117