There is very little that is “natural” about the disaster taking place in Haiti. Like Katrina, the Tsunami and a hundred other “natural” disasters it’s imperialism – especially U. S. imperialism – that has set up Haiti’s working class for the terrible death and destruction from this earthquake.
Under capitalism PROFITS COME FIRST, and the working class that makes those profits for the bosses comes last. Building luxury tourist hotels is profitable for the bosses so they do it. Housing for poor workers is not profitable, so in Haiti hundreds of thousands of people live in shantytowns. Racist building practices have led to tens of thousands of deaths in Haiti. In a similar 7.0 earthquake in the San Francisco area in 1989 “only” 63 people died.
U. S. and European capitalists have caused this disaster in Haiti. They propped up murderous Duvalier dictators. When the Haitian workers rebelled they installed the corrupt Aristide and his successors. These bosses are only interested in cheap labor and profits from Haiti. In 1993 Disney chairman Michael Eisner made $203 million while workers sewing Mickey Mouse pajamas made 12 cents an hour. Add to this over 50% unemployment, lousy housing, and terrible health care and what you have is not a “natural” disaster but racist, capitalist and imperialist exploitation.
Right now our brothers and sisters in Haiti need our help. They need money, relief supplies, rescue and medical people. While fighting for the immediate needs of Haitian workers, we all need to build a worldwide movement that rids us of this racist, capitalist system and builds a communist world. At every workplace we must fight for working class solidarity that links our struggles here to the struggles of workers around the globe.
The U. S. Government is having trouble distributing water, but 4,700 troops arrived very quickly. They want to “control” the distribution. Meanwhile Christian right leader Pat Robertson and New York Times columnist David Brooks are already spreading vicious, racist lies. Robertson says the Haitians made a pact with the devil when they won their freedom from the French. Brooks says Haiti has a “progress-resistant culture.” The New York Times gladly prints this racist garbage. How many more “natural” disasters will it take before we see that capitalism must be buried by the working class with a communist revolution where workers run the world and racism and exploitation are banned?
Actually, contrary to the lies of Robertson, Brooks and others, Haiti has a history of rising up against oppression and inspiring the oppressed worldwide with the possibility of a better future. Our brothers and sisters in Haiti have suffered under capitalist brutality since the Spanish colonialists invaded 500 years ago, massacred the people and brought 700,000 others in chains as slaves to harvest sugar cane and coffee. After a slave revolt in 1791 defeated the colonialists, the Republic of Haiti was formed, ending chattel slavery. But the new republic copied French capitalism. As the new republic did business with the world’s bosses, they opened up the country for exploitation at the expense of Haiti’s workers. Wanting bigger profits, U. S. imperialism seized the Haitian banking system and sent in the Marines. They controlled Haiti from 1915 to 1934. After leaving the U. S. Government guaranteed continued profits by propping up vicious dictators and corrupt puppets willing to cooperate with their U. S. imperialist masters.
Now, as we strive to help our brothers and sisters, it is past time to build a communist movement that will smash capitalism once and for all.