Stark contrast in deforestation along the
Dominican/Haitian Border (NASA)

In the 1980’s, free trade and environmental degradation virtually eliminated Haiti’s internal rice production. Haitians eventually became dependent on rice imports. Now, Haitians are starving due to rising food prices. There are reports of people making themselves sick, just so they can be admitted to the hospital and get food. There are many reasons for rising food prices including diversion of crops to biofuels and rising commodity and oil prices. Agricultural and oil interests lobbied for blended biofuel solutions such as ethanol, instead of promoting smart solutions such as electric vehicles or reusing waste vegetable oil.

To be sure, Haiti’s neighbor, the Dominican Republic, is also effected by the global food shortage, but they have a huge advantage with their local food production. Dominicans produce 80% of the foods consumed locally, which insulates them somewhat from the global shortages. It would be interesting to hear the presidential candidates address some of these issues in the next debate. Much has been made during the campaigns about special interests and globalization, but this an actual example of how bad policy has created a disaster and the next president must provide leadership on issues like these.

To help the Haitian citizens check out http://www.foodforthepoor.org/donate/haiti. Just $12 will feed one family for a month.

Further Reading

It has become increasingly possible that the Democratic contest for president will be decided by Superdelegates instead of actual voters. If you feel as though your vote is becoming more and more irrelevant in the electoral process, you are not alone. David Rothkopf, author of Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making, argues that this power shift is just the tip of the iceberg. I heard him speak last night and he explained his theory that the world’s 6 billion people and their destiny is controlled by about 6 thousand wealthy individuals that he calls the Superclass. These are the same people who show up in statistical sound bites such as: “The richest 2% own more than half of global assets.”

I once heard a similar theory from a bus driver when conversing about politics during my commute, but Rothkopt does have some anecdotal and empirical evidence to support his theory. He proposed the growing disparity of wealth and power will lead to civil unrest and has helped to create populist backlashes in the form of popular leaders such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez. He also made the claim that issues such as global warming and the stability of world financial institutions are at the mercy of the Superclass as they have usurped national governments. Citing ridiculous policies such as last year’s ethanol-laden energy bill and the border wall, Rothkopt explained how powerful lawyers and lobbyist representing the Superclass have guided government into enacting policies that don’t necessarily reflect our best interests. He even quipped about how the current accusations and controversy of elitism are laughable when you consider they are coming from the wife of a former President and a man whose wife is the heiress to Hensley & Co., the nation’s second-largest Anheuser-Busch distributor.

Despite the bad news about growing disparities, the speaker was optimistic that we can reassert control over our nation and work in cooperation with increasingly powerful countries in Asia to fight global warming and economic instability.