When I was rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in San Francisco, we had a "mantra" - "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."
I came to Haiti for 2 reasons. I wanted to try and help in some way to make Haiti a little better, and I wanted to experience another culture, a culture that was a part of me because I have a Haitian niece and nephew. I saw Haiti as a kind of microcosm of the larger world, a small region that I could, maybe, wrap my mind around; the larger world being just too large.
The first time I set foot on Haitian soil, I was immediately overwhelmed by the level poverty and then, soon after, buoyed by a spirit that gave hope to my intentions.
But the more I experienced and studied, the more I became aware of the larger problem, of which Haiti was, in fact, a microcosm. That was the problem of the Global Economy that thrived by using the resources, material and human, to create huge wealth for some by disregarding the indigenous value of both material and human resources. Not only in Haiti, but wherever poverty was visible, the people and the resources they stood on were being used by others to create wealth for those others. In Africa, for example, some of the poorest people live right on top of some of the richest deposits of oil, minerals, gems etc. from which they derive almost, and in many cases actually no benefit.
On a recent trip back to San Francisco, I was asked by the new Priest-in-Charge of Trinity+St.Peter's: "What church do you worship at now?" I said "I don't", and this essay is why. In another essay I may write about the problems I see in the Missionary driven Christianity here and, again, in the other poorest countries. But, by not going to church here, I have found another source of inspiring sermons.
YouTube has, amongst a lot that is either stupid or just a useful way to be distracted, a number of very provocative lectures and interviews. At first I was listening to Neil Degrasse Tyson, being amazed by his wisdom and style and by the fact that I had never heard of him before. But then, by association - other lectures that would appear in the margins of the video - I began discovering Richard Wolff, Noam Chomsky, Paul Krugman, and, this morning's preacher, David Korten.
What I see in Haiti is corroborated by these thinkers. Haiti is poor now, because, for 2 centuries other countries and corporations have seen and then used Haiti simply as a source of cheap labor to make these other countries and corporations outrageously wealthy, at least by comparison.
The fact that the minimum wage here is so low is simply the result of the low wages that are essential (or so it seems for capitalists) to maintain high profits. As David Korten and others point out, we have forgotten that we exist in community with a spiritual mandate to care for each other. And despite what many on the top are saying, we cannot care for each other when we use others to take care of ourselves.
I am not anti-capitalist. Indeed, I readily acknowledge that I have benefited greatly from capitalist-engendered wealth, but, in my case, from some people who were rich but also very concerned about and involved in the welfare of others. The problem, as I see it, thanks to Mohammad Yunus, is the dominance of the capitalist model. When profit is THE driving force, all decisions are made from that perspective.
What is telling, and another reason why I don't go to church here, is that most of the growing Christian communities around the world, are either preaching the capitalist mantra, or, in some cases I see here, practicing a form of capitalism by selling "Good News" and making the messenger rich while the lot of the average parishioner remains the same. I actually heard one evangelist on a local radio station say that "Your problem is..." you don't know how to pray right. And he offered to send a book, for $25US, that would tell you what you needed to know to get God to answer your prayers.
I am reminded of Jesus' teaching: "What benefit is it for you if you gain the whole world and lose your soul?" But even this still appeals to your own self-interest. A good advertising slogan. What Jesus was really trying to say was: shift your priorities. This isn't about you, it is about what you can offer to others. David Korten (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdsZ_lLz07Q) describes the spiritual experiment, begun when human consciousness first emerged, of trying to make decisions that benefited the collective (human and ecological), but instead, the ego took off, using the emergent capabilities to create for itself.
I look at promising ideas that have arisen here, some from the Yunus Center for Social Business here in Petionville, and others attempting to create businesses that produce jobs and raise the standard of living. But then I see the financial pressures from the rich, families and corporations, that suppress or limit these attempts. Competition is very difficult on such an uneven playing field. For example, there are many garment factories here, some very recently developed, with the goal of creating jobs. But the pressure from external competition (other countries that have very low wages too) keep the wages at very unlivable levels. People have jobs, but they are almost no better than when they had none.
So, what I am realizing is that, rather then being able to help much, I am being given an education on the huge global problem. Perhaps this is really why I came to Haiti. I am being nudged into consciousness, becoming aware of what is probably the most pressing problem of the planet.
My primary focus here now is education. And I am working with others to develop education models that teach children to think. My hope now is that perhaps I can help them learn to think beyond survival mode - which is really the driving rule of Capitalism. Perhaps these children can see ways to serve their fellow Haitians and forge another economic system which benefits the average Haitian.
The adventure continues.
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