Thinking About Haiti

One of my well-meaning Christian friends just sent me an invite on Facebook to become a fan of Doug Phillips’ “Rescuing Haiti’s Children” page.  A few thoughts:

1. God’s Providence is a deep, dark thing.  The people of Haiti have fundamental limitations that preclude them from properly preparing for such an event.  It is hard to understand why God would have allowed this to happen to Haiti, possibly the most vulnerable population on Earth to such an event.  These are people created in the image of God, and it’s hard to see the suffering of the people and orphans.  Those going to Haiti to help meet urgent needs while spreading the Gospel to those who will hear are doing God’s work.  However, it’s important that we not romanticize the narrative of Haiti, as unrealistic notions will lead to bad strategies.

2. Haiti’s history can be identified as a root cause of the scale of the tragedy.  The island, once with a GDP exceeding that of the entire US in colonial times, suffered a slave revolt.  The slaves viciously and without mercy murdered virtually every white person on the island.  Later, subsequent revolutions resulted in the murder of most of the mulattoes and quadroons, for the black masses could not tolerate their natural advantages and the resultant divergence of outcomes for the two groups.

3. Many of Haiti’s problems, exacerbated by this crisis, are related to problems of IQ.  Any functioning society requires a certain number of individuals with IQ’s exceeding 115 (the average IQ of a college graduate from a real school with a somewhat selective admissions policy) or so to function.  Long-term planning and delaying gratification are essential for any society, and high-IQ individuals facilitate this (for example, by following well-known building techniques so structures can survive earthquakes without killing everyone inside). Among whites, about 16% of people fall into this vital high-IQ category.  Among blacks, only about 2%.  By killing off its white population in envy-driven rage, Haiti planted the seeds for its current sorry state.

4. Phillips rightly believes that Haiti must have its culture reformed before any permanent change can come to the nation.  In another post he talks about the need for jobs for Haitian men.  That, however, Mr. Phillips, is going to require foreign investment.  This means white people getting rich from the natural forces of the free market while helping to rebuild Haiti (a win-win, as free market transactions are).  Is there any indication that the racist attitudes of Haitians towards the property rights of white people can be reformed?  If it is true, as I believe it is, that whites have certain natural advantages in wealth creation (higher IQ), then the Haitian blacks are going to notice the difference in outcomes between the groups.  The natural, fallen human instinct is to respond with envy and accuse the more successful group of exploitation, much like many blacks here in the US whine about their lack of success and blame it on racism.  The only way to square this circle is either to A) talk openly about the reality of white advantages and hope that this explanation assuages blacks’ envy and hatred or B) pursue racial separation as a means of preventing the opportunity for conflict.  Haiti has in its history chosen B), through murderous means, with horrible consequences for her people.

5. Phillips is also encouraging Americans to adopt Haitian orphans.  I have discussed international adoption previously, but I’ll say a bit more about Haiti.  One relative advantage of adopting out of China is a normal Chinese child is going to have an IQ at or above the white average.  The Chinese also have natural personality traits (self-control, conformity, etc) that will tend to make Chinese children comfortably successful in America.  Blacks, on the other hand, have certain natural disadvantages in our society except in very specific areas with limited employment opportunities (sports, entertainment, etc).  A family of Christian homeschoolers, likely with IQ’s exceeding 115, who adopts a black orphan with an IQ of 80 is going to have serious problems with integrating this child.  The child will feel alien in its family, and always have a sense of resentment towards the natural-born children who will be more naturally successful.  It seems to me that not many people have considered that these cute little orphans grow up into adult blacks; as orphans, they will long for a sense of identity, and black American culture is more than happy to provide it (it provides a sense of cultural identity for many white kids sporting backwards baseball caps and baggy pants).

Yet many Christians are getting caught up in the emotion of the thing, not considering the long-term consequences of an unalterable decision.  Better in my view to use the same resources (adoptions can cost thousands) to build up the true church in Haiti and fully fund Christian orphanages there.  A quote from Rushdoony brings perspective, as he discusses a strategy the statists use to displace the private sphere:

First, make men feel guilty for all things and for everyone. Whatever happens on any continent or country is their responsibility and their burden. All the starving, needy, oppressed, and all the indigents, criminals, and diseased of the world are their burden, and they are guilty of evading their responsibilities if they do nothing about them.

If American Christians help Haiti, it is an act of charity.  But we are not responsible now or ever for suffering of people not in our own sphere of influence.  Haiti, in committing genocide of its white population, effectively severed itself from our influence and responsibility long ago.