A rare political comment

So we just had a spate of recent stories about Haiti and how bad things have gotten there. Good stuff that people should care I suppose. That's what we always tell ourselves isn't it? That it's really important to care?

But nowhere in the coverage did I see any admission of what should be an undeniable political fact now. That is that charity didn't work. A huge outpouring of western concern and huge pile of political donations didn't help at all.

Which wouldn't surprise anyone who knows the history of the place. Haiti was a disaster before the earthquake.

You can actually see the problem from space: look at satellite shots of Haiti and you can see that it is all brown while then neighbouring and relatively more prosperous Dominican Republic is green. The earthquake didn't cause Haiti's problems it just made the world aware of them. And no amount of aid is going to change things.

Charity used to mean a kind of love. Now it means caring and donating.