Thursday, July 08, 2021
PMT: Chaos in Haiti
230-some years ago, Haiti was the site of the perhaps the most successful slave uprising in world history, as Toussaint Louverture led his people to freedom from a brutal French regime. It has had a tumultuous history since then, right up to the present: yesterday, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated, leaving a power vacuum. Moise was a controversial leader who held power for four years and seemed reluctant to give it up. The nation has struggled to recover from a devastating earthquake 11 years ago.
The NY Times reports that four suspected assassins have since been been killed in a gun battle, and two more arrested. Many fear that competing factions may fight for control.
Americans tend to "tut tut" at this kind of mayhem, but we shouldn't. We had an insurrection in our Capitol building this year, and a president who did not want to leave office, after all. Some of the same forces that produce mayhem in Haiti-- political inefficacy, bitter partisanship, and a sense that our side must win at all costs-- plague our own political culture right now.
Politics and leadership are hard. Too often, failure compounds failure.
