WHAT IS HAITI TEACHING US?

So what are we learning in Haiti? I’ve been sick the last few days and basically just laying around watching TV, most of it news coverage of Haiti. A few things jumped out at me.

There is no way to prepare for a disaster of this magnitude. The best you are going to get for the first week is total confusion. The US military, just because of its organizational structure, is probably the most qualified body to take command of the situation but I’m sure there is resistance to that from other organizations. Even then, it takes weeks to start to get some workable plan in place because the problems on the ground are too immense. And, if the primary purpose of the military is to break things and kill people this sort of humanitarian effort requires, I would think, many subtle and some not so subtle changes in thinking for the commanders.

America will take the lead regardless of what others may or may not want because there really isn’t anyone else capable of doing it. This is all well and good until you start to consider the cost. We don’t have the money; period. Our coffers are exhausted; we are printing money as fast as we can, just to blow a bubble big enough to keep the lie of a healthy economy going. The usual suspects are starting to refuse to buy our debt up, forcing the Treasury to do it; to try and beat this dead horse across some imaginary finish line one last time. We are paying the bill for the rescue of Haiti with an exhausted credit card, hoping that a new offer comes in the mail so we can roll the debt over for another month.

So where is Saudi Arabia or any other of the oil producing states? Where is China? I know China sent a team of rescuers but really, how about sending a boat load of money; they’ve got plenty.
You won’t see any help of a substantial nature from any country besides America. We’ll carry the load and sink ourselves further into debt to the Chinese, the country that won’t send its money as charity but will be more than happy to lend it at a price.

In the end we’ll make a valiant effort that will save some lives. The inevitable result is going to be chaos and disease run rampant because there really isn’t any other possibility. There are too many bodies rotting in the heat and no way to adequately deal with them. There is no way to supply adequate food and water to all the effected people in time to stave off riots. The people of Haiti have done well to hold it together as long as they have.

And you just know the empire builders in Washington are already putting plans in place to install a government and create a new democratic country. Of course, in view of all the bribery, graft and arrogance surrounding the health care legislation I would think that maybe we should look a little closer to home when we worry about representative democracies. Once again, our political leaders will ignore the history of a third world country and spend billions to try and force a system of government on a people that are not prepared for it and cannot see it through to completion. We will borrow or print billions because we don’t have it to spend.

What does Haiti really tell us? Haiti is a sign post; a warning. Haiti is the last gasp of Pax Americana. We will never again be able to expend this much wealth to help others. Once we are gone, who will take our place? The answer: no one. There has never been another country so willing to go all in and help those in need. This isn’t bragging, just fact. Without the wealth created by the American economy the rest of the world will flounder. I don’t care about what is happening in Asia, I think it is overstated and distorted by the various governmental reporting agencies. And, even if the growth of the Asian economies could offset the loss of American capitalism the moral imperative to help others so peculiar to the American way of life will not survive. In historical terms, America has been an aberration.

The world, and in particular America, is being stripped of all that is superfluous. All the pretty, shiny baubles that we have come to expect as a part of our daily lives are being removed; if not forever for the foreseeable future. The access to cheap and seemingly endless supply of energy that has fueled all of our development over the last hundred years is coming to a close because the collapse of the economy that created the demand will take it away as well. Without America and its consumption crazed middle class the need for oil will diminish. And as demand diminishes so will production capability. Investment in future production will dry up with it, creating a death spiral for cheap energy. Let’s face it, no matter how much politicians and environmentalists want to talk up green technology nothing can replace oil. Without it, we will quickly begin to return to a standard of living closer to that of 100 years ago.

And that is the kind of place Haiti was. The vital difference was political and cultural. The West, over thousands of years has developed an understanding of man, his rights and his place in the world far superior to that of any other culture. Again, not bragging, this is just a fact. The problem for the West is that we have systematically destroyed our educational system, to the extent that the average Western citizen has no understanding of the philosophical underpinnings upon which our society depends. We have replaced our knowledge with the slavery of comfort and ease. Our people have been distracted by TV and governmental largesse, accepting comfort as payment for siphoning away our humanity and our grasp of our political and philosophical inheritance. We are no more prepared today for societal survival in the face of systemic collapse than are the Haitians. As the support structure that we have come to absolutely depend upon for the most vital components of our lives unravels we will begin to look just as Haiti looks today.

And that is what I have seen in the last few days, watching as the world responds to Haiti. I’ve seen our future. Haiti is systemic collapse writ large. But it is just a small part of a small island. If the world did nothing we wouldn’t notice any difference.

What is coming is different, but only in scale. As the West begins to collapse the world will notice. The difference is that no one will respond. No one can help. We will be on our own as everything we know changes; except our knowledge. The essential question in our collapse is whether we can retain and use the knowledge we have gained over thousands of years regarding reestablishment of useful and just political systems or do we enter into the dark ages once again. Do we return to the time of the collapse of Pax Romano when all knowledge was swept away to be replaced by marauding bands of barbarians, ruling by force and fear? Or, do we accept our fate and begin to rebuild society based on the philosophical truths and moral foundations that have served us so well? Do we move into a future based on reason or one based on fear?

This is what I’ve seen watching Haiti this weekend and I’m not hopeful; for Haiti or the West.

IS ROBERTSON RIGHT ABOUT HAITI?

In a word, yes.


Listen, I'm not going to go into whether his take on history is right or if his understanding of Haitian religiosity is correct in every respect. What I would like to address is whether or not evil exists and if it does how does it effect us. Is it possible that a "deal" with the Devil could cause an earthquake?


I believe it could and here is why. If we accept the idea as postulated in the Second Law of Thermodynamics that all processes deteriorate without the input of additional energy then it stands to reason that all material bodies and processes, left to their own devices, will fail. Something has to hold them together and supply the energy needed to keep them functioning.


If the source of energy necessary to replenish the system is withdrawn what happens? The system decays. If you have a cell phone and the battery is not recharged it will cease to function. The same is true of all battery operated devices. If you don't maintain your home it will eventually collapse and return to the dirt. Even humans, at the physical level, wither away with time. We can use diet, medicine and exercise to extend the process but in the end we can't supply the energy of life. It exists outside of us and is unavailable to us.


We can and do fall apart physically; this is measurable and demonstrable. But, what about spiritually?


I suppose one could argue that there is no spiritual world; that all that exists is material and measurable.  To that I would ask, "Can one quantify love, hate, jealousy or pleasure?". Of course we can't yet most would agree they exist.


So, if we accept the existence of a spiritual reality, do the laws that apply to the physical world apply to it, too? I would argue yes, some do. I would also argue further that it can be proven. Perhaps not through the measurements applied to physical science but through observation and experience.


If our existence as a physical and spiritual being requires external power to slow or stop our decay, what is that power. To many people of faith the answer is God. We believe that a power exists outside of time and space that created everything and is the source of all power needed to maintain the physical world. Remove this life sustaining power and the inevitable disintegration of the system begins. That is an undeniable physical law (which we believe God created, too).


At the spiritual level the same rules apply. However, here we have a little more say in the game. Through free will (another gift from God), we can choose to reject or accept good. (I know, good and evil don't exist. They do and it is provable; I just don't feel like getting sidetracked. So, for the sake of argument, just go with it.) God is good and God is the power that holds everything together. When you choose to reject good, you have rejected God and thus along with Him you have rejected the power that you need to maintain a proper system.


As an example:
We have all engaged in sinful activity (all of you that believe in absolutely no absolutes like good, evil and sin, just sit down and shut up). We know from personal experience that as we continue to participate in evil and reject good that the evil becomes easier. We know that over time, one evil leads to another. We know that given enough time we will sink into a morass of moral depravity; the system will collapse.


Unless, of course, we allow energy into the system by choosing good. It is evident to anyone that has changed and turned from sin that life gets better. We can look at people we know personally or publicly that have repented and chosen good and have seen their lives restored to balance and happiness. We have all observed the physical law in action at the spiritual level.


The question raised by Pat Robertson is whether a society can suffer a moral collapse of the system and then could this collapse cause an earthquake? I think the answer is yes.


If we accept that the Second Law of Thermodynamics applies at a physical as well as spiritual level then it is logical that a society that chooses through their actions to reject good would eventually see the disintegration of their society. If we accept the premise of both spiritual and physical ramifications to a rejection of system sustaining power then why wouldn't a withdrawal of that power affect the land the people live on. Isn't an earthquake, by its very activity, a complete destruction of a system , casting it into complete collapse? Isn't part of the system required to maintain human life the environment? Why wouldn't the destruction of that environment be part of the collapse chosen by the people through their rejection of God?


This is what Robertson is saying. The people of Haiti chose the path that has resulted in the collapse of their system. They rejected God for Satan through the use of voodoo and other pagan forms of worship.


The media and its pundits are calling Robertson a madman. Don Imus went so far this morning as to say that he needed to be strung up. Wow. It seems to me that Robertson has followed a logical train of thought based on what he believes. You don't have to believe what he believes but to call him mad for using logic is in itself crazy. His comments would have been understood for what they meant maybe as few as 50 years ago. We have chosen to not understand and have forced that choice on subsequent generations through incomplete education. We have chosen evil.


And if Robertson is right, and I believe he is, what is in store for America? We have chosen pagan gods over the one true God and have added in the sacrifice of millions of children through abortion. An earthquake will be just the beginning.