Pathologies of Power: Suffering in Haiti

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Human suffering has been manifest in human existence throughout history. Unfortunately, there is no likelihood of the vice ending in the near future. New forms of sufferings inflict innocent people by those in authority directly and indirectly. The main instigators of human sufferings are power struggle, the social construction of class, race, gender, and ethnicity. To unravel the extent of human suffering, this paper focuses on the main instigators of suffering. This article aims at exposing suffering inflicted deliberately on poor persons by those in power.

The role of the government has changed from preserving and protecting its citizens from protecting greedy firms. In America, government agencies such as USDA and FDA have authorized multinational food companies to produce and supply health-threatening products (Food Inc 2008). Instead of the American government protecting its subjects, it was busy planting a tyranny in Haiti (Farmer 428). Tyrannies that ruled Haiti instead, they deployed available, am never machinery to stamp their authority.

For instance, the American government violated its pro-democracy campaign to install Haiti’s autocratic leadership in 1916 (Farmer 429). As Farmer reveals, power corrupts, and the election of Aristide – a representative of the poor serves to illustrate that. Although he hailed from a poor background, Aristide did not represent their interests. However, what followed during his rule is largely detestable. The poor man’s expectations never saw the light of the day as the new leader’s brutality surpassed that of his predecessors.

Former Equatorial Guinea, President Teodoro, was and is still a close ally of the US government. His humanitarian injustices compare to those of Muammar Gaddafi. Teodore’s dictatorship helped him amass an untold wealth of the rich-oil-country. His greed leftover 700,000 – seventy percent of the population living in abject poverty. Ironically, notwithstanding his corrupt and dictatorial past, he still enjoys his loot in the US (His second country). It is thus very surprising that the same government i.e., the US, which is protecting him, is determined to oust Gaddafi (The Gambia Voice).

Elsewhere, foreign intervention was also evident in the establishment of Mobutu Sese Seko, who lavished in US protection. Kelly (1) reveals that America backed the Tyrant for 30 years and offered him World Bank subsidies. Fegley highlights that the poor economic performance of the current DRC Congo is a legacy of Mobutu.

Just like the case in Haiti, poor governance has subjected most peasants to anguish and suffering. Public resources are diverted from providing public goods or furthering economic growth to increase military funding. Thus, the rich use cheap labor offered by the poor to improve their welfare, while the later becomes poorer. As a result, the poor’s vicious cycles and dependence on donor aid become the norm rather than the exception.

Unless the world resolves to uproot tyrannies unselectively, suffering will continue to be the order of the day. However, this may never happen as the American government is determined to give a blind eye to its allies (The Gambia Voice). For instance, America is reluctant to freeze assets invested by both Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Ben Ali of Tunisia as a token of their long partnership, whereas citizens of the two countries are in utter poverty.

The social construction of class has exacerbated suffering and anguish in the world. The majority of Haiti citizens lacked good education, improved health services, and security. Worst still, d back the poor Haitian asylum-seekers worsening their condition (Farmer 429). The police officers whose mandate is to protect and preserve the welfare of the citizens violate citizen’s rights. In fact, the rich reduces the significance of employees to that of mere commodities. The poor have no rights, and the rich are at liberty to walk with whatever they wish. In most countries, the rich corrupt the way while the poor face the wrath of the law.

Similarly, the rich whites perceive themselves better than the blacks and thus subject the blacks to exploitative work. Although racial stigmatization may seem insignificant, the consequences of the same are dreadful. In South Africa, blacks’ mortality rate was ten times high compared to that of the whites.

Elsewhere, a survey conducted in the US revealed that life expectancy was 69.5 years and 75.5 years for the blacks and whites, respectively (Farmer 434). All these indicators reveal discrepancies between the lifestyles of people of different races, which not only affect lives but also dictate the population growth. Hughes (163) contends that the rich are using human organs (especially from marginalized groups) as spare parts. This is the highest level of human exploitation i.e., the rich mining for body organs from the poor.

The form of government in place matters a lot. For instance, while the dictators aggressively and selfishly guard their empires, democratic governments provide public goods. High misappropriation of resources in the countries under dictatorship makes it difficult for them to produce enough food for subsistence needs. According to BBC News, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique have rejected supplies of GM food donations in their countries.

On the other hand, fierce drought has forced Angola, Swaziland, and Lesotho to allow the distribution of GM corn (BBC News). Large American multinational companies are producing substandard food in order to amass huge profits. These firms disregard the health of consumers by supplying junk foods causing many health disorders (Food Inc 2008).

Modern food production technologies have brought about many health-related problems. In American, cattle are given feed that is biologically incompatible with their digesting system causing E.coli bacteria. The bacterial affects 73,000 Americans annually. In addition, biological modified food has increased epidemic complications, such as an increase in processed food has increased the level of obesity, diabetes, and cancer.

The multinational corporations have placed a huge veil to prevent the consumer from understanding the quality they produce in order to retain the market. For instance, Chickens that used to take three months to reach maturity are now taking 45 days due to hormones injected. In fact, some of these chickens die even before reaching the market (Food Inc 2008). When all this is happening, the government remains silent while people’s life is at stake.

Human suffering and poor governance are inseparable. Bad leadership voluntarily widens the gaps between the rich and poor (Fegley 153). Autocrats lavish when their subjects remain in a dependent state (Fegley 158). In such situations, it is easier to manipulate them and exercise brutality to silence the rebellious people.

Works Cited

BBC News. Famine and the GM Debate. 2002. Web.

Farmer, Paul. Pathologies of Power: Health Rights, and the New War on the Poor. London: University of California Press, 2005.

Fegley, Randal, A. Hall of Shame! Nd. 2011. Web.

Hughes, Scheper, N. Commodity Fetishism and the Global Traffic in Organs. Vienna: UN Press. 2000.

Kelly, Sean, American Tyrant: “The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire. Foreign Affairs. Web.

Robbert, Kenner. Food Inc. 2008. Web.

The Gambia Voice. “Africa News: Dirty Dictator Loot”. The Gambia Voice. 2011.

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Pathologies of Power: Suffering in Haiti

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