Cruise ships still find a Haitian berth

[StageLeft]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/17/cruise-ships-haiti-earthquake

Luxury liners are still docking at private beaches near Haiti's devastated earthquake zone for holidaymakers to enjoy the water...

"It was hard enough to sit and eat a picnic lunch at Labadee before the quake, knowing how many Haitians were starving," said another. "I can't imagine having to choke down a burger there now.''

Wow, what a saint, it was ok before eating your picnic while 60 miles away people were selling their children for $200 into de facto slavery, but now? How shameful!

I don't know what to think about this. On the one hand it is disgusting them still docking there, but then I have to ask how close is too close? Is it in poor taste to vacation 60 miles away from Port au Prince, out of range of the scent of decaying corpses but ok to dock at Domincan Republic on the other side of the island? Considering most of Haiti was a squalid and despicable hell scape before this, was it ok before but now that it's an extra-despicable hell scape it's worse?

 

[Hacp]

If anything they're doing good by helping the Hatian economy.

 

[skyking]

"In the end, Labadee is critical to Haiti's recovery; hundreds of people rely on Labadee for their livelihood," said John Weis, vice-president. "In our conversations with the UN special envoy of the government of Haiti, Leslie Voltaire, he notes that Haiti will benefit from the revenues that are generated from each call …
"We also have tremendous opportunities to use our ships as transport vessels for relief supplies and personnel to Haiti. Simply put, we cannot abandon Haiti now that they need us most."

I see that from the article and think that "business as usual" is the only way to look at it.

Some Haitians have decried the leasing of the peninsula as effective privatisation of part of the republic's coastline.

I also tend to agree with that as well. I don't much care for privatized stretches of beach that hide the stark realities of where you are.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

I suppose the show must go on. Those vacations were likely purchased and booked months ago.

 

[3chordcharlie]

If anything they're doing good by helping the Hatian economy.

How? By staying at a foreign-owned resort?

They aren't really hurting anything, but they aren't 'helping the economy' in any meaningful way.

 

[ZzZGuy]

So you'd rather no one visited the country, before the quake, making it even more poorer? Not a very nice thing to say.

As for the current crisis, if they donate food or other forms of aid then I'm fine with people sitting on the beaches while there are bodies in the street and people starving. The alternative would be for those ships to not come at all, leaving the country a little more poor and a few more people starving. If they don't donate anything, then they are being very callous.

 

[Genx87]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/17/cruise-ships-haiti-earthquake



Wow, what a saint, it was ok before eating your picnic while 60 miles away people were selling their children for $200 into de facto slavery, but now? How shameful!

I don't know what to think about this. On the one hand it is disgusting them still docking there, but then I have to ask how close is too close? Is it in poor taste to vacation 60 miles away from Port au Prince, out of range of the scent of decaying corpses but ok to dock at Domincan Republic on the other side of the island? Considering most of Haiti was a squalid and despicable hell scape before this, was it ok before but now that it's an extra-despicable hell scape it's worse?

Why is it disgusting for tourists to drop much needed wealth into the country?

 

[Genx87]

How? By staying at a foreign-owned resort?

They aren't really hurting anything, but they aren't 'helping the economy' in any meaningful way.

Who works at these resorts? Are they all foreigners? Does the resort pay any income, sales, or property taxes?

 

[Patranus]

Wow, what a saint, it was ok before eating your picnic while 60 miles away people were selling their children for $200 into de facto slavery, but now?

Ironic

 

[yllus]

I don't know I can really fault the vacationers, nor the cruise ship operators. I guess I'd hope that they'd pack extra food and water aboard the ship and leave it in the port, but what can they really do otherwise? Paid vacation time is precious and short - you have to try to make the best of it for yourselves.

 

[skyking]

I don't know I can really fault the vacationers, nor the cruise ship operators. I guess I'd hope that they'd pack extra food and water aboard the ship and leave it in the port, but what can they really do otherwise? Paid vacation time is precious and short - you have to try to make the best of it for yourselves.

From the OP's link:

Forty pallets of rice, beans, powdered milk, water, and canned foods were delivered on Friday, and a further 80 are due and 16 on two subsequent ships. When supplies arrive in Labadee, they are distributed by Food for the Poor, a longtime partner of Royal Caribbean in Haiti.
Royal Caribbean has also pledged $1m to the relief effort and will spend part of that helping 200 Haitian crew members.

 

[yllus]

Oh, okay. I was commenting based off of the news I overheard/glanced at this weekend. I think they're doing their part.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Who works at these resorts? Are they all foreigners? Does the resort pay any income, sales, or property taxes?

Pat yourself on the back some more, why don't you?

We're now several decades into replacing plantations and colonialism with foreign-capital 'free trade', and it hasn't made a bit of difference.

Until you saturate every labour market in the world with foreign capital nothing changes, because there's always another labour market to exploit.

It's not necessarily hurting Haiti to have these resorts, but it's likely helping less than you think.

 

[Hacp]

Pat yourself on the back some more, why don't you?

We're now several decades into replacing plantations and colonialism with foreign-capital 'free trade', and it hasn't made a bit of difference.

Until you saturate every labour market in the world with foreign capital nothing changes, because there's always another labour market to exploit.

It's not necessarily hurting Haiti to have these resorts, but it's likely helping less than you think.

You know, thats life. If we saturate all the labor markets, guess what? US standard of living will go down. I for one would like to keep living like a king compared to people in 3rd world countries.

 

[3chordcharlie]

You know, thats life. If we saturate all the labor markets, guess what? US standard of living will go down. I for one would like to keep living like a king compared to people in 3rd world countries.

No - the US standard of living goes down because you let capital leave the country seeking cheaper labour, but also allow profits to be repatriated too easily.

This makes domestic manufacturing of anything that can be easily shipped, and does not require highly skilled labour a poor business.

The problem is that when every individual company realizes this, and makes the right decision for them (i.e. manufacture cheap and foreign, and sell in the wealthy domestic economy), the domestic economy gets less wealthy.

 

[nobodyknows]

Why is it disgusting for tourists to drop much needed wealth into the country?

Aas long as you can't smell the rotting corpses or see the people suffering from hunger/dehydration then who cares?

Que Sera, Sera

 

[Jaskalas]

I can just picture the starving masses heading to this beach for some fine dinning.

 

[spacejamz]

Pat yourself on the back some more, why don't you?

We're now several decades into replacing plantations and colonialism with foreign-capital 'free trade', and it hasn't made a bit of difference.

Until you saturate every labour market in the world with foreign capital nothing changes, because there's always another labour market to exploit.

It's not necessarily hurting Haiti to have these resorts, but it's likely helping less than you think.

The Haitian people need to do something about the corruption in their government. Over $1.2B of Haitian 'debt' was forgiven last year? Where the hell did all that money go???

From the pics I saw, the Presidential compound looked like a pretty swanky place before the quake, yet there are 2M citizens living in shanty towns in the same city?

 

[shira]

I think tourists should boycott Mexican resorts because there are millions of poor people in Mexico who struggle to get enough to eat.

 

[nobodyknows]

I think tourists should boycott Mexican resorts because there are millions of poor people in Mexico who struggle to get enough to eat.

I think we have entered a glorious new age of "the ugly American".

 

[StageLeft]

Why is it disgusting for tourists to drop much needed wealth into the country?

Perhaps it's the idea of sunning yourself while being brought drinks by somebody who lives in a hut while not far away others are madly scrambling for what remains of their family under rubble and or on the side of the road watching their children starve. Agree with the ship still going there or not but I'm sure you can understand while some find it at least distasteful.

 

[Jaskalas]

What would you have them do? Contribute to aid?

Perhaps they feel their tax dollars are doing that very thing. So they can both sit on that beach AND help Haiti.

 

[Genx87]

Pat yourself on the back some more, why don't you?

We're now several decades into replacing plantations and colonialism with foreign-capital 'free trade', and it hasn't made a bit of difference.

Until you saturate every labour market in the world with foreign capital nothing changes, because there's always another labour market to exploit.

It's not necessarily hurting Haiti to have these resorts, but it's likely helping less than you think.

And what do you think is better? Resort or no resort?

 

[JEDIYoda]

hahahahaa whata loser of a thread....

What would you have these people do who have paid for their vacation cruise months in advance before the earthquakes?
Possibly cancel the cruise and donate their cruise money to charity for these people?

You know as bad as the situation is in Haiti the rest of the world has not stopped, the world has not closed down......the simple fact is that life goes on.....

Peace!!

 

[Genx87]

Perhaps it's the idea of sunning yourself while being brought drinks by somebody who lives in a hut while not far away others are madly scrambling for what remains of their family under rubble and or on the side of the road watching their children starve. Agree with the ship still going there or not but I'm sure you can understand while some find it at least distasteful.

Do you feel bad when you go to the local pub and are served by college kids who have a 600 sq foot apartment and living paycheck to paycheck? If that job were non-existent would they be better off? What would they do instead?