Haiti: The Need for New Voices and Better Ideas To Emerge

To understand the progress of any society, one of the key indicators ought to be the level of thoughts output from its intellectuals. What do the body of research, publications and thought-provoking platforms offer to those who are in position of power? What type of ideas are being put to test by the intellectuals of the day? Ideas are what shape national identity. Ideas that cannot easily be communicated would never be able to find mass adoption in any society.

The case of the Haitian intellectuals in 2018 is a perfect reflection of the regression of the country. Although with the affordability and accessibility of technological platforms, more people are able to share their ideas, but in the case of Haitian society, the uses of these platforms do not necessarily mean that meaningful ideas are being debated or adopted, let alone having the power to transform into sound public policies.

The Haitian intellectuals, for the most part, are lost in the public discourse which is based on non-factual arguments and rumors. A sad reality today, the narrative for the hearts and souls of the Haitian people is not being written by Haitians, or at least not by those who are living the Haitian reality days in and out.

There are many factors that could be blamed for these lack of concrete ideas in the public forum, from the erosion of the landscape of higher learning institutions to the imaginary fear that thought-provoking ideas could be a death sentence in a country full of miscreants in political positions. It might also be that those who are in position to propose ideas for the benefit of the many are just too afraid to lose potential privileges that a state of mediocrity can offer them.

We are about to witness a head-on collision between an able youth, one that is eager to integrate the labor market and all sectors of national life with an archaic economic and political class, which amassed most of their power and capital via state-sponsored corruption and exploitation of the impoverished.

Instead of publishing thought analyses dealing with the danger of public financial crimes, public debt versus public investment, weakening of public institutions, and a populace ready to explode over a decade long corruption of the most significant public embezzlement case, the thought-leaders are rather engaged in baseless nuances and insignificant matters of the day.

This lack of focus to control the narrative, especially in the sphere of providing progressive ideas that can lead to real development has created an environment where almost anyone without any plan can be catapulted to power. The results of such erosion or void of meaningful ideas in the public forum is the alleviation of corrupted and misaligned individuals in the politics of a nation already at peril.

Recent events and massive street demonstrations all over the country, besides being a cry for justice to the dilapidation of the Petrocaribe funds, is also a strong signal that the Haitian people wants to be led, but not by the same old politics of failures. The debate can no longer be “Aba” down with this or that power, but instead it must be aligned with a set of proposal of ideas than can be executed fairly and exceptionally well with the means and resources of the nation.

We need to have more and better conversations about the rights of all individuals, the respect of the rule of laws, how to create wealth for all, the state of our healthcare system, public policies that can lead to a modern educational system and a civil society that can play its role without intimidation and prejudice.

One of the ways to get there is for the young intellectuals to not shy away from their civic obligations. They cannot become complacent with their new elite status in a mostly illiterate society, but rather they must use their new capacity to speak for the voiceless, to advocate for those whose rights are being violated, and to hold the authorities accountable for their actions. New Voices with great ideas must emerge, if we ought to have a new society.

In Haiti, the days of mediocrity and visionless leaders are counted. Better ideas will win the day, but the carriers of those ideas must be trust worthy, team players and not be indifferent to the plight of the majority.