THE CHANNEL IS MOSTLY OPEN WATER NOWTuesday, 9:00 AM. 24.5 degrees, wind W, dead calm. The channel is mostly open water now, and the barometer predicts snow, but I think not today.
The damp, gray day relentlessly leads to somber thoughts regarding the Haitian drama we have watched unfold, for even as we are cheered by dramatic rescues and the arrival of initial aid, we all realize the magnitude of the rebuilding process of a city and society destroyed by both man and nature. The rubble may just as well be bulldozed into the bay for a new airport and all the infrastructure built from scratch. Modern architecture and building codes will need to be applied and enforced. Rebuilding will take years, temporary housing for millions will need to be constructed, and all of this in a country utterly devoid of its own resources and with a population immersed in a culture of dependency, crime and corruption. And yet the effort will not be successful if the Haitian people themselves do not fully participate. We must accept this challenge, as the UN is incapable of doing it and we are the only major culture on the planet that actually believes it is its brother’s keeper. And even if were not predisposed to do so, if we do not accept the task Miami will become the new Haiti. Somber thoughts on a somber day.
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