The USA has 15,000,000 people out of work, many construction workers, project managers and support people and Haiti needs their skill set to get back on their feet. We are sending missionaries to dispense food and physicians to cure the injured when there is no place to put these injured people.We could use some of the donated money for supplies and labor, rather than given to a corrupt political system.
I would suggest that this great country of ours establish a construction related FEMA agency that can recruit, train and send the unemployed-with pay- to Haiti- to begin the construction work and the millions that are donated be used to underwrite a portion of these costs. They would go down for three weeks, come home for one week and make good pay and pay taxes in the USA.
Advantages:
1) Haiti gets much needed construction expertise for its infrastructure
2) People get a place to live-even if it is “only” a dorm
3) Water begins to flow
4) US unemployed get a job and great pay
5) The US gets federal and state taxes from the workers
6) The US saves the cost of unemployment
7) The experience for our construction workers would be unbelievable
8) They can get on a schedule of three weeks of work-one week home
9) It could be the prototype for other internal and external disasters that will occur
Disadvantages
1)It would take somebody with some brains in the federal government to coordinate it, which makes it unlikely that it will happen.
2) Some people will say its a daydream and cannot be done- I say it can.
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I was also thinking that we should have some way tp specify to our retirement funds that a small portion of the money we send away for mutual funds etc. be put into a Haiti fund to pay for long-term reconstruction and investment to insure that the funds were available to pay for the work. It would be quite painless ($5-$10/month), but consistent. Has anyone heard of such an effot?
ReplyDeleteNo, but I am not really in favor of donating anything but labor and/or materials thriough the US government. When Dole was President of the Red Cross making $400,000 a year that effectively stoppped me from donating to these type organizations- United Way, Community Colleges, Red Cross - all of them etc.
ReplyDeleteI either donate directly to people less fortunate than I (homeless shelter) or I pay taxes- thats it
Have to agree....Charities are often big, wasteful businesses
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