a1266: Re: a1243: Re: a1228: Re: a1210: Small Businesses? Poincy replies to Pierre (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: "[iso-8859-1] Jean Poincy" <caineve@yahoo.fr>

 THE IRRELEVANCE OF MONEY (INVESTMENT) FOR ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT

The essence of economic development is to shake the
economic structure of the country. That can be done by
creating wealth, and wealth can be created, not by
investment in terms of money, but by transforming the
available resources.

If economic development depends on the creation of
wealth, then Ayiti does not need investment to help
its economy moving (not in the absolute sense, because
the use of any kind of resources to produce something
is considered as investment). Hence, we should
understand economy in terms of means to satisfy
people's needs.

Creating these means to facilitate such satisfactions
is economic development and to create them, money is
not key. Let's understand the whole idea as such and
take for instance a forgotten small community of a few
hundreds people in a remote area of Ayiti.

There is a melting pot of needs in this community: the
need to eat, dress, move from one point to another,
interact with each other and ensure their security to
say the least. Well! Something must be done if they
are totally left on their own for a great number of
years. Although they have knowledge of money, they
have not seen any for years.

At a point in time, one, two or more would take the
initiative to organize themselves. To do so, do you
think their first step would be to call on some
government officials who have erased them off the map?
Voluntarily, they would get together and devise a way
to feed themselves using the plain nature and to share
the fruits of their voluntary labor.

Do we really think they would need money to plant and
harvest? Would they really need money to find ways to
get together to discuss the way the fruits of their
labor would be shared? Let's say that some live up the
hill at some down the hill, would they need money to
find means of transportation? If they have one not too
good, would they need money to make it better? Do they
need money to set a security group to protect the
community? The list can go on.

I would say NO to all these. If anyone of you is
saying that this guy is wacko, think again. If you
think that this idea is for the dark ages, I would not
disagree with you much, because Ayiti excluding a very
minute portion of it is living in the dark ages. If
you don't agree, there are parts of Ayiti you have not
seen yet. Keep exploring!

The country has not come to grip yet with the most
basic things. The country just does not know how to
feed its people nor move its people from point A to
point B. The farmers themselves forget how to use the
land to their benefits. The fishermen are scared of
the sea. Many people are also scared of the sea as a
means of transportation except when they have to risk
their lives to reach the coast of Florida. Their
interactions always tend to mutual destruction.

Forgive me folks, I think I am confusing you more than
I already did. The point I am making is that this
small community will make good use of the resources in
nature to produce something usable in response to its
needs with no money. This is wealth creation. All they
need is their labor and time.

My contention is that money is a myth. As we think, it
does not help alleviate one's living conditions. What
it does is what one makes with the available resources
to satisfy his/her needs.  What good is money in a
land where there is nothing to satisfy the people's
needs?  What good is money in a desert? There, a cup
of water has more value and producing this cup of
water is the key. Any plan regarding economic
development should revolve around wealth creation, the
useful thing that satisfies needs. For, it would not
be just good to encourage the Diaspora to come and
invest. It would be proper to ask them how they can
help create wealth in the country.

THE TOURISM FRONT

If you get to advise any public officials on economic
strategy, you should stay away from tourism.

1) Tourism like cash crop industry is too dependent on
the behavior of the rest of the world.

2) Ayiti is not ready yet for tourism. It has nothing
to offer in exchange or for sight seeing. Trash is all
over the place. I doubt a tourist would want to spend
his/her leisure time in such conditions. Ayitians
live, eat, sleep and die in trash? Is that an image to
offer? Tourists are willing to spend money to see
something exotic, new, different and comforting, but
not poverty and garbage.

3) It tends to create a very complacent labor force.
Everyone would be only interested in tourism as the
sole way to make a living; thus neglect his/her
creative capacity to find other things. The majority
would get trained to work specifically in the tourism
industry. With such a uniform labor force, the economy
would fall on its face once the tourists stop flowing
in.

THE PERMANENT INSTITUTIONAL BODY

This is a too fine idea for Ayitian society builders.
Kesner Pharel would kill it with his cacophonous
economic ideas. The kind that he is coming up with is
scary. Ayiti will be at lost from start to finish if
ever the authorities have to listen to him.


Ayiti has lived, lives and will live
Mozeb


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