At the dark horizon of development: from Haiti to Deepwater

They say that if you want to really understand a system, you go to where the conditions are worse. If it works - or doesn't work - in the worse case scenarios, then that tells you about the rest of the system, where things are 'fine'. We at justmeans are interested in the deep implications of this horrific BP spill. Maybe one of the deep implications is how much deeper we need to be delving if we are going to ensure that the challenges that shine so clearly via the BP spill - and the still-troubling, hardly-rebuilt situation in Haiti.

In a recent 'This American Life' show on the faltering attempts to rebuild Haiti just as the rainy season is coming in, the question was asked, 'what if Haiti isn't behind the rest of the world, but ahead?' Certainly when it comes to global trends such as deforestation, animal loss, poverty, lost business opportunities, economic crises, etc, Haiti is way ahead of the curve. Is it just a question of waiting for the rest of the world to follow? As well over 5,000 gallons of oil a day gush out of the ocean (how can one even imagine that amount? It is enough to give one nightmares), the  human and environmental destruction is horrendous. Haitians are suffering from a 'natural disaster'; the Americans and others who will suffer from Deep Horizon are suffering from an 'unnatural disaster'.   Of course, that it is happening all at once makes it easy to see - as my post on a Nigerian perspective demonstrates, this is hardly new. As others have pointed out, the later is a clear sign of an addiction that is destroying the planet (as if we needed another warning). What if these mars on our planet demonstrate not only some of the unpleasant consequences of 'natural' and unnatural disasters, but the thrust of the future?

Then we had best learn, and learn quickly for sustainable development.

What we know works: the outpouring of global support (in both Haiti and Deepwater); social networking; technologies such as 'Oil Reporter', an open data initiative of CrisisCommons that encourages response organizations to capture and share data with the public as they responnd to the BP oil spill. CrisisCommons is doing great work to use open source technology to respond to disasters, bridging relief-organisations and technology.  It 'works' if crises are big and fast and sudden so that people can see them and notice them. Especially if they effect an entire country (Haiti) or the United States (Deepwater) or another developed country.  It helps to have a progressive government that takes disasters and poor people seriously (Deepwater versus Katrina, for example).  Crises can be opportunities for different growth - a new push for renewable energy in the States - though that movement has not affected the UK in the same way.

What doesn't work: If disasters happen slowly, or in places often 'forgotten' by the world - an earthquake in South America went largely unnoticed; Nigeria has been having ongoing smaller leaks and spills for 30 years, accumulating more oil than the Deep Horizon spill. Disorganised, unconnected, non-systemic responses. the failure of governments to get their act together. Companies not taking responsibility for their actions. Communities left stranded without resources to support their real needs.  The international community's tendency to forget things.

If we learn anything from Haiti that we can apply to Deepwater, it is this: crises may happen swiftly, but they take a long time to fix. That requires sustained attention. That takes more than crowdsourcing. How can we learn to do that - especially if these are not just blips but waves, even potential tsunami-warnings? We need to address the causes. Our addiction to oil is a big cause. But so too is our inability to listen to the needs of poor communities the world over - and the challenge we have in getting out of 'silo-thinking'.  Attend to that, and we might have enough warning from these 'signals' to find some very high ground.