Tag Archives: USA

Jan 29 2011

A CONVERSATION ABOUT SEX FOR GROWN-UPS

Sex is a major component in determining one’s level of happiness with life. Many aspects, such as socioeconomics and psychosociology of sex, can negatively impinge on one’s sexual life.

In Haiti, for example, one (male or female) could be in their mid or late 20’s and never have to experience the beauty of sex. And socioeconomics, determining the level of privacy a person can have, has a lot to do with that.

More than likely, if your parents are not financially fortunate enough to have the luxury of possessing a sizeable house, where you and your siblings can have their own rooms and all, you may end up having to share a room with four or six siblings, sometimes indiscriminately of gender and age. In such environment, the probability that you have this room all for yourself to spend quality time with your partner is very negligible to the point of nonexistent.

Another aspect of the issue is the psychosociology of sex. Most of us Haitians don’t look at sex as a need to be satiated; we see it as an insulting, derogatory and shameful act. In Haiti, having sex in your parents’ house (knowing that there are people around) is a NO-NO. That cannot happen. It is viewed by most as disrespectful and a violation to the rules of the household. It is unacceptable by all standards for one to even be with their partner in their own room and have the door shut.

Here, in the US, it is not the same. Privacy in the American society is a big concept. Parents start instilling that value in their kids as early as 2 or 3 years old. And the reason for that is because of socioeconomics, giving them the financial easiness to afford such lifestyle.

Also, here in the US, once you turn 18, you don’t have to live at your parents’ house. They would have to beg you to stay. You can have a job and enjoy the privacy of your own place, move out and stay in a college dormitory, or leave your parents’ house to go to the military. You have so many options to choose from, it’s not even funny.

In this country, they have a more liberal and open-minded attitude towards sex than we Haitians do. Here, sex is being looked at as a need. And at 13, 14, or 16, some parents won’t mind if they are to find out that their sons or daughters have been having sex. They will make sure they teach or remind the kids to always protect themselves. Some of them, the more open-minded and liberal ones, not only will they be concerned if they know that at a certain age their sons and/or daughters don’t be having sex, they will even buy them condoms to use when or in case they are having sex.

Unlike in the US, in Haiti, privacy is a matter of luxury, which only the very fortunate few can afford. Unless they can afford a hotel room to have some privacy with a mate, which is very unlikely, or they have a friend that can make his/her bachelor setting or dwelling available to them, don’t be surprised to find out that they are in their mid or late 20’s or even 30’s and have never had sex.

Between the Haitian lifestyle and that of the Americans, I would not claim that one is better than the other. BUT, for the sake of enjoying the beauty of privacy, if most Haitians were asked to choose one that is more appealing and suitable to them, I am sure they would settle for the American way.

Nov 20 2010

I DISAGREE WITH MARTELLY’S SOCIALIST VIEWS

I am glad I spent time to carefully listen to this clip of Mr. Martelly. At the very end of it, he unveils his plan to reform our agricultural practices or means of production. His plan is pure socialistic, which we don’t need for Haiti.

I am for the state to subvention or give incentives to the farmers to help them to cultivate the lands -just like we do here in the United States. I wholeheartedly disagree with him, however, when he wants the state to run agro-credit institutions to lend the farmers money to cultivate their lands. We don’t need that. Keep the state out of the credit market. Let the private sector compete for better rates to the farmers. When it is like that, you create a competitive marketplace where the farmers can go around and shop for the institution that could give them the best deal.  

I also disagree with him in that he wants the state to buy the farmers’ harvests from them in an attempt to control prices on the national market. So if he does that, how could he expect the farmers to compete for better quality products and better prices for those products then? You cannot have players competing against each other in the sector of government. Basically he wants to do (to us) the same thing we allowed the American farmers to do to us. I say let the competition in the market dictate how prices should be fixed and controlled. In other words, let the market control itself. We don’t need the state to be like a godfather controlling the market.

Also, he talks about creating jobs in the peasantry sector, which I disagree with. Government is not in the business of creating jobs. The job of government is, rather, to enact economic policies that would encourage job creation by the private sector.  

As I said many times before, in Haiti, the biggest competitor is the state, causing a problem for the private sector to compete for greater performance and returns on their investments. The market tends to be stalled when the state gets to compete against the private sector. If anything, we need to encourage a competitive market environment, not discouraging it. That’s what capitalism teaches us. We don’t need a socialist economy in the likes of Mr. Martelly’s proposal. It is not good for business, and certainly not good for the economy.