Actually Tiba, I'm not sure where you got your information on...
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Actually Tiba, I'm not sure where you got your information on the current illiteracy rate, but it's wrong.
I posted a while back that the literacy rate had decreased; it is now at 52.9%.
See the World Fact Book report for more updated numbers.
So you see, in fact you are right about the number of illiterates going down. But, that's as far as I go in agreeing with you. If you look at these new numbers it means that the majority of our population is still illiterate, and when it comes to voting, majorities count than anything else. More important however is that, of those who can read, their reading level only goes up to the fourth grade; not enough for them to be able to read and understand the complex issues that are usually debated in normal elections.
Today, the voting group in Haiti consist mostly of the poor masses, who really just understand the spoken word. When a guy like Aristide, who is a crook with a silver tongue, comes along, it is easy for him to talk to the people and make them think that he is one of them--after all, he knows all their proverbs.
When the buffoon name Preval came along, he too spoke the language that the people connected to--basically all he had to do was to speak creole like them and they thought he was on their side. The Haitians that you are talking about no longer live in Haiti.
You know, those who used to vote for the guy that everyone knew was crooked, but spoke French well. That was a while ago. In the end, both groups vote on who looks more like they do than on substance.
And so, in a way you are right.
The earlier Haitians voted on how well educated the candidate was and how well he spoke French; the new Haitians vote on how uneducated the president sounds, and how well he expresses himself in Creole.
I'll say it again; We are doomed.
At least before we could be proud of the people who represented the country.
Now all we have is one embarrassement after another.
Linda, November 13 2008, 6:11 PM
Topic: Second Haiti School Collapse in 1 Week!
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