- A Guiding Thread?
Social thought should not be confused with a politico-ideological current, whether at the global level (e.g., capitalism versus communism) or the national level (e.g., power to the most capable versus power to the greatest number). It rather refers to a cause, in the face of the major problems society is experiencing, and for its renewal and advancement, new ideas are needed. In other words, as Alice Canabate said, when a country reaches a pivotal moment where cultural foundations and social regularities lose their unifying aspect and their sedative advantages, it calls for quests for a new imagination and collective actions. Social thought is therefore the expression of an awakening of consciousness and the demand for a new societal model rejecting the old order. On this basis, a politico-ideological current, or even an economic choice, can then be grafted and take root.
- Evolution of Haitian Social Thought
There are several currents of ideas, starting with the spirit of Vertières and Independence, leading to the revisionists of the last 38 years, passing through the Theorists in power, the Generations of the Round, the Indigenists, the Griots, etc. But, if in the first generations, we found a deep and strong Haitian soul, despite their consequential paradoxes, in the last, so-called revisionist generation, this soul has crumbled. The revisionists demonstrate an exercise in deceptive democracy, sterile for the people and systematically ruining the country's great achievements. The current situation is proof of this. This deep crisis is certainly not only political and economic. It is also, and above all, fundamentally anthropological, showcasing greed, betrayal, and a vengeful spirit. All of this, coupled with an international agenda with both historical, racist, and strategic underpinnings, makes Haiti the only LDC (Least Developed Country) in the American hemisphere and one of the most unequal countries in the world.
- A Decaying Social Order
The revisionists comprise members of a new post-Duvalier elite. In their practices, they have joined those of the oligarchic elite. They have collectively secured international support, their armed wings, and their siren call composed of intellectuals and subservient politicians. They have led the country into a labyrinth that allows only them to profit, against all the people's desires and projects to improve their living conditions. Another segment of the elite, instead of facing its responsibilities to think and take action for the country's recovery, has preferred to observe a strategy of withdrawal or seek refuge in more lenient climes, often on the soil of the country's tormentors and detractors, without offering the country what it enjoys there, other than consumption subsidies and the construction of their retirement homes, serving more as family and personal salvation than collective improvement, especially since the State has not yet defined any policy for valuing transfers.
When President Trump called Haiti a « Shithole », President Macron called the leaders in place « Idiots », Canadian Minister Jean-François Roberge said that « We cannot welcome all the misery of the world » and Mr. Rémi Villemure added that « Haiti is probably the most messed-up country among the 192 countries on Earth, … », it is the expression of their contempt for all Haitians. Such remarks are certainly not new. During the American occupation, American officials said similar things. An American senator even went so far as to say: « You have no idea of the conditions that existed when we landed in this country. In comparison, the Augean stables were a paradise » (See Alain Turnier in « Les sociétés des Baïonnettes », p. 9 – 10). All this, without forgetting the numerous Dominican affronts, which the current president believes himself invested with, in the face of the Haitian side's powerlessness and in the name of a hidden agenda, of the mission to defend Haiti's cause internationally.
What has changed since then, if not that it has only gotten worse, as we behave like prodigal children and banana leaves. We are in a society where dominant materialism generally provides abundantly for the wealthy and transforms the dreams of the majority into chimeras. Young people are the greatest sacrifices. They are reduced to admiring the arsenal of material things peddled by a dominant elite, without a will to share and without a Promethean vision, and which are dangled all day long by media and social networks, thus provoking hallucinatory and irresistible desires. This pushes some of them to make compromising choices to satisfy their cravings. It is this dominant consumerist model, ingested unfiltered, that unfortunately transforms the country into a garbage market, a backyard under protectorate with political and commercial subordination, a society in food, material, legal, and moral distress, giving carte blanche to the informal sector, gangsterism, violence, and flight.
- Momentum for an Alternative Haitian Society
This terrible reality brings us back to our homework. The 222nd anniversary of the national bicolor is a pivotal moment to begin questioning: « To whom does Haiti belong? » The answer must be well thought out, as it must serve as an antidote to this system that portrays Haitians as chimeras and their country as a threat. It is this historical mission that a new social thought must express, working like a Bellerophon to save Haiti. Let us begin by assuming that we are not these clichés and stereotypes that the country's predators and detractors convey, but rather « the light of the world », as Marlène Chouloute-Hyppolite said. It is above all our efforts and the rebirth of Haiti in a Dessalinian logic, a Salnavist fervor, a Solomonist intelligence, and an Estimist intrepidity, that will prove this as a mathematical truth.
New Haitian thought is therefore a work of the spirit that transcends matter, transmitting vibratory waves of positive creation for national emancipation and collective well-being. Haiti's sustainable prosperity can only be achieved through the creation of average comfort for the majority, not through the enrichment of a minority holding or controlling approximately 90% of the national wealth. These energetic waves must primarily come from families, schools, and social interaction circles. However, these social spaces first need to be reframed to take control of certain transmission channels carrying negative waves, in order to convey an education in osmosis with positive creation in its transcendental purity. They must also open perspectives on both the mastery of common spaces: land, sea, air, and digital, and on the construction of « peasant towns » reappropriating the memory of authentic Lakou against colonial schemes.
This new Haitian social thought must above all cultivate in Haitians a civic and patriotic spirit, instilling in them love for the country, a sense of duty, concern for the common good and for others; interpreting greatness in the salvation of humanity and respect for nature, in an aesthetic that brings well-being and a better life expectancy, thanks to enlightened and transparent leadership. Consequently, it must extract daily social life from the cycle of violence, the logic of destruction and blind egoism, corruption, theft of public funds, looting of donations and borrowed funds, to promote probity, the passion for building, for living together, and for preserving material and immaterial heritage. It is within such a framework of moralizing customs, forming a virtuous circle, that investment can flourish and the nation prosper.
- Conclusion
We are at a decisive moment where the unthinkable and the impossible must be made thinkable and possible. New Haitian thought must therefore foster the emergence of a new elite carrying an inclusive societal project led by a sovereignist State practicing leadership respectful of rights and freedoms, harboring a different policy for taxation, investment, cooperation, and valuing transparency; interventionist to serve collective well-being; progressive in economic and commercial affairs; regionalist in political and administrative affairs; pragmatic on the geopolitical and diplomatic level to allow Haiti to hold its rightful place in the concert of nations.
Abner Septembre
Sociologist, Entrepreneur, Ecologist
May 17, 2025.
