I have been monitoring the situation in Haiti and tend to agree with David Brooks from the New York Times:
[S]ome cultures are more progress-resistant than others, and a horrible tragedy was just exacerbated by one of them.
Even such monstrous phenomena like earthquakes have a lot to do with culture. How do you live, how do you treat your neighbors, what is your relationship to reality—these are the things that are going to define endurance and sustainability of your settlement.
Now, should we make efforts to translate our culture to the Haitians? It may be slightly better in organizing, but from a global perspective it still looks primitive, immature. It fails to meet the challenges of the new era, whether it is terrorism, climate change, or overpopulation. I strongly suggest that we shall question the reliability of the way of living that we ourselves are used to.
Think of all the suffering we can prevent.