We Have To Learn To Live Together

At the moment, we have in Haiti what we may call a system of intolerance - Makout Versus Lavalas. Is it so bad that there are two opposing political forces in a country? No, it is  not. In fact, democracy is based on such a notion of different political weights to counterbalance fractious political positions. In the case of Haiti, however, Makout and Lavalas have remained more of obstructive entities rather than democratic power brokers. If Haiti is to move in the right direction, the political entities must look at each other as working partners. We must learn to live together.

How do we live together as one people anyway? We live together by unite and join forces to live and work as one nation, one people, to build a nation of prosperity for the whole. We have to start coming together and applying democratic principles, negotiating, collaborating, and advancing a progressive agenda. Makout and Lavalas do not have to be enemies. They have to be forces working together to balance the nation.

Some people may think, Makout has done too much wrong. Others may think Lavalas is not any better. Both could be true. However, what is important for us now is to not abide by the past, but to begin considering the best alternative to move ahead. And, how do we start? We must begin with our own selves, everybody, his or her own self; we have to take action. After all, what is Makout or Lavalas? Are they not some groups of individuals composing of us? Every Haitian must fit into one group, or some other lesser ones tearing the nation apart. What is important is that everyone starts considering how to join hands with each other for a better Haiti.

Haiti remains a too-divisive environment. You have the minority wealthy class versus the majority poor; the Mulatto versus the Blacks; the city dwellers versus the peasants; people from Port-au-prince versus the provinces; literates versus illiterates; people within the country versus the Diaspora; and you have all the religious conflicts. The fact is, we have to learn to live with all of them. It is a matter of taking strategies to incorporate and tolerate the others in our lives and our surroundings. (1) One of the first things Haitians need to do is to stop destroying government. The question of coup-d’etat, protestation, “cutting heads and burning houses” must stop. There should be enough tolerance to allow an administration to last its five years. Or, if an official or the government is outlawed, there should be some sort of judicial process – no coup-d’etat!

(2) The political forces must learn to tolerate each other, deal with each other, allow each other to participate, and allow the party in power to work. Again, there should be a judicial process to deal with parties that are out of the law. (3) The interest groups have to be fair. You may not like a certain group, but there should be a connecting point that could benefit all. We should reserve the right to bring others to justice when they are wrong; but, when they are right, we need to appreciate them and collaborate with them.

(4) Let us stop the fragmentation and start bringing the pieces together. We must recognize that we are all brothers and sisters under the Haitian flag, and we are condemned to live together according to the law of nature and of nation states. Therefore, please, let us come together and seek a common interest for all on our little territory on earth, that our 10 million brothers and sisters would ever be glued upon. Blacks, Mulattos, Whites, urbanites, peasants, port-au-princians, provincials, literates, illiterates, locals, Diasporas, all the religious groups; we are the ones who make the Haitian nation. And, if Haiti is to be better, it would take all of us. Each one of us must do our part to keep the nation working together for all of us. The next time you see another Haitian, don’t think of him as an adversary or something strange and isolated; think of him as somebody to collaborate,  work, and live with.

Connect with granmoun@hotmail.com or Join the Facebook group: MKNA – All Haitians Together For A Better Haiti.

By E.C. GRANMOUN

E.C. Granmoun is the Author of: "Bully: A Novel"  ebook, on amazon.com