Paul Shirley: Haiti Can Go Help Itself!
by Free Britney at .Paul Shirley, a former journeyman NBA basketball player turned writer, is under fire today for recent comments about earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.
Namely, they put themselves in this mess, so he's not going to be donating any money. He has a right to that opinion, certainly, but his word choice?
In an essay published at FlipCollective, he says he "has not donated a cent" to Haiti and likens it to giving a homeless guy money. It's a lost cause.
"I don't think the people of Haiti will do much with my money either," he says.
The questions posed by his missive as a whole - whether events like the Hope For Haiti telethon are worthwhile, and whether a certain level responsibility for such a disaster lies with the victims of the disaster - are not entirely off base.
However, Paul Shirley might have considered an alternate ending.
In arguing that there should be some discourse on how the millions poured into Haiti will be spent, he writes a hypothetical message from the world to Haiti:
Dear Haitians –
First of all, kudos on developing the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Your commitment to human rights, infrastructure, and birth control should be applauded.
As we prepare to assist you in this difficult time, a polite request: If it's possible, could you not re-build your island home in the image of its predecessor? Could you not resort to the creation of flimsy shanty- and shack-towns? And could some of you maybe use a condom once in a while?
Sincerely,
The Rest of the World
Damn, P-Shir. Was the condom bit necessary? ESPN has already said he won't be back as a freelancer, and we suspect he may find other gigs hard to come by.
What do you think of Paul Shirley's comments on Haiti?
Comments (45 Total)
Haiti is the land that evolution forgot. Average Haitian IQ, 72; birthrate 4 per woman, roughly twice the birthrate of white Americans. So you have a country of retards who probably are too stupid to figure out condoms. And of course, they're Catholic so even if they could figure out the condom, the church would discourage its use. Subpar IQ + high birthrate + Catholic church = disaster no amount of American money can fix. And when did Haiti become the 51st state? Obama had no business authorizing $100 million in American aid when one in ten americans are out of work and our country is $13 trillion in debt.
Wamu, you are such a fucking dipshit. You want money spent on golf courses instead of peoples lives. I hope you're being sarcastic because if you're not you're an even bigger idiot that this Shirley guy!
Crazygrl, fitting name. JH, I am Karmabringer, don't tell me what I'm going to do. I'm sure you're no saint! Lizz & Actually, actually(!), condoms have been in use for at least 1000 years. Go to any reputable museum with ancient artifacts & look for them. They are there. Just fyi.
thats wrong...it's not their fault they started out poor. and the condom thing was so out of proportion. we don't know if you probably got like 4 girls knocked up or something so hop off because you have know right to judge any human being that way. just to add it was also not their fault a natural disaster occured. oh and another thing you don't have to give them money because they wouldn't take it with that kind attitude any way..
Wow, hasn't it occurred to this guy that most of this money is never even going to make it to Haiti? Most of it is going to American organizations and the VAST MAJORITY of it will never leave American hands. You don't have to dig very far to see that most money that goes to international aid organizations is spent on very generous salaries for American "aid" workers, the nice cars and homes they have, and all the perks that go along with "saving the world" (e.g. fully paid weeks-long vacations home). Why do you think there were 10,000 foreign organizations working in Haiti over the last several years and at the time of the earthquake and the place was still an absolute disgrace? The self-serving nature of these organizations is precisely why I left the field after 10 years. (The most egregious offender is UNICEF, where I worked for a few years.) See this New York Times article for more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/opinion/14kidder.html?scp=1&sq=haiti%20mountains&st=cse