This week I've been reading the history of Haiti, primarily from what's published on Wikipedia. The nation's story, combined with the general course of events of life, has caused me to think frequently about this world, and how it seems like it is evil to the core. There is so much on this small planet that has gone wrong, that is not the way it was intended to be. This human race really has taken the free will that we have and come as close as we possibly could to destroying life and all the goodness of it.
As I said, some of what spurred me to think about this, was the history of Haiti. Haiti is where Christopher Columus landed in 1492, which later became known as "discovering america." Prior to that, the Island was inhabited strictly by native people. Some of you may know that I spent over a week in Haiti in the last month, and while I was there, I continually heard stories about numerous masacres and other events of barbarian bloodshed throughout the country's history. One paragraph that I read in Wikipedia's account of Haiti's history really made me realize and contemplate humanity's evil nature. This is what the paragraph say's:
"Have they not hung up men with heads downward, drowned them in sacks, crucified them on planks, buried them alive, crushed them in mortars? Have they not forced them to eat shit? And, having flayed them with the lash, have they not cast them alive to be devoured by worms, or onto anthills, or lashed them to stakes in the swamp to be devoured by mosquitoes? Have they not thrown them into boiling cauldrons of cane syrup? Have they not put men and women inside barrels studded with spikes and rolled them down mountainsides into the abyss? Have they not consigned these miserable blacks to man eating-dogs until the latter, sated by human flesh, left the mangled victims to be finished off with bayonet and poniard?"
This short passage was written by the personal secretary of Henri Christophe, who was the King of the northern kingdom for a while. This secretary lived more than half of his life as a slave. Henri Christophe ruled over parts of Haiti for more than 30 years. He designed and oversaw the construction of a brilliant piece of archetecture, which is know as the Citadel. It's a massive fort that sits at the top of a mountain,
more than three miles up the only road that leads to it. The view from the Citadel allows one to see about 15 miles, and out to see. Christophe was concerned that the French were sending ships to attack him and take back Haiti, so he thought that he would protect his rule by blasting their ships with cannons while they were still at sea. This structure was built by slave labor, and took over 25 years to complete. 20,000 slaves died in the construction process.
I have frequently heard people describe the US during the last ten years as "the greatest country in on earth." This nation, too, was started by slave labor. None of this country's "greatness" would exist without the explotation of an entire race of people over a span about 200 years. It seems that there is no purity in the human race, nothing that exists within us that would allow us to do something good for others and for the world.
Currently slavery exists in the world. There are wars being fought for the silliest of reasons all over the globe. Water levels are rising and glaciers are melting because of the selfishness of large groups of people. Kids in Africa aren't able to sleep in their own homes at night for fear of being kidnapped during the night and being forced to become murderers.
It would be so refreshing to be able to witness the lives of people like Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Jesus and others l personally and to have this whole conclusion disproven. Certainly it is possible to live with love for others. People could actually those that we share the earth with, rather than to fight and oppress each other.