Occupying Toussaint (Slide Deck)
Occupying Toussaint L’Ouverture Making Impossible Choices In Unknowable Conditions
Jordan Pascoe
Mitch Stripling #IAEM2016
The Day After
The Situation At The Airport
USAF Combat Control Team
Preval’s Speech
Three Decisions
Clinton as Secretary of State
Adm. Mike Mullen
The Combat Control Team
The Aid Bottleneck
The Ramifications….
But it got things moving… Once the military took control, tower control was re-established within 18 minutes. An average of fifty flights a day were processed on one cul-de-sac runway.
Discussion Were these the right choices? Can we know?
The point is: How do we make better choices in these situations?
Three Issues At Work Lack of Listening to the Locals Over-prioritization of Security Privileging of Technical Knowledge as Leadership
Are we saying that the response was unethical? No.
We’re not here to talk about morality. The issue is more like blindness.
The Hubris of the Zero Point Disaster response doesn’t work when outside responders assume what they know is best. This can make those responders blind to the real situation on the ground. Instead, we need to make sure that local priorities run the response, even when outside responders disagree.
Discussion Do you agree that disaster responders are blind in this way? Is this a problem for a disaster response?
“Part of the stereotypical image is that we’re either wolves or we’re sheep. We’re either devouring babies raw and tearing up grandmothers with our bare hands, or we’re helpless and we panic and mill around like idiots in need of Charlton Heston men in uniforms with badges to lead us. I think we’re neither, and the evidence bears that out.” –Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell
The Haitian Idea of Marronage
Disaster response must be totally responsive to local priorities.
But outside resources and expertise are still critical to helping survivors on their journey to recovery.
Three Key Difficulties for Outside Responders The situation is always changing in ways that its impossible for anyone outside the impact zone to know. Survivors are likely to defer to responder expertise when they need to be empowered. Each choice has incredible ramification and makes a new context you can never take back.
So… What do we do? Of course, we need to provide justice to survivors.
But what guidance would be helpful to these folks making tough calls in chaos?
The Importance of Virtues This is where the philosophical frameworks come in. There’s been a lot of work in that field about how people can best act in these situations. For us, this is best expressed as a set of SENSIBILITIES and DUTIES.
Ethical Lessons Handout
Discussion Are these the right lessons? Can we implement them?
Why is this important?
“And what is absolutely accurate, in Haiti right now, and on Earth always, is that human life matters more than property, that the survivors of a catastrophe deserve our compassion and our understanding of their plight, and that we live and die by words and ideas, and it matters desperately that we get them right.” –Rebecca Solnit, Covering Haiti
Contact Us W/ Questions Mitch Stripling [email protected] Jordan Pascoe [email protected]
Jordan Pascoe
Mitch Stripling #IAEM2016
The Day After
The Situation At The Airport
USAF Combat Control Team
Preval’s Speech
Three Decisions
Clinton as Secretary of State
Adm. Mike Mullen
The Combat Control Team
The Aid Bottleneck
The Ramifications….
But it got things moving… Once the military took control, tower control was re-established within 18 minutes. An average of fifty flights a day were processed on one cul-de-sac runway.
Discussion Were these the right choices? Can we know?
The point is: How do we make better choices in these situations?
Three Issues At Work Lack of Listening to the Locals Over-prioritization of Security Privileging of Technical Knowledge as Leadership
Are we saying that the response was unethical? No.
We’re not here to talk about morality. The issue is more like blindness.
The Hubris of the Zero Point Disaster response doesn’t work when outside responders assume what they know is best. This can make those responders blind to the real situation on the ground. Instead, we need to make sure that local priorities run the response, even when outside responders disagree.
Discussion Do you agree that disaster responders are blind in this way? Is this a problem for a disaster response?
“Part of the stereotypical image is that we’re either wolves or we’re sheep. We’re either devouring babies raw and tearing up grandmothers with our bare hands, or we’re helpless and we panic and mill around like idiots in need of Charlton Heston men in uniforms with badges to lead us. I think we’re neither, and the evidence bears that out.” –Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell
The Haitian Idea of Marronage
Disaster response must be totally responsive to local priorities.
But outside resources and expertise are still critical to helping survivors on their journey to recovery.
Three Key Difficulties for Outside Responders The situation is always changing in ways that its impossible for anyone outside the impact zone to know. Survivors are likely to defer to responder expertise when they need to be empowered. Each choice has incredible ramification and makes a new context you can never take back.
So… What do we do? Of course, we need to provide justice to survivors.
But what guidance would be helpful to these folks making tough calls in chaos?
The Importance of Virtues This is where the philosophical frameworks come in. There’s been a lot of work in that field about how people can best act in these situations. For us, this is best expressed as a set of SENSIBILITIES and DUTIES.
Ethical Lessons Handout
Discussion Are these the right lessons? Can we implement them?
Why is this important?
“And what is absolutely accurate, in Haiti right now, and on Earth always, is that human life matters more than property, that the survivors of a catastrophe deserve our compassion and our understanding of their plight, and that we live and die by words and ideas, and it matters desperately that we get them right.” –Rebecca Solnit, Covering Haiti
Contact Us W/ Questions Mitch Stripling [email protected] Jordan Pascoe [email protected]
