Paul Shirley...Long write up about Haiti...(I'm speechless)

[ag 47]

Originally Posted by igotthatfire247

... annnnnnd ... fired.

http://backporch.fanhouse...-haiti-remark/?icid=main|main|dl3ink7|http%3A%2F%2Fbackporch.fanhouse.com%2F2010%2F01%2F27%2Fespn-cuts-ties-with-paul-shirley-over-controversial-haiti-remark%2F

Paul Shirley,
the globe-trotting journeyman basketball player, has attracted much
attention over the years for his considerable writing skills. Not all
attention is good attention, of course.



On Tuesday, Shirley wrote a blog post for FlipCollective in which he
suggested that donating money to Haitian relief efforts was not a good idea.
In his post, he also implied that victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami and Hurricane Katrina were at least partially to blame for
their situations.



Shirley anticipated that his comments would be controversial, openly
questioning whether he was a "monster" for expressing the opinion he
expressed. I don't know if his opinion makes him a monster, but one
thing is for sure: It just made him a former contributor to ESPN.com.



In a statement released this morning
(reproduced here in its entirety), ESPN said of Shirley, "He was a
part-time freelance contributor. The views he expressed on another's
site of course do not at all reflect our company's views on the Haiti
relief efforts. He will no longer contribute to ESPN."



Paul Shirley is, of course, free to hold and express any opinion he
wishes without fear of governmental retribution. The Constitution
guarantees him that right. Freedom of speech does not exempt him (or
anyone else) from being criticized for any and all opinions he may
express. ESPN was well within its rights to disassociate itself from
him over his comments.



People inclined to blame Shirley's dismissal on "political correctness"
would be well advised to read his post carefully and consider the
logical implications of what he suggests. He doesn't seem to think New
Orleans ought to be rebuilt, since it could get hit by a hurricane
again. He doesn't seem to think people should be allowed to live on the
coasts of Thailand and Sri Lanka, since there might be another tsunami.
What he suggests for Haiti and Africa is even more extreme. Defending
Paul Shirley's right to self-expression is easy. Defending his
opinions, which amount to "starve the poor so they don't make babies,"
is a little more difficult.



It seems that "the rest of the world" he invoked in his open letter to
Haiti has also expressed its opinion -- not universally, of course, but
loudly enough that ESPN couldn't ignore it.

Maybe he will "learn from his mistake" and never write up anything as foolish as this again.

What ever happened to being human and helping out your fellow brother or sister in a time of need?

 

[wildcard]

ahem. any publicity is good publicity, I for one had never heard of this man until now. Secondly, I agree with him- but then again I only read the first three paragraphs so take it with a grain of salt

 

[nash]

What a selfish, thoughtless moron

 

[nystateofmind5150]

it's free speech, he has every right to say how he feels and what he believes. I personally dont think he did anything wrong.

 

[hazeleyed honey]

What a dense and ignorant individual this man is.

Does he even know why Haiti happens to be the poorest country in the Hemisphere? If anything, countries like the U.S. and other western superpowers owe Haiti so much for all the plundering they did in being complicit in making Haiti so debt and poverty-ridden by robbing it of its riches.

Some of these very countries that are now rushing to the aid of Haiti are some who happen to be directly and indirectly responsible for the systemic calamity that Haitians have had to endure for centuries. The hypocrisy in response to the Haitian earthquake is quite mind boggling -- the countries and their money hungry and greedy corporations that have pushed Haiti into deep poverty poverty are now rushing in trying to be heros because of the global media event demands a response to this tragedy.

They are coming in very well damn knowing to having created the very conditions that enabled the earthquake to be so deadly.

Plus, if ever this man was a Haitian that endured the earthquake or if ever he was caught up in a disaster of this calamity, would he not want to be helped too? That is the responsibility of humanity. If he thinks otherwise, if ever tragedy strikes him and he is helpless, then I'd like to know how he would feel if he was left alone to die?  

 

[shaunhillftw49]

Originally Posted by Dirtylicious

figures as much.

You two have a lot in common

 

[jtplatnum]

dude has an opinion...personally i think it's kind of ignorant for ya'll to talk about him like he's a racist idiot...he has good points...think about it...this is basically what i got from it:

"give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever"

nothing wrong with that. how he phrased it, maybe not the best, but i understand it. who's responsibility is it to help people out of poverty? is it your responsibility? is it mine? when does charity become a crutch? the fact is you can't help people beyond immediate needs, they need to help themselves for the long term stuff. before you go getting all self-righteous on me, what would you do if you were born poor? would you stay poor or would you make something of yourself? fact is, no one is going to bring you out of poverty, you need to do it yourself. it's a mindset.

 

[thunderchunk69]

Originally Posted by AG 47

Maybe he will "learn from his mistake" and never write up anything as foolish as this again.
What ever happened to being human and helping out your fellow brother or sister in a time of need?

whatever happened to freedom of speech?
he wrote it on another website, I think he's wrong and heartless, but he's entitled to have his own opinion in his personal life

 

[mjd77]

Originally Posted by TacC4

bilingue23 wrote:

Unfortunately Catholicism is rampant in haiti 

i understand - and actually agree with - what you're saying but of all the words you could have used, "rampant" is probably one of the least appropriate.
how someone with little-to-no resources can bring a child into the world and subject them to a life of futility is beyond me. that being said, i wanted to agree w/mr. shirley but i can't. his argument is terribly flawed. i believe the united states' foreign aid programs should be re-evaluated and we should make some philosophical changes that take us out of the role of being a rich uncle to the rest of the world. however, i do recognize that our humanitarian efforts have economic and military benefits down the road.

the caveman analogy was horrible. for starters, it made no sense and he laid this hypothetical story out there like it was painfully obvious how cavemen interacted after natural disasters.

We need to get out of the business of policing the world, IMO.  If you look at the amount of $$$ the USA budgets every year for foreign aid you'd piss yourself.  If you want to help these people, fine, but it shouldn't be up to the USA only.  It should be a coordinated effort by many nations.  

  

 

[shaunhillftw49]

Originally Posted by DJprestige21

He is basically telling the country to man up, get off their feet and gain stronger work ethic.

With plenty of insults to go along  with it.

 

[JD617]

Originally Posted by Method Man

It's no secret that, while we were tapped out after the 10th anniversary gift, we're saving ad revenue to make a contribution to a charity offering relief for Haiti.  We're also working with some very talented community members on a special fund-raiser.

At this moment, I'm strongly considering making at least one of those donations as a tribute in Paul Shirley's honor.  He'd be sent a card to notify him of the community's donation on his behalf. 


Anyone with me on that?

Definitely.

 

[mr kuter]

Originally Posted by JD617

Method Man wrote:

---

It's no secret that, while we were tapped out after the 10th anniversary gift, we're saving ad revenue to make a contribution to a charity offering relief for Haiti.  We're also working with some very talented community members on a special fund-raiser.

At this moment, I'm strongly considering making at least one of those donations as a tribute in Paul Shirley's honor.  He'd be sent a card to notify him of the community's donation on his behalf. 


Anyone with me on that?

Definitely.



I 3rd that.

 

[primetime]

I agree with some of his points.. really wasn't the best wording though.

 

[k2theablam]

Originally Posted by Method Man

It's no secret that, while we were tapped out after the 10th anniversary gift, we're saving ad revenue to make a contribution to a charity offering relief for Haiti.  We're also working with some very talented community members on a special fund-raiser.

At this moment, I'm strongly considering making at least one of those donations as a tribute in Paul Shirley's honor.  He'd be sent a card to notify him of the community's donation on his behalf. 


Anyone with me on that?

Great Idea.

 

[hazeleyed honey]

Originally Posted by JTPlatnum

dude has an opinion...personally i think it's kind of ignorant for ya'll to talk about him like he's a racist idiot...he has good points...think about it...this is basically what i got from it:

"give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever"

nothing wrong with that. how he phrased it, maybe not the best, but i understand it. who's responsibility is it to help people out of poverty? is it your responsibility? is it mine? when does charity become a crutch? the fact is you can't help people beyond immediate needs, they need to help themselves for the long term stuff. before you go getting all self-righteous on me, what would you do if you were born poor? would you stay poor or would you make something of yourself? fact is, no one is going to bring you out of poverty, you need to do it yourself. it's a mindset.

C'mon...you really think these people are born poor and STAY poor because they want to? You think that if they did not have the chance to get out poverty, they would not? So tell me then, what is your solution? What can they they do? The global system is made this way so that they stay ridden in poverty. It's a sick demented world we live in where 10% of the wealthiest people in the world own the highest value of income while 70% of the world's population is drenched in poverty with the lowest value of income.

Tell me how these people in these poverty stricken nations can get themselves out of poverty when they are trapped in the cycle of poverty? This poverty is pervasive and persistent in most developing countries in which their population are caught in the poverty trap. There are vicious domestic circles due to internal, as well as external factors, which perpetuate this high incidence and severity of poverty which then act as a constaint on national economic growth. The very same huge international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and all these other international creditors that spew this B.S. about giving aid for the mandate of alleviating poverty are the very same ones that are making these countries becoming even more poor. It is all so they can promote their global macroeconomic agenda with their destructive structural adjustment programs which destroy the economy of these countries to the core all in return to make profit and money and steal from them for their own interest and gains. This only reinforces the cycle of economic stagnation and poverty in these countries since the system is built to keep them stuck in this vicious cycle.

 

[dank roofus]

that be

meth

 

[hazeleyed honey]

Originally Posted by mjd77

Originally Posted by TacC4

bilingue23 wrote:

Unfortunately Catholicism is rampant in haiti 

i understand - and actually agree with - what you're saying but of all the words you could have used, "rampant" is probably one of the least appropriate.
how someone with little-to-no resources can bring a child into the world and subject them to a life of futility is beyond me. that being said, i wanted to agree w/mr. shirley but i can't. his argument is terribly flawed. i believe the united states' foreign aid programs should be re-evaluated and we should make some philosophical changes that take us out of the role of being a rich uncle to the rest of the world. however, i do recognize that our humanitarian efforts have economic and military benefits down the road.

the caveman analogy was horrible. for starters, it made no sense and he laid this hypothetical story out there like it was painfully obvious how cavemen interacted after natural disasters.

We need to get out of the business of policing the world, IMO.  If you look at the amount of $$$ the USA budgets every year for foreign aid you'd piss yourself.  If you want to help these people, fine, but it shouldn't be up to the USA only.  It should be a coordinated effort by many nations.  

  

The gentleman said it right there in what I bolded. Foreign aid from these Western powers is not all rose and pretty skittle rainbows like it is made out to be. It is all a form and disguise to pursue an agenda that goes beyond what we can actually see on the surface. When it comes to poor and developing countries, in most cases, it is when they started to accept foreign aid that eventually kept them even more stuck in this poverty trap. This dependency as a result of accepting foreign aid is what ultimately made them become stuck in this cycle. The actual true intent and underlying agenda aligned with foreign aid to these countries are drafted by the men behind closed doors who have the most to gain out of making these populations more poor. As the poster above me stated, foreign aid and economic and military intervention/benefits go hand in hand.

 

[jtplatnum]

Originally Posted by Hazeleyed Honey

Originally Posted by JTPlatnum

dude has an opinion...personally i think it's kind of ignorant for ya'll to talk about him like he's a racist idiot...he has good points...think about it...this is basically what i got from it:

"give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever"

nothing wrong with that. how he phrased it, maybe not the best, but i understand it. who's responsibility is it to help people out of poverty? is it your responsibility? is it mine? when does charity become a crutch? the fact is you can't help people beyond immediate needs, they need to help themselves for the long term stuff. before you go getting all self-righteous on me, what would you do if you were born poor? would you stay poor or would you make something of yourself? fact is, no one is going to bring you out of poverty, you need to do it yourself. it's a mindset.

C'mon...you really think these people are born poor and STAY poor because they want to? You think that if they did not have the chance to get out poverty, they would not? So tell me then, what is your solution? What can they they do? The global system is made this way so that they stay ridden in poverty. It's a sick demented world we live in where 10% of the wealthiest people in the world own the highest value of income while 70% of the world's population is drenched in poverty with the lowest value of income.

Tell me how these people in these poverty stricken nations can get themselves out of poverty when they are trapped in the cycle of poverty? This poverty is pervasive and persistent in most developing countries in which their population are caught in the poverty trap. There are vicious domestic circles due to internal, as well as external factors, which perpetuate this high incidence and severity of poverty which then act as a constaint on national economic growth. The very same huge international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and all these other international creditors that spew this B.S. about giving aid for the mandate of alleviating poverty are the very same ones that are making these countries becoming even more poor. It is all so they can promote their global macroeconomic agenda with their destructive structural adjustment programs which destroy the economy of these countries to the core all in return to make profit and money and steal from them for their own interest and gains. This only reinforces the cycle of economic stagnation and poverty in these countries since the system is built to keep them stuck in this vicious cycle.

for arguments sake - i can give you ALL of that. let's say everything you said above is 110% true and then some...what is your solution to their poverty? donations? charity? there is strong evidence that long term charity does nothing but act as a crutch. people come to rely on it. in my own life...i see it every day where i live. i've live in brooklyn and steady see the same bums on the same street corners since day one. is it my responsibility to take care of them? is it my responsibility to feed them? is it my responsibility to bring them out of poverty? what can i possibly do for them? over the years i've probably given thousands of dollars to them and i stay steady seein them EVERY SINGLE DAY of my life.

it seems everyone wants to b*tch and blame the next man but nobody wants to take the bull by the horns and deal with it themselves. sure, the world is set up with some countries richer than others and some people poorer than others..corruption, IMF, all that crap. understood. i agree. life's not fair. so how do we break the cycle? is it through charity? is it through donations? i can tell you that saying what you said above is not going to help anyone...it may be true but you nor i nor anyone in haiti is not going to change that.

so what will help? what are you going to do to help? are you telling me that nobody in poverty has any chance to make it out? they're 'stuck in the cycle of poverty'...i agree....but what is going to get them out? charity? donations? um. no. i don't know of anyone that 'made it out of poverty' made it out through charity or donations. sure, maybe charity and donations helped, but that wasn't the sole reason they made it out. people make it out of poverty all the time...stranger things have happened...why do u think poor people that win the lottery soon find themselves back in the poor house? it's a mindset.

as for your question - nobody can 'give' you anything. you have to make it happen yourself. that's the only way it will last.

*Edit: btw, i texted my donation...if only to offer what little help i could.

 

[josebronx]

Originally Posted by JD617

Originally Posted by Method Man

It's no secret that, while we were tapped out after the 10th anniversary gift, we're saving ad revenue to make a contribution to a charity offering relief for Haiti.  We're also working with some very talented community members on a special fund-raiser.

At this moment, I'm strongly considering making at least one of those donations as a tribute in Paul Shirley's honor.  He'd be sent a card to notify him of the community's donation on his behalf. 


Anyone with me on that?

Definitely.

 

[dirtylicious]

Originally Posted by ShaunHillFTW49

Originally Posted by Dirtylicious

figures as much.

You two have a lot in common

oh...how so?..

do explain this one...

 

[dirtylicious]

Originally Posted by ThunderChunk69

Originally Posted by AG 47

Maybe he will "learn from his mistake" and never write up anything as foolish as this again.
What ever happened to being human and helping out your fellow brother or sister in a time of need?

whatever happened to freedom of speech?
he wrote it on another website, I think he's wrong and heartless, but he's entitled to have his own opinion in his personal life

last I checked...dude was still walking a FREE man.
....free speech is still alive and well.

 

[dapper d]

Originally Posted by Mr Kuter

Originally Posted by JD617

Method Man wrote:

---

It's no secret that, while we were tapped out after the 10th anniversary gift, we're saving ad revenue to make a contribution to a charity offering relief for Haiti.  We're also working with some very talented community members on a special fund-raiser.

At this moment, I'm strongly considering making at least one of those donations as a tribute in Paul Shirley's honor.  He'd be sent a card to notify him of the community's donation on his behalf. 


Anyone with me on that?

Definitely.

I 3rd that.


Great Idea...

 

[lesfamilia]

The crazy thing is, some people think that all this money will build the country up stronger than it's ever been before.

Even if it becomes that, the sad part is that's not saying very much at all.

I wouldn't wish a natural disaster on my worst enemy.  Whether he was looking for attention or not, dude was definitely barking up the wrong tree.

 

[sreggie101]

Originally Posted by JTPlatnum

Originally Posted by Hazeleyed Honey

JTPlatnum wrote:

---

dude has an opinion...personally i think it's kind of ignorant for ya'll to talk about him like he's a racist idiot...he has good points...think about it...this is basically what i got from it:

"give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever"

nothing wrong with that. how he phrased it, maybe not the best, but i understand it. who's responsibility is it to help people out of poverty? is it your responsibility? is it mine? when does charity become a crutch? the fact is you can't help people beyond immediate needs, they need to help themselves for the long term stuff. before you go getting all self-righteous on me, what would you do if you were born poor? would you stay poor or would you make something of yourself? fact is, no one is going to bring you out of poverty, you need to do it yourself. it's a mindset.

C'mon...you really think these people are born poor and STAY poor because they want to? You think that if they did not have the chance to get out poverty, they would not? So tell me then, what is your solution? What can they they do? The global system is made this way so that they stay ridden in poverty. It's a sick demented world we live in where 10% of the wealthiest people in the world own the highest value of income while 70% of the world's population is drenched in poverty with the lowest value of income.

Tell me how these people in these poverty stricken nations can get themselves out of poverty when they are trapped in the cycle of poverty? This poverty is pervasive and persistent in most developing countries in which their population are caught in the poverty trap. There are vicious domestic circles due to internal, as well as external factors, which perpetuate this high incidence and severity of poverty which then act as a constaint on national economic growth. The very same huge international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and all these other international creditors that spew this B.S. about giving aid for the mandate of alleviating poverty are the very same ones that are making these countries becoming even more poor. It is all so they can promote their global macroeconomic agenda with their destructive structural adjustment programs which destroy the economy of these countries to the core all in return to make profit and money and steal from them for their own interest and gains. This only reinforces the cycle of economic stagnation and poverty in these countries since the system is built to keep them stuck in this vicious cycle.

for arguments sake - i can give you ALL of that. let's say everything you said above is 110% true and then some...what is your solution to their poverty? donations? charity? there is strong evidence that long term charity does nothing but act as a crutch. people come to rely on it. in my own life...i see it every day where i live. i've live in brooklyn and steady see the same bums on the same street corners since day one. is it my responsibility to take care of them? is it my responsibility to feed them? is it my responsibility to bring them out of poverty? what can i possibly do for them? over the years i've probably given thousands of dollars to them and i stay steady seein them EVERY SINGLE DAY of my life.

it seems everyone wants to b*tch and blame the next man but nobody wants to take the bull by the horns and deal with it themselves. sure, the world is set up with some countries richer than others and some people poorer than others..corruption, IMF, all that crap. understood. i agree. life's not fair. so how do we break the cycle? is it through charity? is it through donations? i can tell you that saying what you said above is not going to help anyone...it may be true but you nor i nor anyone in haiti is not going to change that.

so what will help? what are you going to do to help? are you telling me that nobody in poverty has any chance to make it out? they're 'stuck in the cycle of poverty'...i agree....but what is going to get them out? charity? donations? um. no. i don't know of anyone that 'made it out of poverty' made it out through charity or donations. sure, maybe charity and donations helped, but that wasn't the sole reason they made it out. people make it out of poverty all the time...stranger things have happened...why do u think poor people that win the lottery soon find themselves back in the poor house? it's a mindset.

as for your question - nobody can 'give' you anything. you have to make it happen yourself. that's the only way it will last.

*Edit: btw, i texted my donation...if only to offer what little help i could.




Hazeleyed Honey and I are def on the same page

...JTPlatnum, you say people make it out of poverty all the time, but you make it sound as if it's just a matter of getting up and doing it. this is sadly not true for many Haitians. have you been to haiti? the poverty in brooklyn is NOTHING compared to what is over there. i've been there many times visiting family so i kno what i'm saying. once you're born into that kind of deep poverty you don't really have any way out. period.

 

[eaalto]

Micro-loans would be a good way to help the economy flourish and create jobs.  Once the infrastructure is re-established (if possible), it would be nice to see something pop up like that.