The disaster is natural but the circumstances of the Haitian people are manmade.

When I said I wished for a world wide redistribution of wealth this is what I meant. There is much brutally wrong with our global society when on one end of the spectrum we have excesses that should turn the cheeks of the wealthy crimson with shame, and on the other end are countries steeped in poverty, like Haiti, just waiting for one final sweep into utter destruction.

This earthquake would have been devastating anywhere, developed or undeveloped; it was shallow and hard. But the people of Haiti never had a chance. In England we can’t take two steps without a health and safety warning “for our own good”, building regulations, benefits, school policies. I know it’s corrupt, I know it’s flawed but damn it that doesn’t mean there is any sort of equality between us and them. I have known what it is to be poor; I have known the feeling of having nothing but pennies, two weeks until payday and a child to feed. I know the mortification of always having a cold because your shoes have holes in the soles and you can never afford to replace them. I know about the humiliation and hope destroying powers of always coming up short. But I also know that 80% of the battles we fight in this country, while absolutely necessary, are intellectual battles for rights and freedoms.

I was born into my life just as people in better or worse situations were born into theirs. But I don’t want any part in contributing to this abhorrent disparity of basic human rights. Potentially tens of thousands of people have died; god only knows how many are trapped and injured. Children’s hospitals brought to the ground, homes, business, and aid agencies. The people of Haiti live on an average of less than $2 a day. They never had a chance.

Compare and contrast: In October when I was still working part time at a convenience shop, every other customer I served came in grumbling about the flu vaccination. “What’s the point of getting it?” they said, “If it’s going to make me feel rubbish for the whole weekend anyway?” Since I was there in a capacity to scan milk and not hand out lectures I smiled bit my lip (usually). What I wanted to say was, “Well, you can take a weekend of feeling rubbish or the potential to develop pneumonia. I’ve had it, twice, and I’m now practically an invalid. You choose! Or you could immigrate to a country that doesn’t provide you with such medical advances, and just take your chances with nature. Either way shut up and move on.”