  January 22, 2018   Haiti remembrance, day 6  I was always taken by this young man’s intensity. He reminded me of Bob Dylan’s hungry insight when he was younger. Taken in the Petonville camp this guitarist sung of the hard conditions there and was well respected by all those who found themselves living there in the earthquake’s aftermath.  I know I’ve taken a couple days off presenting here, but it hasn’t been for lack of interest—I’ve been at an intense and informing fellowship at the Dart Center at Columbia University looking at how trauma affects us, leaving me with no time to write outside of the fellowship. However the time spent there has helped me better understand the trauma caused by the earthquake in Haiti.  I also think it’s fitting to be posting now on the third day of the US government shutdown. Looking through my photos of Haiti, I can’t help but think that so many here in the US take the government and all that it provides for granted and should be more thankful for the things that it does and does very well from running our national parks to making sure that the elderly have the benefits they deserve after contributing a lifetime to this country. It’s inconceivable to me that the most powerful and wealthiest nation on earth can just shut down the government. Isn’t a closed government because of an incompetent and corrupt leader one of the hallmarks of a shithole country and one one that can only lead to decline unless that county starts valuing the great instutions it spent so much effor building?  As the United States defunds its institutions, does not invest in education and health, I fear that our future will look more like Haiti’s where the wealthy live high above the city while the great majority of the population waste their time time fulfilling basic needs while lacking a good education for advancement. 