Delorme's Republic

 

We are not sure who Michel is, but his videos on important figures in Haitian intellectual thought and history are good overviews. Here he is discussing Delorme's Les théoriciens au pouvoir: causeries historiques, a work definitely inspired by the legacy of Classical and French political thought. Eddy Arnold Jean has also summarized the important work very well in terms of what it represented in 19th century Haitian political thought. In other words, despite the opposition of the Nations and Liberals in late 19th century Haiti, Delorme, of the National side, also believed in an exclusionary political state in which democracy did not entail the the participation of the masses. Instead, democracy was government in "view" of the people, not of the people. Haiti needed a government of enlightened men (women need not apply here) in an aristocratic sense to act on the best interests of the masses. Aristocratic in this context meant those who proved their worth, not just those born into wealth and privilege. 

In a general sense, this did not differ from the Liberals who argued for power to the most capable. However, the Liberals and Nationals did, to a certain extent, represent different wings of the Haitian upper classes (largely but not solely "mulattoes" in commerce and land-owning "blacks). Of course, the "race" or "color" element is contradicted by the membership of the parties and the chief ideologues. Delorme's interests in agriculture as the basis of building a strong state might also distinguish him from some of the Liberal intellectuals who expressed interest in industrialization. Delorme understood that without addressing very basic, fundamentals like farming and roads, industrialization would not happen or would not occur in such a manner that would build wealth.  To a certain extent, he was proven correct about the utter failure of the Haitian economy and the loss of sovereignty. 

Sometimes we believe the Haitian political class should be forced to reread classic Haitian authors like Delorme but they have, in even more perverted ways, corrupted his already problematic political philosophy. The enlightened philosopher or poet presidents have either failed to materialize or proven themselves willing and able to rule in opposition to the interests of the people. The exploitation of the color question certainly did not help here, as Duvalier and other like-minded intellectuals used it as part of the justification for political power to noirs and the middle-class. While they may have, in some cases, represented a shift to a more meritocratic "aristocratie" in the Delormean sense, the Haitian political class continues to operate in the same destructive manner.