The economic divergence is shocking -- although not as shocking as that of South versus North Korea. The Dominican Republic's GDP (PPP) per capita is ~10x large

The economic divergence is shocking -- although not as shocking as that of South versus North Korea. The Dominican Republic's GDP (PPP) per capita is ~10x larger than Haiti's, whereas South Korea's is ~25x larger than North Korea's. The author is right that soil erosion, caused by overuse of land without replenishment, is one of the most important factors. Consider: So much land in Haiti is in such poor shape that for decades the country has not been able to produce enough food, in sufficient variety, to feed its own population. The DR, in contrast, is a lush paradise full of greenery everywhere, capable of feeding itself well, whereas Haiti is full of deforested, eroded land, much of it unfit for agriculture. You can see the difference in satellite pictures from space.[a] However, the author mentions only one of the root causes of soil erosion: ideological government efforts preventing the emergence of large-scale agriculture in Haiti. There are at least two other root causes contributing to the poor state of land, as Jared Diamond points out in his book Collapse[b]: * The DR's soil is naturally more frequently replenished by storm systems continually coming from the Atlantic, bumping against the island's central mountain range, and causing nutrients and minerals to flow down large rivers to the DR's valleys at a much greater rate than in Haiti. * From early on, the DR government has actively defended the country's natural greenery against deforestation -- with armed forces who would shoot and kill illegal tree loggers! Surely there are many other factors at play (including the fact that many Western governments had a de-facto policy of ostracizing Haiti in international trade throughout the 19th century and for much of the 20th century), but Haiti's inability to feed itself well, decade after decade, due to overuse of land without replenishment, is possibly the most significant factor. [a] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb6789622-2f8e-42a6-a043-8cdced34163a_1600x1200.jpeg https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_pr... [b] https://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Jared-Diamond/dp/0143057189 https://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Jared-Diamond/dp/0143057189