A Tale of Two Islands

Why is Hispaniola divided between poor Haiti and the rich* Dominican?
And his channel too! @iammrbeat

Some sources/further reading:
Broad overviews of Haiti and The DR:

Dominican Economic History:

Haitian Economic History:

[iammrbeat]

I finally made it into a hoser video. Now there is nothing left to do but retire.

[rilke]

When I went to Cap-Haitien in High School, it made me realize that "poor" in the U.S. is very different from poor in other countries. It wasn't even the poorest region in the country.

[rpd]

As a Dominican, I think the polarizing situation on the island isn’t highlighted enough, nice video!

[cristiandiaz]

I’m currently in DR for the first time and I’m hesitant to use the word rich. Yes there are many rich people and the economy is 10x Haiti’s however I am taken aback by the low wages and all the poverty I’ve seen on this trip, I thought it would be less, more akin to Puerto Rico. Taking the Santo Domingo teleférico/cable car over the slums was eye-opening.

[Pikablast]

As a Dominican, awesome to see people talk about the history of it, my parents grew up in the 60s-70s, so it's cool to understand it more as they moved from there after I was born.

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

Says a lot about Hispaniola's history when you can see where the border is on a Satellite map because of the lack of forest cover on the Haiti side. Fun facts about Haiti: So Haiti in 1822 was the first country to recognize the then newly-formed Greece during the fight against the Ottomans, even sending 45 tons of coffee for Greece to sell in order to buy arms and a hundred Haitian men to Greece to help and fight (but they never made it because they all died on the way), but another interesting thing is how the POLES helped Haiti gain independence.

In 1802, Napoleon dispatched a Polish legion of around 5, 200 men to join the French forces in Saint-Domingue to stop the rebellion. By helping the French, they hoped that France would support Polish independence. But when they arrived, they soon learned why they were really there, to stop people from gaining their freedom. It was something they could relate to. So some Poles ended up changing sides, while others intentionally didn't follow orders from the French to eliminate prisoners they captured. After Haiti won, the Poles were spared and were recognized as full citizens. Today, the village of Cazale is home to the descendants of this legion.

[Jane-qhyd]

Never ask a man his salary
Never ask a woman their weight
Never ask a Dominican what they think about Haitians

[SugarKiller]

In DR we are not rich, we are also poor, just not as poor as Haiti

[MrMrphelps]

Haiti being forced to pay France back, regardless of how little it may have been, was an absolute travesty of justice

[LietunantGreek]

Haiti's history is preety sad same as Dominican but they try a little bit to became a better place
Fun fact for Haiti: Haiti was the first nation to the world to recognize Greece as an independent nation in the beginning of the Greek Revolution of independence of 1821

[osz]

As a Cuban, I think you should really depict Cuba as an alligator 🇨🇺 Manatees don't really make much sense. It is a very common wisdom that the shape of the island kind of looks like an alligator (caimán)

Lots of love to our neighbours in Haiti and Quisqueya 🇨🇺❤️🇭🇹❤️🇩🇴

[danielholland]

born and raised in south florida, ive met plenty of haitians, everyone has been so nice and so genuine; my heart breaks for that country, they cant catch a break.. if its not corruption and gangs, its nature with earthquakes and hurricanes, they havent even had a CHANCE to get back on their feet. i hope they do well

[quasar]

Haiti's history is just depressing. It's sad to see how colonization, corrupt, greedy, and just downright abhorrent individuals, and those awful earthquakes are keeping them down

[YMTStudioX]

I can’t believe he ignored the fact that there are 12 million penguins in Antarctica, and there are 36, 686 people in Monaco, so if the penguins of Antarctica decided to invade Monaco, each person would have to fight over 300 penguins.

[osheridan]

The Dominican Republic is quite an interesting place! Cool to see you make a video about it

[CristianPolanco-wtom]

As a Dominican, I would like to add that the Dominican flag changes whether the country is at war or not. If the country is not at war, then we have our regular blue (on the top left), red (on the top right), red (on the bottom left), and blue (on the bottom right).

If the country is at war then the flag gets flipped with red, blue, red, blue; following the same order I provided. The reason being, is that red represented blood when it was created and today it holds the same meaning.

I liked the video, it really explains a lot of the economic difference and overall differences between the two countries.

[JoseLeybaDiaz]

Just to be clear on something: Lately these types of videos titled on the realm of '' two opposites side of the same island; the rich and poor; the world difference in the same island'' and etc.

As a Dominican I want to say this: The Dominican Republic is NOT a rich country. Nowhere near. You can see it for yourself if you go to the country. Lot of poors, dirt and economic discrepancies. Obviously this is not counting the RESORTS, where most tourist go. They do not reflect the realities of the nation.
The DR is doing somewhat well compared to other countries in Central America, But let's please stop pretending it's a rich country because most politicians use this to try and fool the citizenry by making them believe everything is going okay.

[Grixs]

Hello, I'm from the Dominican Republic. Imagine my surprise when hoser made a video about our island, when I have followed him for a very long while. I decided to point out several things as if they are true or false or if there is a lot more nuance than whatever research you do into us can provide, because culture is a thing. Be warned, I'm about to write a lot.

To make a point zero, the relationship between our countries isn't explained well enough. Not due to a lack of research from hoser mind you, but because there is a ton of nuance to be mentioned. The Dominican Republic is basically the FIRST country called into action to help out Haiti when shit goes down, which is more often than you think. Our country is poor even if its said our economy is growing, VERY poor, but we STILL have to babysit Haiti till this day, to the point where there are international calls to just straight up unite as 1 island. No Dominican wants that. LITERALLY no Dominican wants it.

Our "growth" is attributed to Tourism, people, not exports or outside work, which means all this money go to small elite groups. The normal citizen like me? Just so you have an idea, I work a professional tech job after graduating from a university and getting 4 certificates in courses for expanding my resume. I make almost 800$ a month and every single consumer good is 30% to 40% more expensive than in the US, food included (housing NOT included fyi). Imagine if I wasn't prepared/educated as I am, it IS that low.

Taking pity on Haiti for their past as slaves and "liberating" themselves from being as such is the normal reaction, but for what happened next (reparations) you need to understand the context. Haitians, after liberating themselves, destroyed EVERY single infrastructure the French had left behind when they packed up and then started mass killing every single white person they found, that's where the true reparation costs come from.

To this day, our export of sugar and cacao is massive. Nobody wants to admit it publicly or legally, but we are a vassal state for the US much like Puerto Rico at this point. Whenever something happens and the US gives our Govt a call? We follow whatever they want us to do without question. At this point we are seriously hoping they just somehow buy us or acquire us cause life here ain't shiny beaches and good music.

Trujillo (For English speakers, it's spoken as TRUIJIYO not TRUJILO) was, without a shadow of doubt, a massive fucking dickhead. A ridiculously long dictatorship almost turned empire. There is a TON of people that love him to this day though, because for all his genuinely evil shit he pulled and all the money he stole, he undoubtedly DID make our economy stronger and cemented this rock's place in the Caribbean as a hub for exports and tourism. He was murdered after a lot of riling up and tensions after he murder the Mirabal Sisters, martyrs for violence against women and political revolutionaries for women strength in machista Latino countries. There is a reason why the INTERNATIONAL Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is on 25th of November. I'll let you figure out why.

Some little tidbits;

Tourism is our biggest drive, yes, but only in ESSENTIALLY 2 parts; Punta Cana (which I'm sure many people looking for exotic Caribbean beaches and hotels have heard of) which is mostly owned by Americans or, again, small group of elites. Then you have Samana, or the little corner of Terrenas, which is the MAIN hub for Europeans in this country. Dear reader, I truly advise you from a depth of true sincerity, do NOT go anywhere else than these 2 places. Our country is extremely dangerous for foreigners, even if it sounds like we are humble.

Vodooism in Haiti is STILL a very big thing, to the point where many illegal Haitians still practice it and don't bother maybe learning the Dominican culture of how things are done or made. It creeps out a lot of people in the main cities.

Dominicans are, in general, extremely racist towards Haitians. You think the US has a problem with illegal Mexican Immigrants??? Oh BOY how wrong you are. I could go into detail, but I'm writing too much already. Ask later.

Haiti is, from this writer's perspective at least, extremely unlucky. From the corrupt govs they get, to the Natural disasters that they just get hit on top of one another, to how their culture is self destructive.. Just everything man. I wish it would be solved, but it gets thrown on top of the small little ass country that is the DR.

Speaker vans are actually extremely common. We don't have laws against very loud music at night. Boy can I write a ton about that. At 1 point even I wanted the big ass speakers on my trunk and just open it and let Rip & Tear go off. But I won't, I think you get the implication.

Also, that frontier/division pic? 100% true, I've been to our frontier several times for other things and its genuinely INCREDIBLE how you can see the sheer division between 2 countries by a single dirt road. Haitians have NOTORIOUSLY burnt their forests to get carbon to use and/or sell.

NOTHING is as it seems in the ads picture for travel or general google images you see. Every single young Dominican wants to leave this goddamn rock. No one wants to be here. I'm sure Haitians feel the same, and I can't blame them.

Myself included.

If you got any questions, please do ask away, im more than happy to share. If I can. Or have the time.

[Lando-kxso]

Both countries are poor but Haiti's essentially a failed state whilst Dominican Republic is developing & Haitians aren't just running to the US they're also running to Canada, DR, Bahamas, Chile, Brazil, French Guiana, & pretty much every other Caribbean country

[karlpark]

I've been to DR many times because of good weather and friendly Dominicans. They are very welcoming and easy going folks. It's not perfect but I feel that they are heading in the right direction. For Haiti, I've been told that the best of Haitians are in Montreal. So sad. It is so dangerous even missionaries and charity organizations are advised to stay away.