I've been thinking about these "why would you do that" things and talking to people about them, and although I haven't come to a conclusion (I've learned never really to conclude so much as to gain as much perspective as possible), I've overcome the "logical" stumbling block of "why would
they do that (in this case, why would someone be so selfish as to bring another life into a very bad living situation). People asking themselves why, should consider how lucky they were to get educated enough to recognize that this could be considered a selfish choice. I agree with Carlos (I assume we agree) that education is extremely important, and I consider it my very top issue - everything else could be solved with adequate education for EVERYONE. I'd venture to guess that the typical Haitian wasn't as well educated as the typical ecomodder member (the jury is out on that...), but seriously, think about that for a second, think about it for people anywhere, not just Haiti. What I've wanted to try to do since I've come to this realization is to try to build community where I live, and try to educate the people I come in contact with, hoping to lead by example and gain perspective on how to get me/us/all out of crappy situation X Y or Z.
Stop arguing (not that we are necessarily arguing here) and start educating. If you want to look deeper into issues we're touching on, I personally like Ran Prieur's attitude:
How To Save Civilization
Pretty long, but we're a thoughtful, receptive bunch, aren't we?
Cheers!
P.S. Always consider the cultural/economic situation you were born of when making criticism - it's very difficult to be immune of this, and important to consider when one size never fits all.