The Bahamas: Because of foreign investment and foreign banking ...we’ve had the highest GDP per capita in the region for decades ...and, because of tourism, we’ve had adequate foreign currency reserves to support our fixed dollar value ...yet our people are still poor

A country with no plan, pt. 3

I cannot, with any degree of honesty, call myself a supporter of Robert Mugabe, but there is one quote attributed to him from a recent interview with BBC World News which resonates within me. And though I find his style of leadership questionable, I cannot deny that I am in full agreement with his thinking when he declared to his people that “…never, never again shall we make the mistake of allowing our resources – natural resources – to be owned by foreigners. Never.”

I am of the opinion that foreign direct investment (FDI) should never include the giveaway or sale of natural resources, be it acres of land or miles of beaches and waterfront. A sovereign country should always be able to negotiate terms of investment from a position of strength, upholding its sovereignty, such that the very land it is presiding over remains in the ownership of the citizens, guarded on their behalf by their government.

The injection of capital in the form of FDI, in the way we have welcomed it, may serve well as a last resort to boost economic activity, but as a long-term growth model it is worrisome. We have come to think of FDI as the great deliverer, but this neglects to consider the necessity of direct domestic investment and moves the prospect of property ownership further beyond the reach of the common man. A modified approach to FDI where domestic investment is the lead part of FDI should be the norm, particularly in a small country.

This norm and modified approach to FDI should also limit the percentage of ownership of foreign investors in domestic investment partnerships to a capped amount of 49 percent with the remaining 51 percent held by the citizens of the host country as private shareholders, and not held in trust with a government where it does nothing to create new wealth and continuing prosperity for the people.

As is the case at present, a government could choose to have as much FDI as it likes with many capital injections and it will give the perception that the economy is robust, but the real story lies in the domestic sector and with domestic investment. If you want to know how well the economy is doing, ask first how large the domestic investment sector is.

How vibrant is it? How much is it growing? What is it comprised of? What percentage of small businesses in the domestic sector account for overall economic activity? What is the ratio of domestic investment opportunities to FDI opportunities? What percentage of the labor force is employed in the small business/domestic sector as opposed to being laborers in a byproduct of FDI?

And, finally, to get a better idea of long term growth potential, you should also ask how many businesses in the domestic sector really do innovate and are not merely international franchises, resellers or reproducers. You should then seek to bring partners who facilitate the development needs of the domestic sector, not the other way around.

Small business and real growth

The reason small business is the ‘lifeblood of the economy’ is because it relies on innovation, but a search through the local yellow pages and the news dailies is disheartening in this regard. A primarily copycat economy exists in our nation when there is great potential for invention. With the existing imitator blueprint, sustainable growth will be hard to come by. There cannot be sustainable growth until the people prepare themselves to have ownership of original ideas, instead of just employment in duplicates, and until they are creating and innovating as opposed to replicating.

Our country’s net exports in services yield a surplus. Our net exports in goods yield a deficit. We have more services than products to offer the world. Certainly services are an important part of an economy. But what about the other part?

We go to work every day, but what are we producing? A tourist has a great vacation. An offshore investor makes more money. But in this environment how does our daily labor make our lives better? Really, how productive are we in these industries? And how do we quench our thirst for expensive imports when we do little to innovate?

At the end of the day, we still lack infrastructure; we have very little along the lines of finished manufacturing and agriculture, and FDIs leave the same way they came. If these business ventures were more than FDIs, if they were joint ventures with all the consumers in the national economy, we might have more to show for them.

Some argue that we can’t be a producing economy in the traditional sense, that our services will always be greater than our goods, but we have many natural resources and we have them in abundance. If our people were trained throughout life to be innovative and not reliant we could have a stronger and burgeoning domestic business sector and a more resilient economy with more to trade than just ‘heads in beds’ and stock portfolios which consist of assets we can’t even purchase.

As it stands, we are too heavily reliant on people wanting to visit us and on them spending more money here, constantly trying to find ways for them to empty their pockets when our productivity could be speaking for itself in a number of other ways.

There are very many local businesses that provide necessary products and services. Of course we will always need groceries and healthcare and other such necessities, but we have to think beyond the necessary. How do we make the necessary better, more effective and more efficient? That is innovation.

If you sell something already, perhaps you can learn how to make your own version of it or make it better. Keep your business idea as simple as possible and in this manner make it more achievable. Let it grow organically and tend carefully to it as it grows; don’t sit and wait for handouts from visitors. Initiate. Innovate.

A laissez-faire society hinders progress

Inviting tourists to the country and then hoping they will buy something expensive or a lot of something not too expensive is like drawing straws for a prize. It sounds great in theory – a relatively easy win. But what happens when we all get bored with that game? What is our backup when tourists and investors don’t come our way any longer, or when they don’t spend any more, or when our people no longer want to be only servants in any industry?

We are a people who hasten to fall back on “God will provide”. Perhaps for us the spirit of innovation is not instinctive, and maybe that’s why we go nowhere faster. Our motivation to assert ourselves and produce great things like we’ve never done before is pre-disabled.

It’s all well and good to dress up every day and prance around preaching prosperity to others, saying a higher power will provide, but what are we doing to help that power along?

If you were the highest level executive, would you provide to a well-dressed, able-bodied beggar who plainly does not help himself? Probably not, because that would be productive for neither one of you.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a measure of what we produce, how industrious we are, but the deceitful thing about GDP is that it includes output by foreign firms who repatriate their earnings to their own or other countries. So, when we calculate GDP per capita, what are we truly measuring?

Because of foreign investment and foreign banking, we’ve had the highest GDP per capita in the region for decades and, because of tourism, we’ve had adequate foreign currency reserves to support our fixed dollar value, yet our people are still poor. That GDP per capita and those foreign currency reserves suggest that we are either over-producing, which is clear we are not, or that this kind of great wealth is spread amongst everyone, which is clear it is not, or that it is held by a small few, which is most likely. And the few holding this wealth will use it to modernize their lifestyles and possessions, because who knows when they’ll get to hold it again. Consequently, is economic growth through foreign direct investment, foreign banking and tourism really just an illusion in an otherwise non-producing society?

• Nicole Burrows is an academically trained economist and a self-trained writer. She writes primarily on the economy and society, and her interests include economic growth and development and contemporary women’s issues: nicole.burrows@outlook.com.

April 30, 2014

thenassauguardian

- A country with no plan, pt. 2

- A country with no plan, pt. 1

Donald Sterling of the Los Angeles Clippers, his low-life girlfriend; V. Stiviano and America's racial obsession

By Dennis Dames:

The much talk about firestorm between Mr. Donald Sterling; the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, his low-life girlfriend; V. Stiviano and the NBA Commissioner; Adam Silver is indeed far from over.  Firstly, I am not impressed, nor do I approve of the fact that a personal conversation between Sterling and Stiviano has entered the public domain, and which has resulted in Mr. Sterling being banned for life among other penalties - from NBA games by commissioner Silver.

This whole episode sets a bad precedent in my opinion, as many gold-diggers will now follow Stiviano’s gold-digging pursuit, by recording and publically distributing private and salacious conversations between them and their sugar-daddies for personal gains.  I believe that Stiviano will live to regret such a move; and she will end up a piece of unwanted trash in short order.  She has started a devious hunt that she will eventually discover is way above her head and intelligence.

Ms. Stiviano is a bad and wicked woman of many aliases – in my opinion.  Her days as a wannabe rich glamour girl is coming to a rapid end, as Mr. Sterling’s estranged wife has thrown the first punch by suing her for all the things that her separated husband has bought her; as she claims that they were purchased with the family’s funds.  The blow was thrown before the evilly recorded and distributed conversation.

I shall wrap-up for now, but will deal with this subject again as things get muddier and dirtier on this subject.  I will opine about the HIV confessor; Mr. Magic Johnson, and Mr. Cheap man and low-tipper; Michael Jordan at the appropriate time; also Mr. unpresidential Barak Obama, who seems unable to resist wagging his half white –half black tongue in racial fires in his country; even if he is dead wrong.

The Fear of Crime mounts in The Bahamas

Fear of Crime Deepens

By Jones Bahamas:

The fear of crime in New Providence is seemingly deepening as a result of the recent carnage recorded over the past few weeks.

Police have been called to the scenes of numerous armed robberies, shootings and murders in recent days prompting residents in the capital to reportedly take extra precaution in their day to day activities.

The murder count now stands at 37 with the majority of them occurring in over-the-hill communities.
Of the last six murders, three of them took place in the Englerston constituency.

Englerston residents have since expressed fear and concern for their safety after the three shooting deaths which came just days apart.

Wellington Smith who has lived in the area for more than 40 years said crime levels have increased in the area.

“It’s really disappointing because it never was like that but it just picked up, I’m not happy about it at all, safety is my primary concern and the concern of everybody,” he said.

A pregnant woman and mother of two who wanted to remain anonymous, fearing retaliation for speaking out, also weighed in on the issue.

“Crime is very bad in the area, we have a lot of thieves around here, my car already got broken into before, I had two cars and this is the second one to get broken into,” she said.

“This affects me a lot because I can’t buy anything or put down anything in this yard without someone coming and trying to steal so I’m really concerned about me and my children’s safety. We need a lot of police in this area to watch out for these thieves and these killers; we got people who live on the side of us now who tote guns.”

Another woman who also wanted to remain anonymous said each day, she moves through her area on edge, fearful of the criminals’ next move.

“You have some boys who just want to snatch your purse and you have to move out the way before they kill you,” she said.

“The police need to come when you call them because I had my laptop that was stolen, I don’t see why I should be buying these things over and over for people to be stealing when I am a woman who already need assistance,” she said.

According to reports from the public, the shootings could be related to a turf war, however, Police Press Liaison Officer Superintendent Stephen Dean assured that the investigations into the shootings are in its initial stages and reports of turf wars are only rumors at this point.

“Like any other communities, police are concerned about what we have seen in the past couple days, in particular this community,” he said.

“We have put some initiatives in place to increase our presence in these areas, we increase all angles, all hands on deck as we have increased our intelligence base, and we have increased our relationship with the public. We realise that this cannot be a police fight alone so we are engaging members of the public, we’re looking at our religious leaders who can be at the forefront in getting to help us to reach particularly the young men in the area, we don’t want to see our young men just being shot down.”

Englerston MP Glenys Hanna-Martin said that the number of guns on the street is creating a challenge and contributes to the neighborhood’s crime woes.

“We have to understand what it is that is causing it, why is it concentrated in communities like this and others and what is it that we as a country can to do to alleviate and counteract what we are seeing?” she asked.
“One of the things is, there are a lot of guns and we have to figure out how we can successfully interdict illegal firearms in our country. I’m very concerned about that, it’s creating a whole new culture and atmosphere, people at night are hearing gunshots regularly and that creates fear, we have to get on top of this issue.”

The country has recorded two more murders at this point than it did at the same time last year.

April 29, 2014

The Bahama Journal

‘Significant’ Rise In Syphilis Cases in The Bahamas ...and other Caribbean countries

‘Significant’ Rise In Syphilis Cases

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

Nassau, The Bahamas

 

THE number of syphilis cases among other reported instances of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) is on the rise in the Bahamas, said Ministry of Health officials yesterday.

According to Larry Ferguson, Coordinator of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) at the Ministry, the incidence of persons who contracted syphilis since 2010 is concerning, especially among younger people.

Prior to 2010 the older population, in some cases those up to 80 or 90-years-old, were the front runners in statistical data, Ms Ferguson said. However, as more young people contract syphilis, healthcare professionals believe there is substantial mixing in sexual activity between both age categories. 

Ms Ferguson was not able to give the specific numbers of increase in syphilis cases since 2010 but she insisted that there was no doubt that the rise was significant. She said the same has been found in other Caribbean countries.

She noted that the groups most at risk in recent times were men who have sex with men (MSM’s) along with the unemployed and underemployed.

“We know that for the longest time,” Ms Ferguson said, “we have been seeing chlamydia more than any other infection. But even though we are seeing a large number of chlamydia more than any other infection chlamydia cases are going down.

“However we are seeing an increase in syphilis. That is the one thing that we are concerned about. What we find for syphilis, not specifically 15 to 24 age range even though they are included, is prior to this time we always saw syphilis in our older population. Just now we are having syphilis in that population which is a concern and tells us that there is a mixing of the two.

“Unemployed persons who engage in transactional sex, they don’t call themselves commercial sex workers, they just have sex for things. That group is at high risk because quite often if you are going to have transactional sex the other person might not want to use a condom. ‘You want the money, I want the sex so you have to go on my terms’ and that’s one of the reasons why they are at high risk.

“Men who have sex with men, in many cases you have a group and they stay amongst themselves. So if one has syphilis and is intermingling it is more likely that it will spread. But with this group there are persons in the group who take the initiative to ensure that other group members get care and come for testing and necessary treatment.”

Ms Ferguson was speaking to reporters during the Ministry of Health’s first STD Awareness Symposium where scores of health professionals gathered under the theme “Talk, Test, Treat”.

With the rise in cases, the Ministry of Health runs ongoing awareness programmes to sensitise the public of the risk factors involved with unprotected sexual activity.

April 25, 2014

Tribune 242

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and French Republic formalised diplomatic relations

CARICOM, French Republic forge closer cooperation:

 

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)  The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and French Republic on Thursday, 24 April formalised diplomatic relations with the accreditation of H.E. Michel Prom, Plenipotentiary Representative of France to CARICOM.

CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque accepted the Letters of Credence in a simple handing over ceremony in his office at the Headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana.

In an exchange of views following the ceremony, Ambassador LaRocque said the accreditation demonstrated the continued strong relations between CARICOM and France, and referred to the applications for Associate Membership of CARICOM by French Departments: French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

For his part, Ambassador Prom conveyed his appreciation for being accepted as the latest Ambassador of France to the Caribbean Community family. He said that strengthening the “long and strategic partnership” was imperative, given the large community of Caribbean people in France and in its Departments.

“It would be a pity if our people don’t have a focus on working together, not only for regional concerns like security but other bilateral matters,” the Ambassador said. He added that CARICOM’s consideration of French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique for Associate Membership could provide the avenue for more direct participation.

In this context, Secretary-General LaRocque recalled the exchange of views between the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM and His Excellency Serge Letchimy, President of the Regional Council of Martinique, during the 25th Intercessional Meeting of the Conference in St. Vincent and the Grenadines where the issue of Associate Membership was considered. He informed that with specific regard to the French Departments; the Community was in the process of understanding various constitutional arrangements to allow for a dialogue in the not too distant future.

Ambassador LaRocque expressed the hope that France would consider resuming its non-borrowing membership of the CDB as part of its interface with the Region. He noted that another area of cooperation was continuing training in the French language, which would further strengthen relations not only with France and its Departments, but also with CARICOM’s French Speaking Member State, Haiti.

Given France’s increasing influence in the European Union (EU), the Secretary-General sought its advocacy on behalf of CARICOM with regard to EU’s policy of graduating middle income countries from concessionary financing. He told the newly accredited Ambassador that at a time when some countries of the Caribbean were feeling the effects of the international financial crisis, the Region was concerned that access to development funding was premised on the assumption that GDP per capita was an appropriate measure for development. This policy, he added, fails to consider the vulnerabilities of small states particularly that they are open to the vagaries of international shocks and the disastrous effects of climate change.

As CARICOM and France consider future cooperation, Ambassador LaRocque said that the year ahead offers many opportunities. He signalled the Region’s interest in engaging on issues pertaining to trade in respect of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM).

The Secretary-General also noted that closer cooperation could be explored through existing relations between the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and the Caribbean Animal Health Network (CaribVET), in relation to the management of Sanitaryand Phytosanitary Systems.

April 25, 2014 

CARICOM 

The Bahamas: we are a nation for sale... our people have lost Bahamian pride

A country with no plan, pt. 2

Included in our country’s original development plan should have been practical ideas for the dispersion of the growing population into our constituent islands, and that is where foreign direct investment ought to have entered the development conversation and equation. Because, as social scientists have reinforced time and again, living like sardines in a can morphs very rapidly into a bombardment of social ills.

Included in the original plan should not have been tourism, which is not sustainable in its current or previous forms for long-term and diversified growth, given its near absolute reliance on external investment and external decision-making. The same applies to banking, particularly offshore private banks, but also overseas commercial franchise banks, whose ownership similarly originates outside of The Bahamas. But, we keep suffering the consequences of these old decisions and plans, because we keep clinging to something hoping it will continue to be what it can’t.

The idea to build an anchor project on every island was not a brilliant one, because anchor projects foster the same extreme dependence on outside investors. What happens when those investors – who could end up as the second largest employer in the land – withdraw, as they often and are well within their rights to do? And, since nothing lasts forever, what is the plan for when Atlantis folds or fails and 350 thousand people are confined to one island to battle for 10,000 jobs?

Implanted resort properties as a business model for national and economic development are not sustainable. What is sustainable is foreign direct investment in the form of joint partnerships only, primarily or solely in infrastructural development, and this should have been the plan from day one. As it was not decided then, perhaps it can be decided now: no more resorts, only infrastructural joint partnerships with direct domestic investment as a main feature, resulting in equal advantage to Bahamians, to literally build our country. The premise: If John Smith’s and Jane Rolle’s hard-earned money goes straight from their pockets into building a roadway, they are both more likely to have pride in it and take care of it.

We need foreign expertise most of all to build our infrastructure: roads that are sound; basic, reliable utilities, including clean water, renewable power and new communications technology; and ground, water and air transportation and ports on every habitable island, starting with the largest of them.

Above all, we need these things to be attained using methods that don’t include the Bahamian government borrowing money to fully finance entire projects, leaving the Bahamian people with unlimited, everlasting debt and zero financial interest in their own country. Enter bona fide joint partners.

Renewed thinking

Where we find ourselves today begs the question: “What more did we expect to happen, after putting all our eggs into this one, tattered old basket?” Did no one before now, presumably, have the foresight to envision that a diversified economy built on actual, measurable innovation and creative enterprise would move our country further along the path of development and in a more sustainable way?

Entertainment and sports/recreation notwithstanding, where is the innovative talent and creativity in tourism and banking? You can only do so much with natural resources before they become threatened, and you can only offer financial instruments proven reliable in other markets. To survive the developmental long haul and to remain on a growth track with a standard that is constantly elevated, ingenuity is vital. Have we done our people a grave disservice by disallowing – even discouraging – them to think innovatively and creatively for four decades, stifling their dreams before they take root or flight?

We have sold our sun, sand and sea year, after year, and this is the reason: we are a nation for sale. And we keep leaning on it as our staple, because, as some media and political pundits and industry warriors have expressed, it is our ‘bread and butter’. Well, enough already. Who is going to have the wisdom plus the vision to see beyond the illusion that tourism is ‘the goose that laid the golden egg’, or the other illusion that the banking industry won’t continue to be subject to the pressures of international markets and influences?

They are not irrelevant, but we are fighting to keep these two main industries afloat when they are what drag us down lower and lower, because of the chokehold we have on them, which we should have relinquished over time, while creating new industries with the same tenacity.

Restore pride and hope

When your people, since the 1980s, have been taught to keep The Bahamas clean (for tourists) and now the place is filthier than ever, what do you think is going to happen to tourism? Which tourists are we hoping will pay exorbitant travel costs to get here, followed by costly hotel rates, to see what? Garbage? We don’t want to see it; why should they? How dump-like do we have to become for it to register as filth?

I suppose a big part of this mental block lies in the fact that our people have lost Bahamian pride. It’s not difficult to imagine. They have little or no pride in themselves, because they have nothing to look forward to; why should they, when they can’t do or be anything much in their own country, because their country is not encouraging them to develop creative and innovative talents for good, or giving them the conduits necessary to utilize those talents to their greatest potential even beyond the borders of their country?

Economic welfare is and will forever be tied to social welfare, which means as long as we have little or nothing to look forward to in terms of economic gain, communities will degenerate and people will fine-tune their criminality to get what and where they want, in life.

Our economic and social health and well-being won’t improve if we are still dosing ourselves with expired medicines and methods to cure our modern condition. And the longer we wait to transform our nation in a monumental way, to take the gargantuan leap of faith – or whatever you need to call it to make it feel right – the poorer and more criminalized the nation will become.

• Nicole Burrows is an academically trained economist and a self-trained writer. She writes primarily on the economy and society, and her interests include economic growth and development and contemporary women’s issues: nicole.burrows@outlook.com

April 23, 2014

thenassauguardian

- A country with no plan, pt. 3

- A country with no plan, pt. 1

Our Caribbean: Dictatorship in a Democracy?

In Caribbean Democracies We have Institutional Dictatorships within the Framework of a much Heralded Democracy

By Oliver Mills:

We in the Caribbean have inherited the Westminster system of government, characterised by the rule of law, competitive party politics, the independence of the judiciary, fundamental rights and freedoms for citizens, and designated periods for elections. These are accepted at face value, with little sustained critique as to its relevance to the way we really do things, or whether this inherited system is really a drag on our progress because of numerous procedures, debates, the fragile nature of our political parties, and questionable allegiances to them.

And when we elect our leaders, we soon find that, in some ways, democratic practice is either sidestepped, or regarded as an inconvenience.  This results in some decisions not being made through consultations at the various levels, but are handed down after meetings with inner circles and interest groups in the form of directives.  We therefore find that in a subtle way we have institutional dictatorship within the framework of a much heralded democracy.

An article in one Caribbean paper says of the maximum political leader of that country that he has been acting like an imperial leader, enjoys saying he is the leader, and letting everyone know that he makes the final decisions on matters of national significance.  To me this is personal dictatorship.  It shows a self-possessed individual, who needs to remind himself of the position he holds, which he seems to interpret as conveying on him unusual power and authority over others, rather than being the servant of the people.

“Leader” suggests superiority to others, possessing special knowledge and insights, and in a most frightful way, implies knowing what is right over and above anyone else. Such a disposition leads to an abuse of power, the creation of imaginary foes, and does not entertain different perspectives, which are often seen as time consuming, and not dealing with the issue.  Confusion therefore leads to directives being given, while those around the leader remain silent, fearing for their jobs.  But it impacts negatively on the country later, and then the blame game begins.

A former Caribbean leader is noted for saying that he means what he says, and says what he means.  This is the dictatorial mentality of the class prefect, and the traditional colonial administrator who lack the proper communication or persuasive skills, and therefore resort to arrogance and the power of position to scare others into conformity through fear.  This makes some people compliant for fear of imagined consequences, but kindles in others a spirit of resistance, leading them to contest the statements and behaviour of such persons.

This disposition is unhealthy for any democracy.  The politically conscious of Caribbean society should therefore educate their people into a new and different kind of political culture that promotes dialogue, respect for persons, and their views. Dissent must be seen as positive thereby enriching the democratic process.  This is the antidote to emerging dictatorial tendencies.

But strangely, some of us see these statements and behaviours as being those of a strong, no nonsense leader who means business.  And we repose in such persons a certain aura and authority, which are then used to manipulate us, and perpetuate the reign of a Caribbean oligarchy.

Our political institutions and practices in many ways seem to legitimise dictatorship, arrogance, and political puffery.  This is the dictatorship of tradition, and it contaminates real democracy.

Recently, a journalist described a Caribbean leader as fearing no one, adding that he was essentially lord and master of his political domain. Could there be such a thing as “lord and master” in a democracy?  Is it not such thinking that creates a situation where dictatorship comfortably resides in a democratic setting, and is even expected to do so by some?

This idea of strength, mastery, firmness, and being in control is reflective of a mind-set with origins in the plantation system, and we have yet to eject these thoughts from our psyche.  In Caribbean democracy, kindness, sensitivity to others, fairness, and an altruistic outlook tend to be seen as soft and lacking backbone. Leadership has to be a macho thing, encouraging adoration.

To view leadership as being something that is entrusted to others through the agreement of the body politic, and which can be retrieved by those who have commissioned those leaders to act in the public good, has yet to be really registered in Caribbean political life.  Failure of the electorate to realise the power it really has, provides the soil for dictatorship within a democracy.

A minister of government in a non-independent Caribbean territory was recently reported as stating indignantly that there will be taxes, come hell or high water.  Isn’t this representative of a dictatorial strand operating in the context of democratic institutions?  Is this possible, when a democratic political culture is supposed to eject such tendencies from political life, and from the practices of its institutions?

Why then, do we still have situations where democracy is upheld as an ideal, but is then undermined by dictatorial practices and behaviours?  And those charged with upholding it, are sometimes the very ones who discard it.

It would appear, as some say, that real democracy has been hijacked by special interests, as a result compromising the public good.  The political directorate has become the lobbyists for these interests, advocate for them, and the people who commissioned these persons to act on their behalf, are side-lined until the next election.

Caribbean democracy seems to have little problem making the transition from democracy to dictatorship when it suits particular political operatives.  There seems to be no conflict, or sense of unease involved. It is slavery and the plantation system from which these values came.

Many Caribbean political operatives still feel that to get things done, some dictatorship must be involved.  This means editing out dissent. Some even boast with respect to their way of doing things that “there is no democracy here.”  They do not consider the possibility of engaging others, and so arrive at better, and more well considered solutions.

And this type of dictatorial culture slowly takes root.  And it is buttressed by charismatic personalities with high intellectual abilities who mesmerise the people.  A patron-client relationship then develops, where scarce resources are exchanged for political support.

This is neither good, nor right, since a healthy and prosperous society is sustained by the values of democracy and entrepreneurship. Dictatorship leads to benefits for the few, and eventually to a country attaining the status of a failed state.

April 22, 2014

Caribbeannewsnow