The political parties seeking employment as the next government of The Bahamas should note that the increasingly informed Bahamian electorate demands details of their proposed monetary, fiscal and macroeconomic policies ...before they cast their votes for them... The stakes are too high to entertain politics as usual in The Bahamas

Another general election without substance?

By Arinthia S. Komolafe

thenassauguardian

Nassau, The Bahamas

Now that the election bell has been rung and the anticipated date for the election is scheduled for May 7, 2012, one can’t help but wonder what lies ahead for the Bahamian people during the next government’s term of office from 2012 to 2017.

It is now officially four weeks prior to the election date and we have yet to receive a single manifesto from any of the political parties vying for the top spot in governance.  The opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) is running a campaign primarily based upon improving the economy, job creation and crime reduction and has released literature to that effect.  The newly formed Democratic National Alliance (DNA) has based its campaign on “real change” and being a viable alternative to the established parties outlining its proposals on certain issues such as the economy, crime and illegal immigration.  As anticipated, the governing Free National Movement (FNM) is running a campaign based upon leadership, delivery on its promises and its ability to manage the economy in the midst of the global economic crisis.

 

The economic situation

Nationwide commentary suggests that Bahamians are concerned about both microeconomic and macroeconomic issues affecting their lives.  From a microeconomic standpoint, they are concerned about the government’s inability to create permanent jobs, improve education and ensure that they are able to maintain a decent standard of living.  The issue of home ownership and the deepening mortgage crisis remains of utmost concern to the middle and working classes of the electorate.  It is also an understatement to emphasize that the electorate abhors the reality that in 21st century Bahamas.  Widespread job opportunities are still restricted to the tourism and financial services sectors or the civil service.

On the macro-economic front, there is widespread uneasiness about the rising government debt level in the face of reduced government revenue; a U.S. economy that is slowly recovering; high food and fuel prices; and corresponding increases in the inflation and unemployment rates that are believed to have a high correlation to the high crime rate.  In the past five years, unemployment has doubled to more than 15 percent; the national debt has doubled to more than $4 billion; and crime, including the heinous crime of murder, evidence a fast-paced upward trend with approximately 500 murder victims to date.

While it is true that governments across the world, including developed nations, were faced with some of the challenges outlined above, it has been reported that the Bahamian government had at its advantage several investment projects left on the table by the former Christie administration that had the potential to create additional jobs.  The PLP opposition has reiterated this point and accused the government of what it termed as the “stop, review and cancel” policy which it argues expedited the recession in The Bahamas.

We will never know the true impact that these projects would have had if they had come to fruition.  What is clear is that the government lacked a clear and prudent fiscal, monetary or economic policy that would have guided us through this recession with minimal casualties of unemployment, crime and home foreclosures.

The FNM, which is traditionally considered to be both politically and fiscally conservative in contrast to the PLP’s social and liberal approach to politics and fiscal management, has done very little to distinguish itself in this current term of office from the manner in which it is perceived a PLP government would govern.

The introduction of the prescription drug program and unemployment benefits, which would traditionally be seen as PLP policies, are necessary safety nets that all progressive governments should implement.  However, due to the regressive tax structure in The Bahamas, low to middle income earners bore the brunt of the implementation of these initiatives through increased taxes in the midst of an already challenging economic climate.

 

Where are the ideas?

It is rather unfortunate that in spite of the lessons supposedly learned during the financial crisis and with the election date fast approaching, all the political parties have not provided to the Bahamian people a comprehensive action plan to address the pressing issues facing our dear nation.  Rather, we seem to be headed to another election season in which silliness and petty issues are magnified.  I submit that what is lacking in The Bahamas today is not intellectual capacity or a shortage of innovative ideas, but rather our leaders do not have the political will to implement policies that will move the country forward.

The Bahamian electorate has become weary of campaigns without substance which fail to expressly articulate in clear terms how the country will be put back on the right track.  Political parties will do well in unequivocally committing to tax reform, economic diversification, reducing the budget deficit and national debt in the interest of future generations by producing a viable plan as documented in their respective manifestos.  A commitment in this regard will ensure in the long run economic stability, growth and development.

In the absence of manifestos to date, it is without a doubt that the build-up to this year’s general election will lack the necessary substance to foster sensible debates on pertinent issues and ensure effective scrutiny of the next government.  Politicians should be advised that the old tricks of sheer rhetoric and glorified baloney will no longer satisfy a people that desire more for our Bahamaland. The political parties seeking employment as the next government of The Bahamas should note that the increasingly informed electorate demand details of their proposed monetary, fiscal and macroeconomic policies before they cast their votes for them.  The stakes are too high to entertain politics as usual.

 

• Arinthia S. Komolafe is an attorney-at-law. Comments can be directed to:arinthia.komolafe@komolafelaw.com

Apr 12, 2012

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International

The negative media portrayal of black males as criminals

By Hudson George:

Who is George Zimmerman? Some people say he is a white American; others say he is a Latino American of mixed race, but the fact is he killed a teenage African American young man. However, in the news reports Zimmerman claims that he shot a suspicious looking young black man walking in his neighbourhood. But what clues Zimmerman had to claim that the young black man looked suspicious and suspicious of what? It is obvious that Mr Zimmerman has been influenced by popular western media that portray black men as criminals.

Most people think that George Zimmerman is a racist and he targeted a young black male and committed a hate crime and he should be punished for his bigotry and murder. However, if George Zimmerman was black man and he killed a young white man, most likely in American society he would have been charged with murder, but in the United Sates race is a factor that determines people’s ethnicity and class status. But then again, race and class discrimination is not isolated to American society, because lots of people all over the world are living with hate. They hate other human beings for various reasons beside race.

In the Caribbean there are many people as Zimmerman and sometimes they do stupid things, if and when they have privilege to exercise their powers in society. For example, Caribbean men and women in the police and military service who have the privilege to carry weapons to serve and protect the state, sometimes kill innocent civilians by abusing state power. In most cases, the police and soldiers in Caribbean countries are black and they abuse civilians of all different races for various reasons. And sometimes the state covers up the crimes they commit, when it suits the interest of those in higher authority.

Race, class and gender are social factors that determine people’s status within society. In the United States black people are an ethnic minority that has a lot of social problems. High rate of gun crime, racism, unemployment and drugs are daily dilemmas black Americans have to deal with in their community. 

However, these social dilemmas have created a sort of perception that all black people, especially black men, are suspected drug dealers and thieves, and we cannot deny the fact that George Zimmerman has targeted the young black man as a suspected criminal, who he perceived had some kind of intention to commit a crime in the neighbourhood. Therefore, in the process of confrontation, he shot the unarmed young black man dead.

Most of us as adult black males can visualise what this young black man went through before he was fatally shot. Personally, I experienced the negative stereotype of what is expected of a black man. On many occasions persons of other racial backgrounds approach me and ask if I have drugs to sell and when I reply to them that I do not use or sell drugs, they usually act like if they are surprised. I have experienced some folks of other racial backgrounds make racial jokes when they see a police cruiser passing and telling their black coworkers to look out, the cops are coming for them. 

In North America, the concept that certain crimes fit people of a particular race is no hidden thing and it is sometimes promoted in some media outlets. We cannot deny that Mr Zimmerman must have gravitated to this kind of negative media portrayal that associates some particular criminal activities with black males. 

However, the young black man Trayvon Martin is dead but Mr Zimmerman is alive and living as a free human being, while black folks and other people of good reasoning conscience protest against racism. But this tragedy won’t be the last racially profiling killing. Racism is alive globally in all societies where people of different race and ethnicities reside together. People who follow the Marxist ideology principles believe that capitalism is the root of racism. Some religious folks blame the devil for instilling racism in people’s mind. Many other people have their own views about racism.

However, I believe that racism will never be eliminated from society because some folks who are racists usually accuse anti-racist people of being racists too and in other cases religious doctrines and holy books’ teachings are being used to justify racism. But as I look at black people on the television news media protesting against George Zimmerman as a racist murderer, I wonder how many of them are conscious of the racial dilemma they encounter on a daily basis, even though they are sensitive enough to protest against racism and the killing of the young black man, but at the same time they are being brainwashed by the same mainstream media that are destroying the fabric of black society.

April 7, 2012

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

The marvelous world of capitalism

REFLECTIONS OF FIDEL


(Taken from CubaDebate)

THE search for political truth will always be a difficult task, even in our times when science has placed a large body of knowledge in our hands. One of the most significant aspects of this scientific knowledge has been learning of and studying the fabulous power of energy contained in matter.

The discoverer of this energy and its potential use was a peaceful and good-natured man who, in spite of his repudiation of violence and war, sought its development in the United States, during the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was known to have an anti-fascist position, and the leader of a capitalist country in deep crisis, which he had contributed to saving with strong measures which earned him the hatred of the extreme right wing of his own class. Today, this state is imposing on the world the most brutal and dangerous dictatorship that our fragile species has known.

Cables from the United States and its NATO allies refer to the crimes committed by these countries and their accomplices. The most important cities of the United States and Europe are seeing constant pitched battles between demonstrators and well trained and fed police agents, with armored cars and protective gear, dispensing blows and kickings and firing gases at women and men, arm-locking the hands and necks of young and old, displaying to the world actions being committed against the rights and lives of citizens of their own countries.

For how much longer will these barbarities continue?

In order not to write extensively, given that these tragedies will be ever-increasingly presented on television and through the press in general, and will be like the bread denied every day to those who have least, I will cite a report received today from an important Western news agency:

"Huge swathes of the Japanese Pacific coastline could be inundated, with 20-meter-plus (112ft) waves hitting areas from Tokyo down to the southwestern island of Kyushu, according to the revised calculations of a government panel.

"A 34-meter tsunami could hit the Japanese coast in the wake of a massive (Magnitude 9) earthquake, the expert panel said after revising its worst case scenario projections.

"In its previous projection in 2003 the panel gave a worst case scenario in which no areas would be hit by a tsunami of more than 20 meters (66ft).

"The Fukushima plant was designed to resist a 6-meter (20ft) tsunami, less than half the height of the wave that hit it on March 11, 2011."

But there is no cause for concern. Another cable datelined two days ago, March 30, can soothe such fears. It comes from a really well known news source. I will synthesize it in a few words: "If you were a football player, Arab sheik or director of a large multinational, what type of technology would you crave?"

"Recently, certain well-known London luxury stores opened entire sections for technology lovers with fat wallets.

"Million-dollar televisions, Ferrari video cameras and personal submarines are some of the fetishes to delight millionaires."

"The million-dollar television is the jewel in the crown."

"In the case of Apple, the company is committed to supplying stores with its new products on the same day as their launch on the market."

"Let’s suppose that we have left our mansion and are already bored with hanging out with our yacht, limousine, helicopter or jet. We still have the option of buying a personal submarine or one for two people."

The options continue with rust-proof cell phones, 1.2GHz word processors with 8G memory, NFC technology for making payments by cell phone. Ferrari manufactured video cameras."

Compatriots, capitalism really is a marvelous thing! Perhaps we are to be blamed for every citizen not having a personal submarine on the beach.

It is they and not me who have put Arab sheiks and directors of large transnationals in the same bag along with football players. At least the latter entertain millions of people and are not enemies of Cuba. I must clarify that.

Fidel Castro Ruz
April 1, 2012
8:35 p.m.

Translated by Granma International

Bahamas Blog International

The Summit of the Americas: A Cuban conundrum for Colombian President Santos

by COHA Staff



From April 9 to 15, 2012, the Organization of American States (OAS) and other multilateral bodies will host the Sixth Summit of the Americas, which will take place in Cartagena, Colombia. Bogota is absorbed by this major meeting of hemispheric heads of state; according to the Spanish website Infodefensa.com, Colombia will deploy up to five thousand police officers, six planes and helicopters and three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), to ensure the event goes on without a hitch.[1]

Unfortunately, the Juan Manuel Santos administration has been deeply concerned that the event’s occurrence would be flawlessly staged, while at the same time it has had to face a diplomatic incident leading up to what Latin America correctly has conceptualized as an extremely important summit. Cuba, which is the only state in the Western Hemisphere that is not a de facto member of the OAS, declared its interest in attending what is certain to be a very substantive meeting of the heads of state.

This possibility became a concern for Washington, which has been at diplomatic odds with the Castro government (first Fidel and then Raul) for decades. Tensions regarding the OAS-led summit further flared up even more when Ecuador, a member of the ALBA bloc (Alianza Bolivariana para las Americas – Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas), let it be known that the ALBA bloc could possibly boycott the meeting if Havana was not allowed to participate.

This situation led to President Santos being placed in an untenable position (he would have to invite Castro to avoid an ALBA boycott but, in turn, this would have angered Washington, who would undoubtedly decide to boycott the meeting), so the Colombian head of state decided to travel to Havana to meet with the Cuban leadership. He met with Raul Castro closed doors and had the onerous chore of having to ask Castro to reconsider his intention to go to Cartagena, in order to avoid an incident with the US delegation. This incident, if it had progressed, would have presented Santos with a guaranteed diplomatic conundrum, but thankfully, this situation did not escalate. The ALBA bloc, including Venezuela, will attend the meeting in lieu of a boycott, and Castro won’t attend.[2]

Cuba, the OAS and the Santos Trip

Cuba and the OAS historically have had a troubled relationship. The island state, with its pre-revolution regime, was one of the original OAS members. The OAS was founded in 1948 as successor to the Pan American Union. After the Cuban 1959 revolution was staged, the John F. Kennedy administration pushed for the continent to politically and economically isolate Cuba after its military relationship with Soviet Moscow was acknowledged by Fidel.

The OAS suspended the Caribbean island from January 1962 until June 2009. It would take nearly five decades for there to be sufficient momentum on the continent for a major policy shift to be made regarding Cuba. In the end, even though Cuba’s membership was validated, Havana decided to dismiss its prospects for full participation and chose not to return to the OAS at this time.

This historical development occurred due to the rise of regimes in the region which have been vociferous in their criticism of US foreign policy (as can be found in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador), along with the rise of powerhouses like Brazil.

In 2002, Mexico held a major international conference on financing for development, called by then-United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan.[3] Then-US President George W. Bush was scheduled to attend, but a diplomatic impasse developed when Fidel Castro, the historical Cuban head of state, decided to attend as well. In order to avoid the embarrassment that was sure to follow, then-Mexican President Vicente Fox privately called Castro and asked him not to come, and the Cuban leader appeared to agree to this. However, even though the conversation between the two leaders was supposed to have been private, Castro actually taped their phone conversation and then made it public. In a famous line, Fox tells Castro that “puedes venir pero comes y te vas” (“you can come, but you eat and then you’ll leave”).[4]

Another causative Cuba-related diplomatic incident occurred in 2009, when Trinidad and Tobago hosted the Fifth Summit of the Americas, and there was a clash between Washington and Caracas over Havana. Even before the summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared that it would be clear that “we’re going to Trinidad and Tobago to put that issue on the table […] from the moment the curtain goes up, Cuba will appear on the stage.”[5] Throughout the Summit, there also was concern that Chavez and his allies would follow the final declaration at the end of the meeting with one of their own as a way to protest the US embargo against Cuba.

Ironically, in spite of the tension surrounding the meeting, Obama met with Chavez, which was immortalized in an iconic photograph.[6] The US leader also stated that “the US seeks a new beginning with Cuba […] I know there is a longer journey that must be traveled to overcome decades of mistrust, but there are critical steps we can take toward a new day.”[7]

As preparations for the Cartagena summit began to take shape, rumors began to circulate that Cuba would insist in attending the summit. At first, Bogota remained neutral on this development. For example, in early February, Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin stated to the press that “it is not up to Colombia to invite Cuba to the Summit of the Americas.”[8]

Bogota’s position was in response to declarations made by Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, who said that “from now on I propose that if Cuba is not invited to the Summit of Americas, no member of ALBA is to attend the summit.”[9] Correa’s statements gained some momentum as fellow ALBA members like Venezuela and Bolivia also seemed to be considering a boycott of the summit if Castro was not invited. ALBA has 11 members, all of which are OAS members (which has 34), hence a boycott would have a significant impact on the summit as it would cut the number of attending heads of state by a third. Washington has made it clear that it will not attend the meeting if Castro is present.

William Ostick, a spokesman for the State Department, said that “today’s Cuba has in no way reached the threshold of participation […] there must be significant improvements in political liberties and democracy in Cuba before it can join the summit.”[10] If Washington carries out this threat, this will continue to diminish the multilateral and institutional ties it has with the rest of the continent, at a time when we are witnessing the creation of regional bodies to which US does not belong, like UNASUR (Union de Naciones Suramericanas – Union of South American Nations) and CELAC (Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños -- Community of Latin American and Caribbean States).

To prevent the hemispheric rift from growing, in early March, President Santos traveled to Cuba to ask point blank Raul Castro not to travel to the Cartagena Summit. Given the 2002 precedent, it is understandable that Santos decided to travel to Havana instead of calling Raul Castro. As part of the aftermath, President Chavez stated that there seems to be a consensus among the ALBA bloc to attend the meeting. Nevertheless, he warned that, from the bloc’s point of view, this should be the last summit in which Cuba does not participate.[11]

Cuba and the US: No Breakthroughs On the Horizon?

In recent years there has been a rising momentum to improve relations between Washington and Havana. When President Obama was campaigning, he pledged that he would close down the detention center in the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, located in Cuba. Unfortunately he has yet to do so.

Other more ambitious initiatives included lifting the decades-old embargo on the island. Obama managed to gain enough support to lift some travel restrictions so Cuban Americans can more easily travel to the island or send money to their relatives there,[12] but the trade embargo relentlessly remains, and will continue to do so as long as the political weight in Miami continues.

Regarding the continued tensions between the two countries, in February of this year, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont traveled to the island and privately met with Raul Castro to pledge for the release of US contractor Alan Gross, who is serving a 15 year sentence for espionage and “smuggling illegal communications equipment and attempting to set up an Internet network that could escape government detection.”[13]

On the other hand, the US has controversially imprisoned five Cuban citizens (known as the Cuban Five), for allegedly being spies for Havana. One of the Cubans, Rene Gonzalez, was released this past October 2011 after serving 13 years in prison.[14] The global negative reaction to this political trial further undermined U.S. stature in the region.

Summits of the Americas, a Historical Source of Criticism

If anything, the tensions over whether Cuba should or will attend the Summit of the Americas adds some flavor to a hemispheric gathering that is usually critiqued for its irrelevancy. The first Summit was carried out in Miami in 1994; at the time, the OAS had former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria as Secretary General. While the 1994 summit was an important milestone regarding the initiatives for hemispheric integration, it was critiqued by Latin American specialists as a simple gathering of heads of state without much substance.

Criticism of such high-level meetings and whether anything productive ever comes out of them has continued over the past two decades. In a recent interview between journalist Andres Oppenheimer and former Peruvian President Alan Garcia, the two-time head of state downplayed the importance of these Summits. The Peruvian politician stated that such high-level encounters “[are] a dialogue for the deaf,” and that each leader “goes with a prepared speech, to read it, and to blame someone else of [his country’s] problems, usually Uncle Sam or the ‘horrendous’ international financial system.”[15]

To be fair, it is noteworthy to state that such meetings have brought about important initiatives. For example, in April 2001, during the Third Summit of the Americas, held in Quebec City, the heads of state decided to push for a new pro-democracy treaty, which would become known as the Inter-American Democratic Charter. As the Charter states, the hemispheric leaders decided to create:

“A democracy clause which establishes that any unconstitutional alteration or interruption of the democratic order in a state of the Hemisphere constitutes an insurmountable obstacle to the participation of that state’s government in the Summits of the Americas process.”[16]

Washington has never been slow to point to this clause when it comes to promoting and protecting its interests in the Western Hemisphere.

The Agencies of the OAS: Working in Obscurity

At a time when the OAS continues to be critiqued regarding how it serves Washington’s interests, it is noteworthy to highlight how the OAS has fielded a number of autonomous agencies that carry out important and relevant work for hemispheric issues. When the OAS is criticized, this is usually targeted at the Secretariat and the General Assembly, but there are various agencies that operate under the OAS umbrella, like the Pan American Health Organization, Inter-American Commission of women,[17] Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Inter-American Committee against Terrorism[18] and the Inter-American Defense Board[19] ( IADB; and its military educational wing, the Inter-American Defense College –IADC).

The IAD Board (created in 1942, which makes it older than the OAS), and the IAD College (created in 1962), throughout their existence, have been accused of being at best, irrelevant, and at worst, a “mooseclub.” In a Strategic Forum report entitled “Reforming the Inter-American Defense Board,”[20] John A. Cope, Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at the National Defense University (NDU), perfectly conceptualizes the issues with the IADB, explaining that:

“The reluctance of diplomats to tap the Board’s expertise, even when considering regional defense and security issues, and the IADB’s unwillingness to subordinate itself in practice to the Committee on Hemispheric Security of the OAS Permanent Council or the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security, present a serious impasse.” (P.2)

Cope also adds that, beyond senior officials, most OAS staff members have little awareness of IADB activities (P.2) and that “the IADB structure evokes an earlier period in Latin American and Caribbean history when military institutions were largely autonomous and regularly played a significant role in politics. The legacy of civil-military tension still influences thinking and actions at both the OAS and IADB.” (P. 3)

Conclusions

It appears that Cuba will not attend the summit in Cartagena after all, and the Cuban government is blaming Washington for its likely absence. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez has stated that the US government has acted with “disdain and arrogance” over Havana’s intentions to participate in Cartagena.[21] The Cuban official also stated that:

“The exclusion of Cuba is probably the most notorious, most evident symbol that (these summits) are made in the image of the owner, which is the government of the United States, and they are instruments to exercise domination in a manner not at all democratic”

Indeed, the upcoming Cartagena summit has proved to be a big headache for President Santos. The Colombian leader successfully achieved a diplomatic solution for the Cuba question. At the end of the day, Santos did manage to avoid a humiliating personal defeat as he was put between a rock and a hard place by Hillary Clinton’s completely obdurate and senseless actions on Cartagena, all aimed at improving Obama’s political prospects in November. But its outcome hardly represented a brilliant victory for Santos’ image as a brave and principled new voice for Colombia and his own amazing hegira from being a defense ministry goon to earning the right to a completely renovated reputation.

After all, while Bogota no longer can be found on the wrong end of the leash regarding its diplomatic relationship with the US, the events leading up to the Cartagena summit so far are hardly a victory for him. By carrying out Washington’s wishes regarding Castro’s presence at this major gathering, the Santos presidency appears to continue being under Washington’s sphere of influence as it was during the Cold War. It seems that, when it comes to hemispheric gatherings, the US continues to reserve the right of determining who makes up the guest list. In 2012, it is correct for Latin American and Caribbean governments to advocate that they should no longer feel destined to be eternally under Washington’s narcotic policy spell.

To review sources, please click here

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization. It has been described on the Senate floor as being "one of the nation's most respected bodies of scholars and policy makers." For more information, visit http://www.coha.org/ or email coha@coha.org

April 5, 2012

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

The official report on crime in The Bahamas ...prepared by noted Bahamian psychiatrist Dr David Allen - M.D., M.P.H.

By Paul Turnquest
Tribune242

Nassau, The Bahamas

IN today's Insight, we present the official report on crime prepared by noted psychiatrist Dr David Allen.

Some findings from this report were first published in The Tribune on March 30, 2012.

Dr DAVID F ALLEN

M.D., M.P.H.

USING a clinical epidemiological approach, the root causes of crime were examined over a five year period (2007-2012) by analyzing data from diverse focus groups in the Bahamian community. This was the same approach used to report on the cocaine epidemic in the Bahamas published in The Lancet in 1986. For this study on crime, the focus groups included:

• Families of murder victims;
• Transitional adolescent programme for students involved in violent and disorderly behaviour;
• Chronic drug addicts--sample;
• Troubled teenagers and parents group;
• Public and private psychotherapy groups;
• Church focus groups;
• Visitation to neighbourhoods of violent crimes and murder;
• Confidential interviews;

The results indicate an ominous and pervasive culture of violence and destruction. This culture of violence and destruction is primarily caused by:

• The Chronic Violent Drug Syndrome.

The Bahamas was the first country outside South America to experience a national crack cocaine epidemic. The chronic violent drug syndrome is the continuing devastating blow delivered to our country by the 1980's cocaine epidemic. Similar syndromes exist in Mexico, Colombia, Jamaica, and U.S. cities such as Miami, Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The syndrome consists of six major components:

• Drug Trafficking with its evil empire of drug executions, creating fear and panic among the public and empowering the drug barons in turf wars.
• Increasing numbers of chronic addicts (a person using three times or more per week for a period of three or more years). Chronic addicts make up 1/3 of the addicts and use 2/3 of the drugs. Of chronic addicts, 2/3 are involved in multiple crimes. In and out of prison, these persons are cognitively impaired and find it hard to hold down a job. Although the number of new crack addicts does not seem to be increasing, there is a growing chronic marijuana epidemic among children age 10 years through adolescence. This destroys educational potential since the brain is not fully developed until the mid-twenties.
• Guns, guns and more guns. Guns and drugs go together. Young men tell me that guns are still easily obtained.
• Fragmentation of the socio-cultural ethic.

Disocialization

• Life is cheap. Murder is common. Young men who murder obtain stripes in the Hood (inner city), giving them the reputation of being "bad boys" who are to be feared.
• People in the community live in fear and feel unsafe. More people are talking more about self protection and revenge.
• Property is not respected. "With a gun what is yours is mine." As one young man said, "Even if you lose the dice game, if you have a gun, you still win!"
• Diminished or poor work ethic. It appears that some young men in particular have lost the mind to work.
• Community fragmentation. Crack cocaine feminized drug addiction, knocking the mother out of the home. Left to fend for themselves, children are unbonded and lack habilitation and social skills. There is little motivation for education in the home.
• Gang formation. Young men and women join gangs for affirmation, safety, protection, connection and empowerment. This is a growing phenomena which has serious consequences for the country because the herd instinct is the most violent aspect of human nature.
• Sprees of violent crimes. The gun is the law in the drug world.

ANGER

• Throughout the study, when people are angry they talked about outing (killing), poisoning and suicide. For example in some focus groups, one third of persons in the groups talked about killing or hurting someone. Some of these persons come from respectable families. We have an anger problem in our midst. All feelings can be reduced to fear, anger (hurt love) and shame (self hatred aimed at me) or love and compassion.

Life is wounded. Instead of doing our grief work, we give over to destructive anger and shame, leading to resentment, bitterness, hardness of heart, and finally rage. At the rage point we enter the "Blind Spot." My work shows we become possessed by evil or negative energy. Young men and women who have committed murder or extreme violence describe being taken over by a negative force. "Do not let the sun set on your anger, in order not to give the devil a foot hold" - Eph. 4:26.

As one man told me, "All of a sudden I could not stop stabbing him, looking back I felt something was controlling me."

• Anger causes diffuse physiological arousal (DPA), the heart rate increases, blood pressure rises and pulse increases. Because of the intimate connection of the heart to the brain, when the pulse rises 10 per cent above normal, the IQ drops 20 to 30 points. If men self-soothe by drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana, their inhibitions are decreased, and violence and even murder may result. Sadly the person we love the most makes us most angry! Hence Domestic Violence is a serious problem. If a woman cancels the charges more than three times she is in danger of being killed.
• Alexithymia (lack of words for hot feelings or strong emotion).

If a person cannot express, "I am angry"; "I am hurt", they will act it out. For example a young man who beat a woman said he wanted her to feel what he was feeling. When asked what he was feeling, he said, "I don't know."

Economic Downturn

Men get self-esteem from their employment. Men without work become angry at their wife or girl friend and the children suffer. Some persons respond by a wish to die (suicide). Although there is no direct causal connection between poverty and crime, there is a clear connection between the loss of money or status and increased rage or suicidal ideation, e.g. a girl friend said that after losing his job, her boy friend kept a hang-man's noose in the bedroom. And told her he could no longer afford to give her what she wanted. So when the time is right he would hang himself.

Young girls make themselves available to older men in a form of prostitution which is becoming increasingly common. This is seen as an acceptable way to pay for education or family bills, e.g. cable, electricity and water.

Affects of Child Abuse

Nearly all troubled children seen had some type of abuse, especially physical and sexual abuse. Dorothy Lewis at Yale studying 14 teenager murderers found that 13 had experienced severe abuse such as physical beating, incest, and forced sodomy. Studies show that child abuse can be greatly reduced by neighbourhood walk arounds. If every church adopted the community around their church, and did weekly walk abouts they would observe child abuse, neglect and other crimes in the making. This is a powerful crime prevention process. Using this methodology, since there is a church on every corner, we could revolutionize the Bahamas in three years.

Traumatization

Murder or violence not only affects the victim. Each victim has a sociophile of about 100 people (including family, friends, church, and neighbours) who in turn are traumatized by the victim's trauma. Symptoms of trauma include

• Intrusive symptoms: flashbacks, nightmares.
• Arousal symptoms: anger, revenge, fighting, rebellion. A young lady rushed into our programme with a machete saying some one had just killed her brother. Because her brother was the supporter of the family and acted like the father, she felt obligated to kill his murderer. At that point Ms. Idena Burrows, one of our volunteers whose son was murdered, prayed with her. The lady left the programme relieved. She said if it had not been for Ms. Burrows' intervention she would have been a murderer that day. This is a powerful example of people helping people.
• Insecurity symptoms: withdrawal, fear of being alone, need for gang membership.

A young boy whose friend was killed in a mall parking lot said, "He was killed because he was alone. He should have been with his boys."

• Magical thinking: A young boy told me, "If you get stabbed, just hold your chest and you will not die. My friend did it and he lived."
• Upside down values. A group of 12 to 15 year olds said they did not expect to live as long as 25 to 30 years because they knew someone who was killed.
• Thinking violence is cool. A 15-year-old who stabbed another boy said violence is cool. If you kill you get stripes in the hood and will only spend six months in jail.
• Suicidal tendencies. When a young person committed suicide, the friends in the group said the person was better off, and they wished they could do the same. Young people see life as purely a body experience i.e. looks good, feels good and having good things. But when we don't have the good things life is meaningless. We have to examine our theology, because killing the body does not destroy life. "What should it profit if a person gains the whole world, but loses his soul?"
• Poor cognitive skills, disinterest in school, inability to concentrate and poor impulse controls. This leads to fighting and stabbings.

Root Causes of Crime -

Persons interviewed claimed that the root cause of crimes are (1) Lack of family rearing and cohesion (2) Inadequacy of the Judicial system (3) Poor education making crime a viable alternate for kids who can't get a job or refuse work (4) Violent Chronic Drug Syndrome with its increasingly bold executions - as seen in Nassau, Mexico, Jamaica. (5) Unemployment and (6) child abuse. Other main concerns that still confront us are domestic violence and an increasingly callous indifferent public that has gradually moved into the danger zone of learned helplessness. Sadly the people, including the church, are beaten down and are close to giving up feel hopeless. Parents are advising their kids not to return home and encourage them to seek careers in the USA or Canada.

The psychodynamics of Violence and Murder

All violence begins with hurt involving, either, abandonment, rejection or humiliation. This produces a powerful shame response involving loss of face, low self esteem, being dissed (disrespected), cheated, made fun of or betrayed, etc. Shame is self hatred aimed at me, i.e. the person internalized the hurt against himself and now becomes destructive to himself and others.

The Shame response results in Narcissistic Rage (murderous anger) which leads to self violence (abuse, or suicide) or threatening behaviour or homicide.

The degree of the violence or murder is directly proportional to the intensity of the shame and not the hurt. The intensity of the shame response depends on (a) The relationship of the person doing the shaming (b) The witness of the shame process (c) The surprise element of the shame (d) If a person is shamed in a area they feel insecure about, e.g. body defect, or insecurity with girlfriend (e) Alcohol or drugs (f) brain dysrythmias e.g. seizures (h) Previous shame experiences.

PERSON:

Hurt, shame response, narcisstic rage, suicide or murder.

Violent crime can only be prevented by decreasing the shame response through loving, caring and understanding, e.g. gestures, education, child protection and support, involvement with work within the community, caring for the indigent and unemployed and making opportunities for growth. i.e. developing a cohesive and symphonic community.

In essence the high violent crime epidemic of the Bahamas is because we have evolved into an uncaring disconnected Nation.

Recommendations -

• Establishment of a National Crime Forum.

This committee should not be an adhocracy that does another report and disbands. But should be Government operated and part of the bureaucracy approved on for a 3-5 year basis to oversee the implementation of anti-crime initiatives and tackles the root causes of crime. They should be visible in the community and work in conjunction with the police. It is ridiculous to put the full burden of crime on the already over worked police force. They cannot be responsible for the root causes of crime.

Sir Robert Peele said, "The police is the public and the public is the police." We have an excellent police force, but they can only be as effective as the public is supportive. The process of reducing crime in a population requires an effective social contract between government and non-government agencies. Such a social contract can be created by the government establishing an entity called "The National Crime Forum" made up of a microcosm of society dealing with the root causes of crime, including persons representing government (e.g. Health, Social Welfare and Law Enforcement, the Church, Business (e.g. Chamber of Commerce), The Media, Charity Groups (e.g. Rotary, Red Cross), Special Interest Groups (e.g. Families Against Murder, The Crisis Centre, Children's Rights Group, The Professional and Security Officers Association ,etc) and ordinary members of society (e.g. a victims of violent crime). The crime committee sanctioned by government with a focused, no nonsense leader will provide a united front for citizens to work hand in hand with the police and the public to confront the monster of violent crime. This will go a long way to negate the feelings of societal hopelessness, apathy and pessimism associated with community fragmentation and fear in this present crisis.

Function of the National Crime Forum:

• Raise the public awareness of crime and its solutions through discussions at Town Meetings, Media Involvement, and in community Walk Around's.
• Increase public cooperation to support our policemen and other Law enforcement personnel.
• Act as an advocate for victims of violent crimes - decrease the traumatization of victims and small children by giving love and support.
• Follow crime statistics and make sure International data on crime are accurate.
• Create a National Anger Management and Conflict Resolution Programme for persons in the media, school, church, as well as charity groups.
• Act as a Think Tank to examine the root causes of crime through research and explore possible solutions.
• Fighting crime is expensive; the committee could encourage the collection of funds to fight crime. For example, if 50,000 Bahamians gave $1 per week, in one year we will have $2,400,000. A committee of distinguished accountants could be appointed to monitor such a fund.
• Encourage the church to be directly involved in fighting the root causes of crime. The churches could patrol their areas and act as a community support centre for victims of crime.
• Establish the integration Citizen Crime Watch Organizations in all areas.
• Establish a National Parenting programme by bringing together all groups presently involved in doing such work. A nation is judged by the way it treats its children.

Reformation of the Legal System

The Legal System needs to be reformed so that justice is accomplished in a timely fashion. The Government has provided legislation to enhance this. It will take time for this.

• Increase recruitment of Police personnel both locally and abroad -

We have an excellent police force who works tirelessly to solve our crime problem. But our police need even more help. In our research all of the respondents said the increased presence of more police on the street and in neglected areas is the best deterrent to crime. They said Bahamians still have a fear of police and dogs. Combining both is a strong signal that business is not as usual.

• Provide incentives to attract young Bahamians into law enforcement
• Organize Exchange police programmes with particular countries in the Caribbean, Canada, UK, Israel i.e. 30 of our policemen go there and 30 of their policemen come here, this produces cross fertilization, enhances competency and breaks the incestuous nature of the force thus creating an even more effective police force.
• Strengthen witness Protection Programme

Implement and strengthen the Witness Protection Act: (Bahamians are becoming afraid to give testimony to violent crimes).

• Use out of town placement for certain vulnerable witnesses.
• Organize special training for police or others in the witness protection programme
• Capital punishment

Enforce the law of capital punishment, especially if a person has killed more than once.

Close Circuit Television (CCT)

Implement CCTV throughout Nassau, especially in crime ridden areas. Much is being done and the results are amazing. The reduction of drugs on CCTV is an excellent development. The technology improves daily and will prove even more effective in the future. The Government has moved to put this in place.

Establish a National Parenting Programme

Parenting is a job which demands skills which can be taught and learned. Similarly, behaviour is learned, and as a result can be unlearned. The creation of a National Parenting Programme will contribute to short term and long term solutions to destructive behaviour.

Train Law Enforcement Personnel to be more sensitive to Victims of Violent Crimes:

Victims of crime are traumatized and the manner in which they are spoken to or cared for can make a difference in their ability to cope with the tragedy and court trial.

Enforce the Domestic Violence Act

Domestic or relationship violence and stalking requires quick decisive action. The Domestic Violence Act provides for this, but the act must be enforced. One of the referrals to our programme had her finger chopped off by her lover.

Establish Residential Programme for Extremely at Risk Youth

The establishment of a residential programme for extremely at risk youth based on a group psychotherapy model as opposed to the boot camp approach provides hope and habilitation for our young men! We have observed how the group therapy model is affecting the young people in our programme in Nassau and Washington, DC.

Establish a mandatory national service programme for wayward youth

We meet so many young men who have been expelled from school and hang out on the blocks. Such a programme would be very helpful to them to give structure and hope.

Conclusion

We all need to counteract the culture of violence and destruction with a culture of life and hope. We need leaders in all segments of the community; Leaders are persons who absorb chaos, exude calm and instil hope. All of us are called to be leaders in our sphere of influence. This requires a perceptual shift from anger/frustration (chaos) to calm. Anger is a portal into evil, violence and murder. Gratitude is a portal into life, love and hope. Steps to achieve this perceptual shift from anger to love are:

• Take time out.
• Silence. (Allows the heart to settle)
• Breathe deeply for two minutes. ( Relaxation)
• Recite/meditate on a simple prayer: "Lord God has mercy." (The source of love)
• Think of someone who loved you unconditionally as a child. (The stream of love)
• Visualize a place where you feel relaxed and peaceful. (The place of love)
• Write down three things you are grateful for. (Gratitude is a portal into love)

If we practice these when we are angry or hurt, we make the Perceptual Shift from Anger to Love.

"Our choice to do something is brief, but if we refuse the consequences are devastating."

March 30, 2012

tribune242