Submitted by Austin
1. The government of Barbados needs to implement contracting reform that allows greater transparency to tenders and contract opportunities that local non-elites can response too and win, and end bar side deal making with a few selected elites. All government tenders, contract/consulting opportunities, should be centralized and made available via the web, not the case today. Additionally, a policy should be implemented which require a percentage of all tenders to be fulfilled by Bajan small businesses as defined by adequate size standards. Bajans in key contract management roles need to be held to an ethical standard that end current non-ethical contracting behaviour.
2. The government via the BIDC should broaden it’s approach to attracting industries to Barbados by aggressively leveraging our educated masses, which is not being done properly today. The folks at the BIDC are using a Bajan business methodology to attract international industries to Barbados which in large part is not working as they are either unwilling or not knowledgeable enough for the task at hand. They are slow to response and ineffective (from personal experience). In large part new blood and thinking is desperately needed in all ministries with international facing responsibilities. Just try to open bidc.com which takes too long for starters and you will see what I mean.
3. Government needs to conduct an inward assessment of new goods and services that a renewed Bajan economy can deliver locally and on the world stage. With emphasis on creating sustainable good paying jobs, this has not occurred thus far.
4. The distribution of wealth in Barbados is out of control. With non-Bajans acquiring more and more as the years go by, simply not right. The previous government was so focused on attracting outside investment they left nothing for the average Bajan family. It has and is too easy for non-Bajans to setup shop at all levels to the exclusion of local entrepreneurs.
5. The general use of IT in Barbados is totally substandard, and can play a significant role in greater national productivity and civil service performance if addressed. UWI needs to find innovative ways to extend academic excellence into real world practical needs. To further illustrate this the Barbados Nation newspaper, a major newspaper with an online presence does not have one single job posting, and the Barbados Advocate the other major news outlet, has decided to post images of the entire printed paper online, which is embarrassing and goes completely against most of the values an Internet presence can offer.
6. The over-emphasis on tourism has proven to be a risky proposition based on the risk it places is when the world economy hits the expected bumps in the road. Let’s end the hotel and big house building drive which are often beyond the reach of local Bajans.
7. The VAT while a good idea needs to be reassessed based on how it is proportioned to meet national needs.
8. Promotion of a renewed Bajan work ethic is needed. The topic of foreign workers taking Bajan jobs is a sore subject for many, what most folks fail to realize is that a lack of pride in workmanship of many Bajans is partly to blame. While we want the work we don’t act like is and often do substandard work let’s be honest, key ingredients of our national work ethic has been lost along the way. We are being out paced by foreign workers, and it’s more than cost, it’s quality.
9. The governments needs to open up import export markets to more that the few elites that control it today. This is an essential part of future economic progress in Barbados.
And finally…
10. Failure to implement or consider some of these measures only serves to impact Bajan youth looking to take their place in our rapidly evolving world and nation. As it will restricts them from opportunities in the greater sense, and we all know what happens to young idle minds, just ask Jamaica and Trinidad.
THIS IS A WELL-THOUGHT OUT, BRILLIANTLY CONSTRUCTED PIECE WHICH HITS THE NAIL ON ITS HEAD!!!
@TB
Was wondering when someone would notice.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
WILL not put Humpty Dumpty to gether again!
It is said WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY.
The question is IS THERE A WILL? I guess not. So how will there be a way?
Our situation reminds me of
The Grand Old Duke of York
He had 10,000 men
He marched them to the top of the hill
And marched them down again
And when they were up, they were up
And when they were down, they were down
And when they were only half way up, they were neither up nor down
Unfortunately we are DOWN! AND GOING FURTHER DOWN WITH NO ONE REALLY SERIOUSLY IN CHARGE TO DETERMINE IF, OR HOW WE SHOULD MARCH UP THE HILL ( except to wasate time at Cave Hill or smoke tampee and listen to musical diarrhoea at Farley Hill).
Who listens to good advice anymore?
Who listens to anyone besides the party pimps?
The Prime jackass is clueless
HIs supporting cast of lowly equinoids are equally clueless.
Each one of them is a circus on their own- mostly clown acts though as their is little talent for anything else.
We now need an escape artist!
But our cituation mirrors that of most of the world. Doesnt it?
In the USA – the so called “greatest country in the world ever” the Presiding jackass is doing a good job of messing up everything up.
THE REAL TRUTH OF THE WATER FRIENDS IS THAT THE WORLD (the cosmos diabolicus) IS PASSING. IT CAN NOT BE FIXED! IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN OFF.
The world that was………..was destroyed by water
The world that is……..will be destroyed by fire.
The world that is to be…..will never be destroyed.
IT WILL NOT BE SUPERVISED BY MORONS LIKE THOMPSON AND HENRY.
Ah gone here?
BU @DAVID
Some truths are self-evident my dear BRUV*…
It is however regrettable that while we tarry on God’s green earth – few have any desires to fix the anomalies which exist…
We either take a position of “hush hush”…
Or we regurgitate the same ‘ole, same ‘ole sarcastic, sardonic preterite…
SERIOUS TIMES CALL FOR SERIOUS MEASURES!!!
If we work it – it will work…
Failure to act or to do nothing is not an option…
@TB
Are you a student of Machiavelli?
@David: “Are you a student of Machiavelli?
IMHO, *everyone* should be. Machiavelli is required reading for almost all business and management degrees.
One shouldn’t be a student of Machiavelli to necessarily be so cold and calculating, but rather to understand what we all face in these (ongoing) troubling times…
Thankfully Machiavelli’s “The Prince” is public domain, since it was published *well* before (1515AD) the US of A’s “Mickey Mouse Law” extended Copyright protection effectively for ever…
http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm
DAVID@BU
“Are you a student of Machiavelli?”
Good question my dear BRUV*….
I never thought about it until you just raised the question…
In some ways I guess I am…
Niccolo Machiavelli was in my opinion one of many Florentine “prophets of force” – he differed however from the ruling elite in recognizing the complexity and fluidity of political life…
In the book “THE PRINCE” p. 76, Chp. 23, para. 1 – 3 under the heading “HOW FLATTERERS MUST BE SHUNNED” deal with a pertinent aspect of political economy:-
Choosing good ministers is vital, because a leader shows his intelligence in his choice of the men around him. If a man cannot have good ideas himself, he must be smart enough to distinguish his minister’s good ideas from his bad ones. The minister must think always of the leader, not of himself. The leader should honor and reward his minister, so that the minister will be dependent on the leader. Unless rulers are shrewd about choosing their advisors, they will find themselves surrounded by “flatterers”. The only way to guard against flattery is to show that you are not offended by the truth. But if anyone can speak their mind to you, you will not be respected. A wise leader will pick intelligent advisors and allow only them to speak frankly, and only when he asks for their opinions. He should listen carefully, but make his own decisions and stick to them. A leader who is not wise can never get good counsel, unless he puts himself completely in the hands of a wise man; but such a man will soon take over his state. An ignorant leader who takes advice from several counselors will never be able to reconcile their conflicting opinions, for each minister will think of his own interests. Men will always be disloyal unless a leader forces them to be faithful.
Machiavelli’s discussion of the topic is direct and yet contradictory. A prudent ruler, even if he is not unusually intelligent, may choose a brilliant advisor, and so be thought wise. Then again, a ruler who is not wise can never get good advice, because he cannot evaluate it properly. A good minister will be dedicated to the state and think of nothing but the leader’s interests; but ministers will always forward their own interests unless a leader compels them to be loyal to him. Machiavelli’s typically dark view of human nature runs up against his view that good ministers are indispensable to a leader. Because Machiavelli himself had been a “good minister” in the Florentine republic and genuinely hoped to get that position back, it is not surprising that he emphasizes the value of a minister who is truly devoted to the affairs of state.
As in Chapter 21, (under the subheading – “How A Prince Must Act To Win Honor”) Machiavelli states that a leader should display decisiveness, directness, and dignity. Leaders must value and even insist on complete candor from their advisors. Then again, if they allow too much freedom of opinion, they compromise their dignity by making themselves too approachable. The warning against flatterers was a standard caution in most Renaissance advice books.
To quote Machiavelli –
“There is one important subject I do not want to pass over, the mistake which princes can only with difficulty avoid making if they are not extremely prudent or do not choose their ministers well. I am referring to flatterers, who swarm in the courts. Men are so happily absorbed in their own affairs and indulge in such self-deception that it is difficult for them not to fall victim to this plague; and some efforts to protect oneself from flatterers involve the risk of becoming despised. This is because the only way to safeguard yourself against flatterers is by letting people understand that you are offended by the truth; but if everyone can speak the truth to you then you lose respect. So a shrewd prince should adopt a middle way, choosing wise men for his government and allowing only those the freedom to speak the truth to him, and only then concerning matters on which he asks their opinion, and nothing else…”
So DAVID* Machiavellian political discourse is fodder for serious political operatives and not for the faint of heart or for those those tossed too and fro with everything political wind of doctrine…
I have basically said what you have in shorter compass.
See Titus 1:8 in the requirements of the church leader…
HE MUST BE A LOVER OF GOOD MEN. This does not mean that he be a homosexual but that he be a DISCERNER OF THE GOOD MEN AROUND HIM.
Since universally leaders fail to do this in every sphere our chatter about trying to “fix” this that and the other seems to me to be like “futile cycles.”
@Terence M. Blackett…
Very well done Sir.
As you quote a page number “(p. 76, Chp. 23, para. 1 – 3)”, I’m assuming you are referring to a published copy of Machiavelli’s “The Prince”. I received my first dead-tree copy when I was ten years old (my parents were a little intense).
A serious question… What do you think Machiavelli would have to say about Permanently Secretaries and Civil Servants?
off message
@ Christopher Halsall
Just so you know “X – man”, to a lesser person that could be considered threatening. And possibly actionable (smile).
Afro-carribeans, generally, never do harm to others. However please do not misunderstand the desperation of this community. Their governments have failed them and the influx of certain groups, especially one group will soon no longer be tolerated.
Take a look at Staebrook news. Good day. That’s me finish for the weekend.
What is interesting to me is that when Dictionary sought to bring solutions to fix things in Haiti he was mocked with scorn an scoffed at. Now we are reading how we will raise the Humpty Dumpty situation that transpires in Barbados!
Who the dog like…. he lick !
Who he donmt like he………..?
Chp 25 – “HOW FAR HUMAN AFFAIRS ARE GOVERNED BY FORTUNE – AND HOW FORTUNE CAN BE OPPOSED”
Many people believe that fortune controls everything, so that there is no use in trying to act, but fortune controls only half of one’s actions, leaving free will to control the other half. Fortune can be compared to a river that floods, destroying everything in its way. But when the weather is good, people can prepare dams and dikes to control the flood. Leaders are successful one day and ruined the next, with no change in their natures. Two men may use the same method, but only one succeeds; and two men may use different methods, but reach the same goal, all because the circumstances do or do not suit their actions. If a man is successful by acting one way and the circumstances change, he will fail if he does not change his methods. But men are never flexible enough to change, either because their natures will not let them or because they become accustomed to a certain behavior bringing success. It is better to be bold than timid and cautious, because fortune is a woman, and the man who wants to control her must treat her roughly.
This chapter is perhaps the most pivotal in The Prince, because Machiavelli discusses the relationship of action and fortune in determining the leader’s success. Machiavelli uses fortune (fortuna) in at least two senses. In Chapters 7 and 8, Machiavelli contrasts virtu’ with fortune in the sense of luck or the favor of powerful people.
In those chapters, the contrast is between what the leader can control (his own actions) and what he cannot control (the favor of others).
In this chapter, fortune refers more to prevailing circumstances and events, which are still things that the leader cannot directly control. Rather than taking the fatalistic view that all events are controlled by destiny and that it is useless to work toward a particular outcome, Machiavelli gives fortune control over only half of human actions, letting free will influence the rest. If free will did not operate, all of a leader’s virtu’ would be for nothing.
Yet Machiavelli struggles with the problem of why one person succeeds and another fails, even though they have employed the same methods, or why totally different methods can arrive at the same outcome. To explain this, he proposes that success comes when virtu is suited to the particular situation a leader finds himself in.
Machiavelli envisions fortune as a set of constantly changing circumstances in which particular actions can bring about success or failure. To describe it, he uses one of his few extended metaphors, making fortune a force of nature, like a river that seems uncontrollable, yet can be tamed and directed by human activity.
Having affirmed the value of free will, Machiavelli limits it by asserting that even though it may be possible to vary one’s actions to suit the times, no one ever does. Machiavelli implies that this is because virtu’ is an inherent, natural quality that the leader cannot change.
People act according to their character and cannot change their natures. This line of reasoning brings Machiavelli back to the pessimistic fatalism he rejected at the beginning of the chapter. If a leader cannot change his nature, success depends simply on being lucky enough to have a character suited to the times he lives in.
Fortune was frequently personified in Renaissance art and literature as Fortuna, a female figure who held a turning wheel to symbolize her constant state of change. Fortuna’s fickleness is her greatest trait; no sooner are you at the top of her wheel than it turns, and you end up at the bottom.
Drawing on this symbolism, Machiavelli closes the chapter by saying that a man who wants to subdue fortune must treat her like the woman she is, and approach her with boldness and roughness.
While Machiavelli’s metaphor may be offensive to some modern readers, it would not have been shocking in its own day. Even in modern times, the saying “fortune favors the bold” can still be heard.
MAYBE BAJAN POLITICS NEEDS A FEW BOLD MOVERS & SHAKERS WHO WILL NOT ONLY UPSET THE APPLE CART BUT WILL OVERTURN IT!!!
@Terence M. Blackett
Fewer words – please !
Goldman Sachs accused of fraud by US regulator SEC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8625931.stm
Final message -
@ CH
“What do you think Machiavelli would have to say about Permanently Secretaries and Civil Servants?”
LOL…..
Good question C…
Are you comparing these folks to MEDICI’s* of the 14th century???
According to Machiavelli – when private citizens become rulers through the favor of their fellow citizens, these may be called civil principalities (civil servants & permanent secretaries)…
One can reach this position through the favor of either the common citizens or the nobles, because the two classes are found in every city. The nobles want only to oppress the people, and the people want only to avoid oppression.
From these opposing impulses can come three results: a principality, a republic, or anarchy.
When the nobles feel pressure from the people, they try to make one of their own the leader in order to protect their privileges. When the people feel they cannot resist the nobles, they try to make a fellow citizen leader in order to protect their rights.
You can never satisfy the nobles by acting honorably, but you can satisfy the people. Regardless of how a leader comes to power, he should make every effort to win the good will of the people, or in times of trouble, he will have no hope.
A leader must not delude himself about the reliability of the people, but nonetheless, a leader who makes good preparations and knows how to command will never be betrayed by them.
A wise ruler will contrive to keep all his citizens dependent on him and on the state, and then he will be able to trust them.
Machiavelli’s theme in chapter 9 – 10 is the relationship between the people (the ordinary citizens) and their opposites, the nobles (the upper classes from aristocratic families).
Machiavelli portrays these two groups as constantly at odds, but his sympathy is clearly with the people, who only want to live free under the rule of their own laws.
Machiavelli himself belonged firmly in this group, having been prevented from holding high office because he was not an aristocrat, and having served his entire career in Florence’s civil government.
The Medici, to whom he was writing, were members of the nobility, and this makes his advice somewhat more daring than it may sound at first.
As in Chapter 5, Machiavelli can be seen reminding the Medici how much free states like Florence value their freedom and how justified they are in doing so.
Machiavelli emphasizes how necessary it is for a leader to win over the people, because they are many, while the nobles are few, and a leader can never live safely without being able to trust the people.
On this subject, Machiavelli was going against prevailing opinion, which he acknowledges by quoting the proverb “He who builds on the people builds on mud.” (Something our current PM should remember)…
In fact, he is able to find only one example to support his argument (Nabis the Spartan), but two that disprove it (the Gracchi and Messer Scali).
Machiavelli had many opportunities to observe the fickleness of the Florentine people, as they had alternately supported the Medici, Savonarola, the Republic, and then the Medici again.
SO CHRIS* WE ARE STUCK AFTER 600 YEARS OF POLITICAL POLEMICS, GESTURING & POSTURING BY THOSE WHO THINK THEY HAVE POWER BUT ARE NO DIFFERENT TO THE MASSES WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO BE HEARD…
@ x-man
SORRY BRUV – I WAS ASKED QUESTIONS….
YEA, U R RIGHT – I CAN BE TOO PROFESSORIAL…
LOL…………..
@Terence M. Blackett… Again, *very* well done.
“WE ARE STUCK AFTER 600 YEARS OF POLITICAL POLEMICS, GESTURING & POSTURING BY THOSE WHO THINK THEY HAVE POWER BUT ARE NO DIFFERENT TO THE MASSES WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO BE HEARD…
But then the question becomes…
Do not the “masses” (read: “the people”) actually have “the power”?
If they do, then why don’t they (or why cannot they) use it to affect true change to their advantage?
To the best of my knowledge, there are no “nobles” here in Barbados. But I’m happy to be proven wrong.
X Man
There is not a thing wrong with the man’s submission. He can not teach or share something of worth in six lines.
Read and learn or scroll pass and remain ignorant like many of our compatriots.
Good prose Good vocabulary Good flair and panache Terrence. We cant have all bummbling brimbling, brothers on BU. There are times for contributions of serioos substance, surely!
@ GP
Thanks mate… I appreciate it!!!
@ CHRIS H
Man, you don’t ask easy questions, do you?
@Terence M. Blackett: “Man, you don’t ask easy questions, do you?
It’s not my job to ask easy questions….
[Smile]
Good submission. When I first saw it I had to read it a few times after that, as it reminded me that we need to make our systems relevant to the people… but as TMB said, “It is however regrettable that while we tarry on God’s green earth – few have any desires to fix the anomalies which exist…”
Of course, TMB, there is good reason for that. I keep saying when you see a man fishing in a dry pond, he knows what he is doing. Thing is, this pond ain’t dry, but it so deep and murky you can’t see the fish and to go deep, you have to acquire a license.
@ CHRIS H
“Do not the “masses” (read: “the people”) actually have “the power…If they do, then why don’t they (or why cannot they) use it to affect true change to their advantage?”
Within the BAJAN* context – there are many structural, endemic as well as historical factors…
We discuss them daily on BARBADOS UNDERGROUND!!!
From the point of view of Machiavelli –
Private citizens become leaders either through luck or through ability, but it is best not to trust luck. Those who become leaders through their own strength have difficulty gaining power, but keep it easily.
Establishing new paradigms of power is always troublesome, because everyone who was happy under the old order will oppose change, and most people will not support new things until they have seen them work.
The question is whether innovators must rely on others in order to succeed, or whether they can rely on their own forces.
Armed prophets succeed, but unarmed prophets generally fail.
The people are fickle, and when they no longer believe in you, you must force them to believe.
The final chapter of The Prince is Machiavelli’s exhortation to the Medici family to lead Italy out of foreign domination under a strong, centralized leadership. His tone is passionate and poetic, in contrast to the dry, direct style of the rest of the book.
Still, Machiavelli slips back into his more familiar analytical style when discussing the various military techniques employed by the German, Swiss, French, and Spanish.
Methods of warfare were another of Machiavelli’s great interests.
In 1520, he wrote an entire book on the subject in his Art of War (Dell’Arte della guerra).
Machiavelli is at his most fervent when describing the bravery and strength of the Italian national spirit, and he rebukes the foolish leaders who have failed to make use of this great raw material. Even here, though, he has room for a small jab: The Italians, he says, fight well individually, but do not take well to authority, because they all think they know best.
Another notable break with the rest of the book is the repeated invocation of God, who has been conspicuously absent from Machiavelli’s discussion up until this point: Italy beseeches God for a redeemer, God favors the Medici, God wants the people to use free will, and God sends signs to show that the time is near.
Machiavelli even refers to the man who was thought to have been ordained by God to save Italy, namely Cesare Borgia, who but for his rotten luck would have unified Italy. Italy still waits for this promised savior.
The bitterness of Italy’s subjugation to foreign powers runs throughout this final chapter. All of Machiavelli’s observations and advice about the state and the ladere have been directed toward this goal, to bring forth the leader who will liberate Italy from the barbarians and unify it.
Then Italy will be the peaceful, prosperous state Machiavelli envisions, with a leader who works for the security and stability his subjects need.
Machiavelli closes the book with a quotation from the patriotic poem “My Italy” (Italia mia) by the great Italian poet Francesco Petrarca….
SO CHRIS TO DRAW SIMILITUDES FROM MACHIAVELLI’S WRITINGS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF A 14TH CENTURY ITALY TO SOME MAYBE A DANGEROUS ELEMENT TOO FAR TO GO IN SEARCH OF LIBERATION – THE POLITICS NEVER CHANGES, NEITHER DOES THE ACTORS… AS ONE WISE MAN ONCE SAID – “nothing is new under the sun”…
@ ROK
“This pond ain’t dry, but it so deep and murky you can’t see the fish and to go deep, you have to acquire a license…”
TOO SWEET!!!
LOL>>>>>>>>>
A country greatest assests is its people.However most politicians choose to ignore that. Just read the
words on the Statue of Liberty.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2010/04/goldman_may_owe_british_taxpay.html
Goldman may owe British taxpayers $841m
off message: Has capitalism had its day?
In the Barbados context there is serious doubts on our part that the Machiavellian approach will ever gain traction. We like to think we have a democracy where all views are received and acted on with gladness. We suspect that Machiavelli would not embrace a consensus approach to decision making. In Barbados flying a kite to gauge majority opinion has now become the order of the day in Barbados.
@Terence M. Blackett… Thank you (sincerely) for your above. You are clearly well read.
@TMB: “TO DRAW SIMILITUDES FROM MACHIAVELLI’S WRITINGS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF A 14TH CENTURY ITALY TO SOME MAYBE A DANGEROUS ELEMENT TOO FAR TO GO IN SEARCH OF LIBERATION…
But since Machiavelli has had so much influence on modern thinking that his name is in the OED (“Machiavellian”), one might have thought his writings would be well known, and considered, by all….
@David: “In Barbados flying a kite to gauge majority opinion has now become the order of the day in Barbados.
If I may carry your metaphor a bit further…
There are *serious* differences between flying a kit, and flying a plane…
In the latter case, lives are at stake. And someone serious had better be at the controls….
@ac
“A country greatest assets is its people.However most politicians choose to ignore that.”
They don’t choose to ignore that at all, they just play on the lack of information of the population. Check the education system, designed to ensure that a sizeable portion of the population remains ignorant.
@David,
You will notice that I have not gone there with that Machiavelli theory… but to Chris, I wonder why it is mandatory reading in the educational institutions of your country?
While it was mandatory for me as well, it was only mandatory because of the courses I was doing. In reflecting on my response to “ac” above, I think that Machiavelli assumes that the masses are ignorant, but more “Machiavellian” is the fact that I have always considered it to be the foundation of racism by the very principles it espouses and the manner of approach to handling the complexities of living.
But David, while you think that we would not entertain Machiavellian principles, they are very much at work in this society.
@David
“We suspect that Machiavelli would not embrace a consensus approach to decision making.”
There is only consensus for certain things. I have been repeatedly saying that our laws on our statute books are not democratic in nature, meaning that they were not all agreed to or even considered by the people… but they very well leave you no choice.
Let me show you some Machiavellian moves. Take Town Planning for example. Once upon a time you could build without applying to Town Planning for permission and once you build within the code, rules and laws, Town Planning could not touch you.
Along came the last Government and made it an offense if you did not apply. So even if you build within the laws, they can still destroy your building and jail you too; I think.
Under the old rules, it was simply a matter of Government regulating construction. Now Government dictates construction.
@Rok
Well if the government intentionally ensure that a sizeable portion of the people are uneducated.Then wouldn’t the government have to shoulder many social programs for such people which in effect would become a burden to the country.’
@ac
That is correct. Did we not discuss something like Government biting the bullet and cut social programmes? Why you think they can’t? Well they have a big bunch of ig’runt people out there who would mek them eat the bullet they bite.
@Rok
Even The once Great USA have learned that lesson the hard way. In fact by not educating the blacks to realise they have had to adopt a generation of people some because of lack of education and living in poverty have had to seek government assistance to
make it day to day,
I noticed the comment on which the writer focused on
workmanship and poor quality. However a person can only be as good according to what he knows but then again that goes back to education,
The title of this thread is puzzling to me. Who has “intentionally broken” the “system”?
Given that Barbados has been independent since 1966, why would the Government fix something that it “intentionally” broke?
A summary of Mandela’s life story is featured in the 2006 music video “If Everyone Cared” by Nickelback.
More Mandela’s
Why I used the words “Intentionally Broken System” in the title of my article submission.
There are underlying forces at play in Barbados that care not for the desires of the masses. The masses in the last election made it clear their disappointment for the state of the Bajan union under BLP leadership. Unfortunately this act in itself is not enough to bring about the desired changes the electorate sought.
The system is “intentionally” being gamed to keep elite forces in place, aided by politicians who will not or cannot bring about reforms needed to end the undermining of the system. The constant undermining occurs in very covert ways: bar side deals, unethical contracting behavior and pay-offs to officials, just to mention a few. These intentional acts contribute to the dysfunction of the system, often being totally invisible to the masses.
There are those in politics who genuinely wish to do more but are forced between decisions on fairness and social status survival. These types exist in both the BLP and DLP parties; and, without the right leadership, simply will not change or take a bold stand. The lack of an effective legal framework of laws focused to bring about the type of real transparency expected in an independent nation is at the root of many of our economic and social problems.
It can be argued whether we truly are a sovereign and independent nation. We obtained independence in an extremely safe manner with many pre-independence economic imbalances still firmly in place post-independence. Our risk adverse nature, as a nation, has incubated elite classes from real change which is why we often hear nothing from them, but trust me; they are speaking out, doing bar side deals in ways the masses will never know.
“Intentional” was not used in the article in the sense of government officials openly seeking dysfunction in government, however road blocks to creating a truly free and open society is clearly at play, and working.
I recently queried a government official on “why the BGIS” does not post all tenders and contracts on the BGIS website which has none under an area called “tenders”. The answer stated is essence that “ministries have been invited to submit tenders and they hope to publish more soon.” The obvious problem with this response was the words “hope” and “invited” which troubled me, as it should be mandatory and a law for ministries to do this.
To an earlier point from CH which in essence asked “why the masses don’t exercise this power to bring about change”, the answer is simply, lack of effective leadership in doing so. Barbados is in desperate need of a transformation public figure whose loyalty to Barbados surpasses both DLP and BLP core principles. The absence of such a leader has in other nations unfortunately led to major civil and social unrest, which is not something I desire for my beloved BIM.
@David
Austin’s last submission clearly articulates the lack of democracy in this country, almost to the point of dictatorship. You just think you have a choice but you don’t and at the most, very narrow choices, and if the law don’t get you, discrimination and victimisation will.
Have you sought to analyse why a Parliamentarian would pull a gun on another? We talk about African villages and banana republics, but we ain’t no better. Consider that such action could have caused a coup and thrown Barbados into a state of emergency. Another Grenada or T&T.
@ROK
If the political elite continues to manipulate the system to the detriment of the masses how can this barrier be penetrated? In the current system we have a setup of musical chairs where the elite all get a chance to feed from the largess.
@David to your question on overcoming elitist barriers.
Thruth & Reconcilation, Laws that require improved govermental transparency in how they spend the peoples tax money, improved goverment accountability with legal consequences for unethical behavior, lower political term limits, effective use of IT to support freedom of information reform, education reform that improves the old and out of touch system we have, redirecting of millions from projects that only service the elites to service backlogged
social services….. For starters