Speak English, Please!

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

Granted! I have always favoured English over Arithmetic. I had to sit through Charlie Ishmael’s teachings of equations, logarithms and the like, but never got the hang of it, because I literally could not relate such to everyday life.

Indeed, thanks to the career I have chosen, I have had little need for use of half that which I learnt in Mathematics at St. George Secondary 30 years ago. Actually, the only time I appreciate the burden of such a limitation is when Valencia, my 11-year-old daughter, turns to me for help with her homework. Thankfully, on such occasions I proudly remind her that her mom is an accountant by training and academic qualification, and is better suited to assist in unravelling such Mathematical mysteries.

My seeming cop-out from things arithmetical could therefore explain my low tolerance for listening to persons fixated with communicating all issues arithmetically. I thought I was alone in this English-biased cocoon, but following the recent Estimates Debate in both houses of Parliament, I realised that a significant proportion of Barbadians share my view.

I grew up in an era of Errol Barrow and Tom Adams sharing verbal blows from the perspective of that which impacted the lives of people positively and negatively.

They and their contemporaries, such as Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, Branford Taitt, Philip Greaves, Bernard St. John and Henry Forde, to mention but a few, connected politics, at all times, to people, standards of living and quality of life. Arguments for and against a particular measure, revolved around “how it impacted the average man” or how the well-being of citizens in general would be impacted.

Today in Parliament, however, there is the tendency, indeed, the limitation of some, to reduce any and all arguments to arithmetical modules.

Each point is made through the use of economic jargon, numbers and percentages.

In order not to be seen as repetitive and monotonous, the tendency is there, I guess, to so use and portray figures and statistics in such a manner as to scare or indeed frighten the listener.

Therefore simple arguments that could be made by relating, for example, the daily experience of a housewife in the supermarket, are articulated in a manner as to confuse the listener to the point where he or she believes the entire bottom of the economic pail has fallen out. Thankfully, on the other side of the chamber are persons, equally as bright, but who are steeped in the art of communicating and not just talking.

When one listened to Owen Arthur two weeks ago and then heard the response of David Thompson, it was clear for all to see and hear who really understood the genuine concerns of Barbadians and who was seeking to “mamigie”. By the time Arthur had completed his arithmetical dissertation, one old lady from the Belle Gully called in panic stating “Hartley, ah frighten!”. By time time Mr. Thompson had finished his wrap up, the same lady called asking “But wuh was Arthur trying to do? He had me frighten enough. Thompson handle he real pretty”.

In other words, Arthur spoke arithmetic and Thompson spoke English. One talked, the other communicated. One instilled fear, the other inspired and reassured.

Barbados has not just begun to produce economists. We have had economists from day one. There were economists in Barbados during the glory days of the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Errol Barrow was an economist and several of the leaders before him and during his era, including Tom Adams, Bernard St. John and Erskine Sandiford, had more than a passing acquaintance with economics and its associated jargon. The difference today is that some in our midst use their command of economic babble to talk their way out of addressing and explaining their omittance and neglect of vital social and developmental areas of our economy.

Little wonder that everyday we discover the scandalous state of essential services, in health, education, housing and care of the elderly, primarily because these did not appeal to or excite those pre-occupied with talking arithmetic in a manner that reassured listeners but did not solve problems.

Thankfully, in Barbados today there is a leader that is comfortable speaking to the population in English and not only arithmetic.

Thankfully, in Barbados today there is a leader who is prepared to address issues as they relate to and impact people and not from the perspective of their ramifications for print outs and balance sheets.

Anyone listening to the just concluded debate on the Estimates would appreciate the philosophical and fundamental divide between the former and current leadership of our country.

These are perilous economic times. The situation is grave but, as Thompson pointed out in that debate, there is no need for panic and there is no challenge that a focused, united people cannot overcome.

What people need in these times are encouragement and reassurance. They need someone to talk to and with them in a manner that they can understand.

They do not need the sensational and extreme interpretation of figures. They do not need percentages bandied about to serve a particular political cause.

David Thompson has said repeatedly that “the election is over. The campaign has ended”.

We need now for politicians to put away their political knives and agendas and focus on the national good. As Thompson said, they need to wrap their thoughts and mouthings in the national flag.

We need in Barbados today for lawyers in politics to speak as lawyers, for economists in politics to speak as economists, for dentists in politics to speak as dentists, for educators in politics to speak as educators and for community practitioners in politics to speak as community practitioners.

This is not the time for “bamboozling” the public with ambiguous economic interpretations.

We need to know what is wrong and what it will take to fix it. We want to know that the advice coming from those we believe know what they are talking about is genuine and well meaning and not the product of hidden agendas or jaundiced perspectives.

This land belongs to us. Let us speak the language we all know and understand. Let us wrap our thoughts, words and actions in the national flag. Down with economic babble! Up with good old fashioned English!

With that will come a clearer understanding of what is wrong and a firm resolve to do what is necessary to make this land the best that it can be, under the circumstances.

Hartley Henry is a regional political strategist. He can be reached at hartleyhenry@gmail.com)