Some impartial ideas on our 45th Independence Celebrations
“Quo Vadis” is Ecclesiastical Latin. Translated into English it means: “The place are you going?” It has its origin in a 1602 portray by Annibale Carracci that displays an episode from the lifetime of St. Peter, throughout the persecution of Christians beneath Nero. Whereas strolling alongside the Appian Approach, St. Peter met Christ in a imaginative and prescient. “Quo Vadis?” he requested. To which Christ replied in Latin that he was on his approach to Rome “to be crucified time and again.”
If like most individuals you think about crucifixion egregiously inhumane, think about being crucified again and again—a horror that it appears Saint Lucia is made to endure yearly on the twenty second of February. Geographically, we occur to be in one of the crucial weak and disadvantaged areas of the world. Traditionally, our imposed political financial programs of slavery, colonialism and capitalism have dragged us by means of transgressions of recurrent savagery, wars, genocide, exploitation, poverty, inequality, underdevelopment and widespread social deprivation.
That is the historic, generational and ethical context that has ignited us to transcend inhumanity first by means of emancipation, then apprenticeship, on to Independence. This framed the collective pathway to sovereignty and self-determination, destined to serve the most effective pursuits of our folks as a free nation state dwelling in peaceable co-existence with different nations.
Independence, in its true context, implies freedom in furtherance of peace, social justice, human dignity and democratic alliances for shared prosperity and human safety. We’re all challenged immediately by a disaster of recent civilization. The Davos elites name it “a poly-crisis,” on the coronary heart of which is a dominant political financial concept and mannequin of free enterprise and free market capitalism known as neoliberalism. This mannequin was destined to finally and maximally serve the most effective pursuits of the financial system and the widespread good of society. In the present day, mankind is on a dying drive trajectory in the direction of omnicide. That free market has now produced genocidal wars, international financial instability and the man-made climatic disaster. The latter, our biggest existential risk, will increase international temperatures, melts the ice caps, raises sea ranges, fuels droughts, antagonistic climate patterns, meals, water, and vitality insecurities. That dominant political financial system has now threatened international human safety. our independence, too, is in jeopardy. Politically, this implies, worsening inequities and disparities, unsustainable indebtedness, poverty, conflicts, crime, and violence.
I now problem Saint Lucia in its folks and its nationhood: “Quo Vadis?” The place precisely are we going? What’s the mission goal of Independence? How impartial are we as a nation? What precisely have we been celebrating each February 22 since 1979? The reply, I posit, resides in an understanding of how our future seems to be pre-determined, formed and trapped in a repetitive cycle of political and financial depravity and parasitism. Because the saying goes, historical past will get repeated the place irrationality, stupidity and unreasonableness flourish.
At 45 years of navigating independence with a public mindset of supposed emancipation from slavery and colonialism, we’d have thought that particularly the 2 latter eras would immediately be thought to be a humanitarian indignity and injustice of the previous. We’re immediately much less impartial individually, as a collective, and as a nation state. The irony of our 45 years of celebrations resides in a deep-rooted and painful exhibition of nationwide parochialism and hypocrisy.
The constitutionality of our democracy and sovereignty to self-govern freely and independently, with respect and in peaceable co-existence with all different folks, has eroding with out concern over the course of the final 45 years. The politics and public insurance policies of our political duopoly are immediately so twinned that the extent of their compounded impression should now be measured by the quality-of-life they’ve delivered to the residents.
Think about the detestable truth in how our much-touted financial progress has left most residents deprived. Nationwide financial progress means nothing if it can’t measurably enhance the standard of life, lifestyle, life expectancy and aspirations of the residents. Such financial progress should afford them a pathway out of poverty, inequality, social deprivation and the illicit financial system that drives crime and violence. It should not symbolize rewards for a minority financial elite on the expense of the poor majority. That’s antithetical to democracy.
Sir William Arthur Lewis was awarded the Nobel prize in Economics in 1979—the very yr we gained independence—for his concept on growth economics in creating nations. Our political duopoly has by no means seen it becoming to ordain Sir Arthur’s concept of financial growth as a part of our financial agenda. It’s maybe too late now and considerably irrelevant in immediately’s world of neoliberal capitalism transitioning to the 4th industrial revolution of technological innovation, ICT, excessive pace web, 5G, AI and cloud capital. The latter has rendered the free-market idea, the bedrock of Sir Arthur’s financial concept, misanthropic.
If the reason is framed round us being a piece in progress in the direction of constructing a extra democratic nation state, then the unacceptable outcomes of worsening poverty, inequality and social deprivation replicate in any other case. Progress have to be stress-tested periodically and subjected to the litmus take a look at of public scrutiny and acceptance. This have to be executed by a sturdy system of publicly clear measurements and evaluations of predetermined endpoints. Evidently, we’ve missed the boat! Let me clarify why we are actually dwelling in darkish occasions, regardless of our Independence exuberances. A poorly educated and unhealthy populace has unquestionably no future. Stripping our mind of essential, analytical and impartial considering over a long time of miseducation and misinformation has eroded our dignity, freedom and our humanity.
Common schooling, like common health-care/protection, requires bold planning and financing as a result of they’re each in dire disaster, under-resourced and unmanaged. They’re, nonetheless, essential to our human useful resource growth and well-being which makes them basic to our financial growth as an impartial nation. We’ve as soon as extra failed in that regard!
What do our coverage makers imply once they pronounce that schooling should now not be seen as a social good however quite as a driver of the financial system? The darkish cynicism of this assertion served to symbolize an austerity-type coverage shift away from a lot wanted common public schooling to non-public (for revenue) outsourced entities. Schooling has and should retain at its core a social perform which, as soon as appropriately and inclusively engaged, can function a key driver of an progressive and sustainable, inexperienced, digitalized and decarbonized financial system for everybody.
The schooling of the youngsters of this nation mustn’t ever be seen as a enterprise proposition. it’s a universally declared human proper that have to be constitutionally assured, revered, and guarded by each administration. In that regard, the promised “one college graduate per family” doctrine is missing in daring ambition, broad and inclusive social imaginative and prescient, in addition to is inequitable and discriminatory at finest. In that context and circumstance, the one college graduate per family doctrine defies the much-hyped meritocracy doctrine!
What is required is the democratization of schooling, by opening the flood gates to equal alternative entry and affordability to superior high quality common schooling for each citizen. That is the precept of long-termism, an ethical crucial of immediately and tomorrow, the place standard participation and inclusion seeks to border an financial system and lifestyle that actually works for everybody. That, too, is an extra pathway out of poverty, inequality, crime and violence.
What do our coverage makers imply when the repeatedly inform us that the personal sector is the motive force of the financial system? It is a dangerously flawed mindset that serves to demoralize, humiliate and reduce the worth of productiveness and creativity inside the public sector and the favored plenty (citizenry) by extension. It’s at its core, discriminatory, not broadly inclusive, and uninspiring. I typically contend that the identical “efficiencies,” “finest practices” and “working procedures” relevant to the much-touted successes of the personal sector can and have to be utilized in a sanitized method throughout the general public sector as nicely.
It additionally requires much less outsourcing, with better emphasis on human useful resource capability and capital constructing inside the public sector eco-spaces. That is to drive knowledge seize, collective intelligence and strategic collaborations to co-create and co-influence PPPs and contracts. that foster improved relationships of better social fairness and synergies with much less personal sector dominance, distortions and parasitism.
What do our coverage makers imply once they inform international traders that they’re given a free hand to make returns on their investments, simply guarantee the employees get a good wage? This premise presupposes, that the personal sector, pushed by revenue, can be replete with belief in social conscience. In politics and economics, good intentions are nugatory until adopted up with motion, by policy-based legislative, regulatory and oversight mechanisms. Our labour drive should not be deprived. It’s time to mandate a minimal livable wage, enhance stakeholder fairness and worth, in addition to foster fairer situations for employees by means of unionization.
So sure, we’re rising older as a rustic. However sadly we’ve got not grown up; we’ve got not matured sufficiently to responsibly body a moonshot of a mission and a goal that may serve the widespread good of our nation, mankind and planet Earth. Our scenario is a manifestation of not having good choices whereas our leaders proceed to be poor negotiators on our behalf. Due to this fact, if we don’t now create now, a brand new breed of daring, bold and brave leaders and thinkers, then we deserve what we’ve got accepted. The time is now to cease resisting the plain necessity for transformational change.
Independence should additionally replicate the contribution and impression of the working folks and residents of this 45-year-old nation regardless of their battles to transcend the decades-long challenges of their many unholy alliances. Our historic, financial and cultural actions in agriculture and fishing have largely been changed by the small manufacturing, companies and tourism sectors. Diversification should now not be seen as a zero-sum recreation. Meals sovereignty is a political and coverage alternative that should assure us the suitable to provide our personal meals, on our personal lands, to feed our folks and all who want to go to us. It’s a essential and indispensable pathway to attaining meals independence and meals safety, that are additionally a human rights problem.
Meals insecurity results in the malnutrition, cognitive, progress and developmental challenges in human beings. It’s also a driver of crime, violence and untimely deaths. In the present day’s meals shortages are principally pushed by poverty, inequality, conflicts and the climatic disaster. They’re all attribute options of that dominant political financial mannequin of free enterprise and free market capitalism (neoliberalism). Our political duopoly has embraced this mannequin with an ill-prepared mindset to understand how and why economies and markets should replicate deliberate end-points that should ship on actual and honest alternatives and prospects for the residents. If the well being and schooling of the nation will not be thriving, then the nation can’t be profitable. The associated scientific knowledge is irrefutable.
Whereas undoubtedly, many essential achievements have been secured and assured for our residents, the working class stays a most unlucky and abused cohort. They’re victims of an extractive wealth-generating house in each the productive and non-productive sectors. Our employees should retain the audacity of their unrelenting pursuit with hope, resolve and resilience in the direction of constructing a extra equal and fairer society, with sustainable ensures for themselves in addition to the way forward for their youngsters. I’ve little doubt that our employees can step as much as meet that problem, however we should additionally equally decide to collectively advocating for his or her fairer and simply rewards.
In the present day’s office calls for a certified workforce. Our technical, vocational and educational establishments should put together to ship what’s anticipated of them. The State have to be a key associate in driving this problem of a brand new actuality into a brand new and rebranded human useful resource product. Humankind in its design and evolution manifests a uniquely particular consciousness for social integration and concord. As a rule, wholesome beings resist an existence exterior of or remoted from society which speaks to a precept of collectivism and social solidarity.
Crises create the alternatives together with reform, consensus constructing and partnering between the State and the residents, in addition to entry to inexpensive and satisfactory finance and funding capital for a profitable end result. We want a medium to long-term strategic and actionable growth plan to energise the financial system in all its productive and non-productive sectors whereas embracing the online zero simply vitality transition drive to exchange fossil gas. Our residents want to amass the mandatory strategic abilities for financial progress and progress past tourism. That should embrace the digital, technological and brain-driven industries of immediately, tomorrow and into the long run. This may solely be acquired by means of devoted investments in vocational, technical and educational primarily based high quality schooling and abilities coaching of our residents and extra particularly our labour drive.
We won’t be able to ship a sustainable financial system of honest alternatives and dignified prospects for each citizen if we’re unable to encourage and encourage then right into a mindset and actuality of sacrifice, arduous work and schooling. For these born within the yr that birthed the nation’s independence, in contrast to your nation, you might be nicely previous the half-way mark of your life expectancy which in accordance with nationwide knowledge is 72 years.
Lastly, we ought to not view our independence in isolation of its regional and worldwide context. Our present leaders haven’t completed their half nicely sufficient to deserve a victory lap. Our new frontier is now not the OECS or Caricom per se, however quite a broadening of the cooperation and integration motion to replicate the true regional realities within the context of a surviving and sustainable pathway to the long run. CARICOM, as a block, has been too gradual and timid to progress, with little ethical readability and conviction. It’s vulnerable to shedding its mission goal. Due to this fact, a logical integration method on a number of ranges have to be, of necessity, in the direction of Latin America and the World South however its established relationship with the World North.
Don’t enable ourselves to be simply co-opted into submission to divisive, merciless and tribal political partisanship, framed round cult-like personalities and social gathering loyalty, as our sense of nationwide goal. Our political duopoly with its social conscience deficit continues to follow the politics of division and hate. Hatred is darkish and damaging. Love is an intense and radiant explosion of life. What we’d like now could be the politics of fact for peace, reconciliation, social justice and true democracy.
Simply as I used to be about to want our folks a Glad forty fifth Independence Anniversary, extra unhealthy information. By a number of accounts—as had been the case final Independence— Vieux Fort has exploded once more, a number of residents have reportedly been shot down like diseased canines on the street, at the same time as elsewhere across the island the choreographed irrational exuberance inspired residents to overlook our troubles and dance. One love!
