In my last column I hinted at the apparent stupidity that seems at times to blanket this island. I was careful to point to the knee-jerk reaction that is based on the narrow partisan politics at the root of such willful ignorance. Like those who have been trained in scientific investigation (such as my colleagues in the science of agriculture) to identify problems along the food chain and to identify suitable solutions, I have tried to apply these principles to my politics. This has led me in my active political life to search out a cost-effective path to the social and economic problems that haunt Saint Lucia.
In this country, people of my generation who were once members of the St. Lucia Forum had been severely criticized for encouraging the country folk in the use of the native patois, (now called kwéyòl by some), especially those who were challenged, as my grandparents were, to make themselves understood in the English language. It was a new awakening in Saint Lucia as the language of the rural folk was grudgingly accepted by those whose schooling and social standing had previously distanced them from the native Creole. Now the rage for Creole is everywhere. Those who had at first despised it, now appear to be profiting from its use in advertising and elsewhere. Whether this recent acceptance of patois is at the root of our continuing stupidity (as some claim), is for another discussion.
At the formation of the St. Lucia Forum, in the early 1970s, the whole world seemed then in a social and political upheaval. The St. Lucia Forum and other similar groups in the Caribbean were deemed an appropriate response to these global trends during which former colonies demanded political independence from their colonizers. It may now be opportune to ask whether there is need for a new organisation similar to the St. Lucia Forum, charged with the responsibility of explaining rapidly changing world events to a laissez-faire, happy-go-lucky people. We need to investigate how changes in the outside world impact the social and economic situation of Saint Lucia, and by how much. This is a question we can no longer postpone, especially in this internet age.
The world-wide rebirth of the liberation struggle for independence in the 60s and 70s, that demanded social and political progress, had the backing of the United Nations. At the moment the world is approaching another epoch in which politicians and governments are compelled to examine more closely global changes, including climate change. How governments prepare to face these new global challenges is crucial. Evolving global realities force us to ponder the need for a select group of non-partisan, knowledgeable men and women who are prepared to fearlessly discuss these evolving global events and how they might impact Saint Lucia. By such global events, I refer to the instability and possible hostilities in the Middle East, the possible withdrawal of Britain from the European Community, the instability of countries in our hemisphere and climate change.
After Hurricane Allen in 1980, Saint Lucia moved towards designing cost-effective, hurricane-resistant houses as modes to new home construction. Increasing reality of climate change and the recent devastation in the Bahamas, force us to re-examine the past efforts and our experiences with hurricanes. Citizens well off and poor on this island stand to lose all they have to hurricanes. Smart policy and proper planning, plus widespread education on the damage these storms can inflict, are the best ways to prepare for them.
The possibility of food shortages must be included in our preparation equations. These global events are likely to negatively impact us whether we are prepared or not. One would not be surprised if the recent attacks on the Saudi oil fields lead to a price hike here of gasoline and other petroleum products. The ongoing sabre-rattling by the US against Iran may well lead to a conflagration in the Middle East which some US and Israeli politicians, aided by the Saudis, have been provoking for a long time.
These global events would be bad for Saint Lucia. The barefaced political propaganda that exploits the stupidity and naked ignorance of a large percentage of our people would make matters worse. This is why we need independent, non-partisan and free thinkers to educate us on our vulnerability and how best we should prepare for resilience, food security and social and economic progress. This is more reason for us to examine more closely what is presented in the electronic media as news.
How someone’s subjective truth may be explained and/or verified by a group of independent thinkers whose only concern is the social and economic welfare of this island, is the burden of this article. In the process we may need to re-examine the proposal for a new national constitution, such as presented by the late Justice Suzie d’Auvergne and her team of experts some seven years or so ago. Hopefully this, plus a national debate led by independent thinkers, will assist in the process of the social, political and economic development the populace desires.
There is one final point that needs to be made in connection with the formation of a non-partisan, independent national organisation. The recent cunning suppression of important information as experienced in the USA does not guarantee that our copy-cat politicians will follow the example. It is, therefore, prudent to observe the coming generation of politicians even more closely than we do the present. It’s one way of looking more closely at ourselves!
