Finding a way out of ignorance and poverty ought to be the agenda of every Emancipation Day observance. To that end, we must learn to look at history in its deep, underlying currents, rather than superficially. In this context I’ve hit upon an idea I wish to share. To assist me, I turn to the three icons of social, political and economic development activists I’ve most admired; I refer to Sir Arthur Lewis, Lee Kuan Yew and Fidel Castro. In their heyday, the trio confronted the arrogance and assumptions of capitalist greed and forever changed the way their respective peoples looked at themselves.
The burden on each of these great men was to find a way out of poverty, ignorance and unemployment. There were no paths for them to follow. They created their own. Lewis turned the Keynesian theory of production with limited supply of labour on its head and proved it was not land, labour and capital per se, but knowledge that was to lift the poor out of their misery to a better life.
Lee Kuan Yew saw the corruption and lack of a proper system of government which held back his people and decided to fill the political vacuum with a benevolent dictator: himself! He was true to his word. Corruption was abolished in Singapore as Yew’s own ministers of government were thrown in prison for breaking the law.
Fidel Castro experienced the inhumane dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista and his wealthy American friends. It took a bloody revolution to uproot the corruption and establish peoples’ power in Cuba.
My wish and prayer for the Caribbean, as we observe yet another Emancipation Day, is that the common folk will one day throw up a Caribbean leader able to capture the best humanistic and intelligent aspects of Lewis, Yew and Fidel to guide them to education and political vision, and to finally destroy the mental shackles of slavery. Only such shackles can explain the reason we celebrate when our country is threatened by large, corrupt capitalists. We must teach the uninformed that no matter what concessions are made to such people, they will never be satisfied. And the poorer and more divided the country, the more they will demand.
In the 1960s, when the Black Power revolution was threatening to overturn the remnants of slavery, black people were being encouraged to face the racist oppressors head-on. Some blacks were frightened and apologetic. If a slave owner were to open the door of his slave hut and order his slaves to leave, some, not knowing how to live outside the plantation, would refuse. Laugh not, dear reader. There are among us today some who would be lost if their political party should reject them. In some respects things are worse today as we witness the modern slave rejoicing, like Nero, while his homeland burns. For the same reason banana farmers who did not join the no-cut-strikes of the ’80s were punished when fellow farmers destroyed their fruit and burned their banana sheds. Have we forgotten?
If some of these actions were due to jealousy, what, pray tell, is responsible for the joy with which some of us greeted the recent Virgin Atlantic decision to stop servicing Saint Lucia from June? Can such a reaction come from a heart of love? I think not. It’s tough to explain, except for one who recognizes evil wherever he encounters it.
Thankfully, much good can come from the Virgin Atlantic announcement. If I were to apply the thoughts of the earlier cited three great icons, here’s what I think they would do: the $750,000 that was being spent to help Virgin Atlantic advertise would be put into a special fund. Part would go to every worker who has cleaned Virgin Atlantic planes for the past 21 years, each receiving $500 for every year they serviced the planes. Ditto the red caps. These monies will be specifically for house repairs, and/or educating their children and grandchildren.
In light of the proposed new terminal at Hewanorra International Airport, some funds ought to be spent educating lower-ranked employees, explaining what is envisaged, preparing them to better understand their value in the tourism chain. These workers ought to be the most knowledgeable on the goings-on at Hewanorra at this time.
If those responsible for the development of tourism can look dispassionately, they will see that, after 21 years of assistance, Virgin Atlantic has matured from its infant stage and no longer needs help from this country’s taxpayers. They would also learn to focus on the Saint Lucians first glimpsed by visitors arriving by plane—the aircraft cleaners. The assembled cleaners, standing aimlessly with broom in hands at the south-eastern end of the terminal building, may not exactly help promote visitor appreciation. A cool place, where they receive final instructions for the next aircraft cleaning assignment, and an ability to say ‘Welcome’ in more than one language, may be a better idea.
More on point, what might have happened had the government agreed to pay Virgin Atlantic the financial assistance it demanded? I suspect the net result would have made “Plywood City” seem like child’s play. Opponents of the government, who were waiting with gasoline and matches in hand, were sorely disappointed. After they had burned down the island, they would return to their little USA “shit holes”, or wherever else, to continue swallowing every manner of insult from their mentally deranged president or leader.
