After reading many of the comments posted to the blog Public Faces, Private Lives: Homosexuality in Barbados the BU household was left to wonder: how can Barbadians change entrenched and irrelevant attitudes to survive in a changing world, and at the same time protect the core values which have led to the successful Barbados brand. Our small size makes us insignificant as policy shapers in a global context. Our high level of education gives our people an advantage to think for ourselves. The two positions are contentious, so how do we deal with it? What do we really want as a people?
Increasingly in recent years we have a sense that Barbados has been allowing its space to be polluted by the fumes from ‘up-north’. Our people appear to be willing to inhale the fumes but what about the good stuff?
The recent energy crisis triggered by the volatility in oil price on the world market has caused many Americans to dump their gas guzzling SUV’s for more fuel efficient vehicles. In Barbados by observation SUV’s continue to be sold at relatively high level. Americans have assessed the situation and reacted to to protect the financial security of the family. Many Barbadians on the other hand see the ownership of an SUV has a status symbol and appear unwilling to adjust behaviour. In recent weeks with the decline in the cost of a barrel of oil their has been a clamour on talk radio and other media for the perceived reduction to be passed on to consumers. People have already forgotten that there is a need to change behaviours to be energy conscious and look for alternatives energy sources. Barbadians can learn from the energy debate ongoing in the USA presidential elections.
There was a report highlighted in the USA last week that many middleclass families in the USA have decided to switch enrolment of their children to public schools. The report further suggested that studies show that when middleclass children interact in a school environment with children from lower socio-economic backgrounds, it helps the less privileged children. It Barbados if you are from the middleclass it is axiomatic that their children will attend private schools: private schools in Barbados are not cheap. Alarmingly there is a cadre of working class who have decided that they lack the confidence in the public school system, and they have been making the sacrifice to send their children to private schools. Maybe their behaviour is a little aspiration as well!
A new government has entered office at a time when there is a new order of how things will have to be done. Globalization, renewable technology, corruption, emerging world economic powers couple with heightened geo-political strategies and on and on it goes. Barbadians will have to decide what is the road map which we need to draw to chart our path into the 22nd Century.
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