It is amazing what a little humility and sincerity in public life can do. Even before and without the predictable gloom and doom intervention of the Leader of the Opposition, Barbadians were, quite understandably, concerned about the so-called Standard and Poors’ Downgrading and its implications and ramifications for our economy. Many of us cannot identify exactly with what this means for our everyday over-the-counter transactions, but we knew from the outset that it was not desirable.
Standard and Poors, like Moody’s, has been black-eyed, to a certain degree, ever since they failed to foresee and forewarn about the collapse of private sector America. The admonitions by former Prime Minister Owen Arthur that we should not let them ‘run Barbados’ have also served to create a level of skepticism among some in the society as to their ratings. Yet, we would have preferred if the pronouncement was more positive.
However, we woke up to the news one morning and the society slumped into a state of concern, if not panic. Cell phones began to ring, text messages were floating around and generally business persons wanted to hear and know what this meant for their economic wellbeing.
The person to whom we look in situations such as this is the Minister of Finance. No matter what others say, he is the one with the battery of advisors and he is the one who, with a stroke of the pen, can make life stressful or relaxing for us all. The Minister of Finance, who in this case happened also to be the Prime Minister, approached the issue with characteristic sincerity and humility.
His statement to Parliament last Tuesday triggered an overwhelming sigh of relief across the country, because he was upfront and honest with the public. Spin Doctor that I am, or more accurately, that I am made out to be, I perhaps would never have been so candid and lacking in colour in my language. I would perhaps still have managed to secure a positive outlook from the not so positive picture that had to be painted. But, not so with Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, David Thompson. He came clean!
He rattled off all the areas of the economy that were in decline and the unfavorable prognosis for several sectors. He told us straight up that “things brown” but, that we needed to hold together and ride out the storm.
The Prime Minister did not make out himself to be any Economic Guru or Whiz Kid. He did not purport to have all the answers, neither did he come with sugar-coated tablets to hide or disguise the gravity of the situation. The Prime Minister came to the nation and said ‘this is a bad body blow for us all, but, we can withstand it and bounce back’. That is the hallmark of a desirable and effective leader in 2009.
Some before him may have ‘tried a thing’; conscious of the potential impact on popularity ratings. But Mr. Thompson came clean and said ‘this is a difficult ball to play. The most I am going to do with it is protect my wicket and make sure it does not clean bowl me’.
By the end of that presentation, persons across the country were breathing easier. They knew we were not out of the woods, but they got the impression, from what scores reported to me, that the Captain was definitely at the wheel and that he was firmly in control.
It was because of that honesty and sincerity, together with an abundance of humility, that members of the public set aside the predictable gloom and doom of the Leader of the Opposition, who, as usual, saw the opportunity to score a few political brownie points.
Of course, from her perspective, if the Barbados Labour Party was in office, the report would have been different. Indeed, it would have had Barbados attaining a grade never before reached. That type of fuzzy logic is totally discredited in an environment where everyone knows that the Prime Minister is batting on a very sticky wicket. He has been dealt a bad hand. He does not have much elbow room, but generally, he is recognized as doing the best he can with the precious little he has been given.
When one hears the Leader of the Opposition speaking in such a critical manner about the Government’s handling of certain key sectors, it becomes questionable whether she is in touch and in tune with the real world. She speaks about the decline in tourist arrivals and tourist spending, as if Barbados is totally isolated and insulated from the rest of the world. Americans, Canadians, Europeans, Asians and our Caribbean brothers and sisters make up the bulk of our tourist trade. The majority of them comprise the same working class that exists here in Barbados. They are feeling the pinch just like you and me. Even though a few may have booked cruises and land-based holidays a few months or years ago, it does not mean that everyone stepping foot on this soil is a millionaire. Their spending power is as limited and as restricted as ours when we travel to their home territories.
Just recently, I gave a visiting couple a ride from Spring Garden Highway back to the entrance to the Port. I discovered they had walked from the ship to Brighton Beach and had entirely enjoyed the water, the weather and the atmosphere. But, the wife had gotten hungry and even though they still had a few hours to sailing time and would much have preferred to frolic in the turquoise waters of Barbados for a while longer, they began their trek back to the ship to secure lunch, because, as far as they were concerned, all their meals were paid for on the ship and there was no need to buy anything in the lines of food locally. Now, as fellow travelers, can we blame them?
Yet, the Leader of the Opposition would wish to suggest that situations such as this could be avoided and that there was some medication, known only to the Barbados Labour Party, that could be prescribed to make such a couple patronize a local shop or restaurant.
That is a simple but everyday example of life in the real world, when it comes to vacationing in the throes of a recession. The same applies to those who would rather drive from the cold, winter states in America to places like Florida, rather than fly to the Caribbean for a little sunshine.
So there is no magic wand that can be waved to make this recession go away and that is the point that the Prime Minister made both in his statement to Parliament and in his media briefing two days later.
There are some situations you simply have to withstand, endure and ride out. Stimulus Packages can do precious little in a situation such as this and independent commentators agree that the Prime Minister is correct in not pursuing that option until absolutely necessary.
The point one is making here is that in economic times such as these, humility and sincerity are preferred and required qualities of a leader and our current Prime Minister is displaying an immense degree of both at a time when the country needs it most.
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