We live in a world where the preferred system of government is  a democracy. Despite the virtues of this so called free market system which underpins a democracy, we continue to observe untold daily suffering caused by social and financial dysfunction. A consequence of the dysfunction is the lack of respect of the environment by its inhabitants which it is designed to protect. Is it too late that within the capacity of human kind we can redesign our system of living to sustain our existence in the ecosystem we find ourselves?

Some scientists posit the view we live in a confined space with finite resources which is therefore at odds with the veracious consumer monster we have created  in the free market system we treasure. Logic says if we inhabit an ecosystem which houses finite resources, those resources need to  be utilized  in a highly efficient manner.

It is difficult to accept that after investing billions of dollars in our educational system, we should find ourselves four decades after  Independence with a debt to GDP ratio North of 100%. We have built an economy which is wholly reliant on fossil fuel imports, almost all of our food is imported and the key productive sector requires we prostitute our environment.

It is probably too late but we need a vision for Barbados that will see a reordering of how we plan a futuristic society. Understanding we live in a world which is interconnected, any vision which departs from the established view will cause resistance and tension. It will call for vision hitherto not seen since the late Rt. Excellent Errol Walton Barrow. A vision where we conspire to power our small country by indigenous means, a country where we collaborate to feed our people with wholesome food, a vision where we develop housing which does not disfigure the natural beauty of our island space, a vision where paramountcy is given to protecting the national interest, and a vision where education is delivered, not as a commodity, but a vehicle to ensure  all become willing participants in  pursuing and sustaining the success of Barbados.

BU recommends the video which espouses the perspective of Jacque Fresco of the  The Venus Project.