Submitted by Terence Blackett
If Barbados is at the crossroad of an uncertain future, riddled with triangulated dystopia, yet longing for some imaginary bygone era – with many still believing that GOD* is a Bajan (think again) – the question now begs itself and must be asked: “WHERE IS YOUR ‘god’?”
Barbados (like most stagnant nations) are mere microscopic specks of stardust in a vast and measureless universe but that can be said of almost any quantifiably discernible object trapped within the limitless vortex of time and space. The essential day-to-day struggle reaches beyond the cosmic or the spiritual realms. It embraces the very essence of our existence as a nation and as a people. The duality between imaginary utopian values and the silent crash & crescendo of dystopia unnerves and unravels most living on this tiny mass of coral limestone rock in the Caribbean Sea. Yet for most living in this great land, we still harbour this notion that we are the centre of the universe and that our intellectual prowess, our enviable lifestyle of sun, sea & sex and our “PRIDE” (though falsely destructive) can steer us through the murky, treacherous waters of a 21st century world on the brink of the abyss.
This is a myth of Manichean proportions!
The old folks (believing like MANI* that they were and are apostles of light) reminisce and pine for a bygone era when things were cheap and we bowed and kowtower to those who ruled over us while this postmodern generation infected with (Baudrillardian hyper-reality dystopia) believe that antiquated social traditions are outdated; moral values are washed-up and as a result, baby-boomers and anyone over 45 years old are badly out of touch with the ominous perturbations of daily life.
But where have these flagons of postmodernity come from? Who have concocted these bewitching brews? What are the roots of this entrenched belief system that says things must get so bad before it can get better? Are the “ELITES” in Barbados experiencing austerity? Is there socioeconomic “vagrancy” amongst the upper and middle classes? And, is it possible to augur or presage the likely outcome of a generation that believes they are “SECOND” class citizens in what they know is a “3rd” world country ruled by a classist elite who for all intents and purposes care precious little about them or their families?
These are some of the questions which need answers!
As modern sociologists continue to quibble over the mythical notions of traditional nostalgia held by many older folks versus what our kids hold fast to as a capitalist dystopian framework, market saturated with the feeble elements of a mobile phone or tablet computer (made of cobalt mined in the Congo through innocent blood & back-breaking sweat); or a 2nd hand Japanese recycled car (price-gouged to keep most in debt for decades through exorbitant usury) and name-brand clothing made in sweat shops in Bangladesh and China (which are nothing more than “SECONDS” masquerading as quality merchandize) created to satisfy the avaricious demands of a brainwashed consumer-oriented society living way beyond its means – shows how far we haven’t travelled.
Barbadian youth, especially those who have never worked a day in their lives as well as a growing number of university “qualified individuals” (who possess little to no real life experience in entrepreneurship or creative forward thinking talent) find themselves in clear and present danger of no upper mobility and faced with an unlikely future that holds very little in terms of a quality prospects or life chances for them or their peers.
So the “Photoshop Utopia” of our supposed past (in the immortal words of our national anthem – “in plenty and in times of need, our great forefathers sowed…) still rigidly held by many of our old-guard have been vigorously challenged by the rogue dystopia of postmodernity and the seminal flux that goes with it. The question is now – have we been sold an illusion? An imaginary farscape that can never be achieved or realized?
Let’s examine Barbados at the crossroads in June 2013:
v Barbados at the crossroads – CRIME DYSTOPIA
Every culture and nation under the sun grapples with some form of rebellious underground subculture. America leads the way (taking over from Europe after the post-war years) with SEX; DRUGS & Rock ‘n’ Roll. This has now been replaced with the invidious nature of the HIP HOP industry and its mind-altering, subliminal effects of gang-banging, misogyny, rape, drug money, gun violence and the systematic destruction of the Black male child. Barbados has bought into this virulent lifestyle hook, line and sinker with variants of it that is seen in the music you hear on your ZR van, dubs and other forms of socio-recreational activities. Bajan society has become infected with such malevolent and gross criminality that the current authorities are either powerless or complicit in augmenting a specific totalitarian endgame of absolute social control or they have already lost war.
The criminality we speak of is at every level of Bajan society. Lawyers who are a law on to themselves – steal, misappropriate, embezzle and con their way to the bank laughing at the expense of the person of the poor. Politician’s lie; take bribes; discriminately massage the populace and the people love to have it so. The priests and the prophets in the land prophecy virulent lies while continuing to rule over the sheeple dumbing them down with a “gospel” of prosperity when they know that the bottom is about to fall out of the pan. Yet the people love to have it so!
Organised crime often goes undetected because the rich folks in the land can pay protection money and the authorities will continue to close their blinded eyes to the shenanigans of a corrupt few. Governmental corruption and abuses of socioeconomic and political power invades our society as there is no transparency, accountability or integrity legislation in the land. The moral decay has reached pandemic proportions and can be seen by those who have eyes to see. The society is now in imminent danger of becoming a byword and a laughing stock to the other nations to whom we once looked down our noses at and are now our “masters” and “captains of industry” – which leads us to the next form of dystopia!
v Barbados at the crossroads – FOREIGN-OWNERSHIP DYSTOPIA
The population of Barbados currently stands at 287,733 (July 2012 est.) a country of 166 sq. miles with the majority (90%+) of Blacks cramped into post-colonial quarters of a ratio of persons to land area of far, far more than 6 per sq. mile as the numbers would mathematically suggest, yet the lingering dystopia is not how cramped we are with no readily available land space but who owns our land and how that land is being controlled and the insane prices vendors quote for a parcel of land once the domain of slaves and indentured servants.
For starters, our economy is ruthlessly run by IBC’s the like of which has never been seen before. The late, great, honourable Mr Errol Walton “DIPPER THE SKIPPER” Barrow is probably rolling over in his grave to see the effect of predatory globalization and its effects on the landscape of Barbados’ economy. But one could easily argue that where there is “NO VISION” people not only perish but lose their land, their self-determination and their ability to rule themselves according to the dictates of their consciences. Our foreparents sowed the seeds and were sold a bill of goods – we are now picking up the cheque!
Today, we are largely a nation of wage earners, post-colonial hawkers and beggars (vagrants in our own land, sleeping by the roadside under bus shelters and in any nook or cranny we can find); 2nd class citizens to the masters of some unknown universe – and we seem to like it so, for the “VOICES” are silently loud on the real pertinent issues that plagues us as a people. One can only assume that is a remaining vestige of the flagon of feudal slavery and the entrenched indoctrination created from the shrapnel end of the bull-whip or the cat-‘o’-nine tail.
The population of Barbados has grown exponentially since I was a young boy and due to its limited resource model of scientific and economic development (given its educational praxis) and its innate inability to create a sustainable future for its young, fledging minds – it has to depend on the outside world for food, clothing and shelter. This has resulted in an astronomical import bill, ridiculous prices for food, goods & services and unsustainable balance of payments to our creditors far and wide. We already live way above our means and it is only a matter of time before the “SEISMIC BUBBLE” bust and as a nation we experience hardships that will make the Great Depression look like a picnic.
This is my 3rd trip to Barbados in 10 months and the levels of despair in this society are ominously frightening to say the least and the real fear is in the imminent danger of a once “godly” society becoming antithetically, socially and biologically Darwinistic in its approach to God, love & family – throwing away all that we once held dear for a mere morsel of stale bread. The sociology clearly tells me that we are no longer our brother’s keeper given the enormous wealth gap between the rich in Barbados and the working class poor. This repugnant state of being is morally scandalous within its own social framework, and to see how the elites use the power of the police, lawyers and the courts to avert moral and social anarchy and to control the starving masses into a form reticence and silent submission is hellish and damnable to any righteous soul. This leaves me with my final thought:
v Lastly, Barbados at the crossroads – PREDATORY CAPITALIST DYSTOPIA
Now that we have sold off the crown jewels; mortgaged away our children future through mismanagement, greed and a moral disdain for our own kind – we are seeing the chickens coming home to roost. For sale signs everywhere (foreclosure properties that the banks will have to eventually sell to foreigners for a paltry pittance). Businesses going bust. Banks pressuring their department heads to augment and sell more loans creating deeper levels of frustration in the workplace and more stress-related health issues amongst a younger and younger population group. More suicides from “dark” depression and a sense of moral, financial and spiritual hopelessness. More mental illness resulting in younger vagrants on our streets sleeping rough and portraying the wrong image of a nation prized for its compassion and helpfulness. While on the other hand, at the apex of the predatory capitalist structure, there is a form of utopia not seen since the boom years of the 1980’s. We don’t need to look at a FORBES* list to see the disparity in the wealth gap between the “haves” and the “HAVENOTS” – it is all too self-evident.
The scenarios painted in this piece is not some dark insalubriously-concocted, psychological dreamscape mined in the underverse of a claustrophobically-inward looking society that has been unable to see its true potential and is unable to take the fight to those who have ruled over us for 400 years through trickery, sophistry and subterfuge. Dividing and ruling to the point where we too are so divided as a people that the possibility of common unity is oxymoronic to say the very least.
In 2001, David Korten wrote a book entitled “When Corporations Rule The World” – today mega-corporations rule Barbados with an iron fist and there are no longer possibilities for common virtues like morality, decency, FAITH*, integrity, dignity, or human compassion. You work for the corporation or you die! You tow the line or you become expendable.
My faith and my belief structure assure me that “THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH”!!!
Decide TODAY.
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