Est.2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

, ,

Institutional Cracks are Appearing: Whither Transparency and Democracy

← Back

Your message to the BLOGMASTER was sent

CONTACT THE BLOGMASTER ONLY

George C. Brathwaite, founder and interim president of BAJE
George C. Brathwaite, founder and interim president of BAJE

In contemporary Barbados, several questions are being raised by the inquiring citizen whose voice attracts the political whip. Many persons could care less of an individual’s curiosity or the need to know once  burning issues are scrutinised. Inquirers and commentators are often. In contemporary Barbados, several questions are being raised by the inquiring citizen whose voice attracts the political whip. Many persons could care less of an individual’s curiosity or the need to know once burning issues are scrutinised. Inquirers and commentators are often and dismissively thrown into the political camps of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) or the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). In relation to the current Cabinet or executive, there are increasing trends of neo-authoritarianism being exhibited on a regular and disconcerting basis. This observation is profound and it serves to demarcate an approach to governance that is not consistent with the 2008n and dismissively thrown into the political camps of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) or the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). In relation to the current Cabinet or executive, there are increasing trends of neo-authoritarianism being exhibited on a regular and disconcerting basis. This observation is profound and it serves to demarcate an approach to governance that is not consistent with the 2008

Issue after issue, there are repeated cautions that are registered against those persons and/or groups critical of governmental policies, actions or inactions. In turn, apathy and determinism have mimicked the cowardly forms of inevitability demonstrated by the national executive.

Read full Article

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

27 responses to “Institutional Cracks are Appearing: Whither Transparency and Democracy”

  1. Rosemary Parkinson Avatar
    Rosemary Parkinson

    Perhaps some institutional cracks can be dealt with this evening…perhaps some voices might be heard and silences broken. We will never know unless we heed the call for all creatives and those interested in the outcome of a flawed Cultural Industries….

    TO ALL MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS OF THE CONCERNED CREATIVE CITIZENS GROUP – PLEASE SHARE AND SPREAD THE WORD

    “You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem.” (Leroy) Eldridge Cleaver (1935-1998) speech given in San Francisco in 1968

    “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Martin Luther King (1929-1968) Strength to Love, 1963

    “Sometimes you’ve got to let everything go—purge yourself . . . If you are unhappy with anything . . . whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you’ll find that when you’re free, your true creativity, your true self comes out.” Tina Turner (1939-) I, Tina (1986)

    I hear so many ‘creatives’ crying ‘shame’ when it comes to the Cultural Industries Bill…not just the CCCG group whose membership has reached 1,282 members…but many others…so this afternoon show your faces…QUEEN’S PARK AT 6:30 P.M. ….even if it is just to listen…make your voices heard if you care to. This could be the last chance to impart unity and solidarity. We are not going to fight…we should be just there to make government understand that the Cultural Industries Bill (or whatever they have decided to call it now) should not be passed until its flaws are rectified…this Bill is about US…ALL OF US (government included) AND NOT JUST A CHOSEN FEW. This Bill will impact all our lives and right now it will do so for many in a very negative way. And it need not be so.
    …………………………………………………………………..

    TO THE HONOURABLE MINISTER STEPHEN LASHLEY

    “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain (1835-1910); [Samuel Clemens] Humorist, Essayist, Novelist

    Minister Lashley…Sir…you have an opportunity today to convey to all creatives that you are going to really listen and through this culture Bill do what is right. The Bill, in its present form, is flawed…very flawed…might even come back to haunt you in future years…life has a way. As a lawyer you must realize this. I know you do. Do the creatives proud Sir. Meet with the CCCG and use their minds and the work they have done to make you a Minister to be proud of. And they not even charging for this. No consultancy fee is required. No special appointment even. It is not only Barbados watching Mr. Minister, it is the Caribbean and the whole world. The timing to put forth a near-perfect Bill could not be better for your particular government.

    Our voices are not political…we want this Bill right… from the beginning… not to have to be amended when we all know how long that takes..we want this Bill right not just for us but for all creatives who HAVE CHOSEN (and will continue through the ages to choose by virtue of their birth talents) this difficult, sometimes ungrateful career but one that is certainly fulfilling to us and awesome to those who love creativity. And furthermore, a career that can inject all the necessary much-needed monies into your pockets but most importantly into ours as well. Takes two hands to clap for a standing ovation. We implore you not to make our lives more difficult than they are already, as only you can.

    SEE ALL AT QUEEN’S PARK THIS EVENING AT 6:30 SHARP!!! BLESS!!!

  2. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    @ Mr. Brathwaite

    Where were you when OSA was the dictator-in-chief? There was always an authoritarian current within the political culture and every PM of Barbados has been an elected (petite) dictator. This is not new! Every Prime Minister of Barbados has been an elected dictator. This system has continued and will always continue because people like your are so anchored to your political tribe that you leave no space for true citizenship. A citizenship that requires us all to bring an end to the mockery of an elected dictatorship passing as a ‘democracy’. Party loyalists are so entrenched that even when an election ends in a dead heat there is no space for a government of national unity in Barbados.

  3. George C. Brathwaite Avatar
    George C. Brathwaite

    @ Pachamama
    I largely agree with you and have said that much; you should also note that I have suggested that the world around us is trending towards a different direction and Barbados acknowledges this based on the treaties, conventions and other instruments that the country has entered. Indeed, the very fact that barbados utilises human and other resources to provide reports and in some caces to work towards the end demonstrates the country’s awareness. Your mention of OSA and later of elections suggest to me (and I may be wrong) that you are still inclined to see the narrow picture rather than look at the broader and deeper implications.

  4. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    @ Mr. Brathwaite
    We are always being accused of dealing with matters that our critics say have nothing to do with Barbados. We are happy that you share the opposite view. However, we welcome your sobriety in confronting this matter and hope that your new found enlightenment will be contagious. What bigger picture can we see but a national unity government in Barbados today? How impossible must this be even when the people, by their votes, demanded it?

  5. Piece Uh De Rock Yeah Right!! Avatar
    Piece Uh De Rock Yeah Right!!

    @George C Brathwaite

    Pachamama asked you this question before and you, with noticed agility, sidestepped it.

    Where were you when Seethru was dictator in chief?

    The narrow view which you alude to is not so narrow in its focus.

    Your new enlightenment seems to be found during the Fumble regime when this sleeping giant reign and not when He who saw/sees spirits (of the liquid type) bestrode this Piece of Rock Upon Which I Stand?

    All that gibber about new world trends and all of that does not change the fact that barring the fact that we are in a depression now (recession for the rest of the world) all of the ills in Bajan society that you have so suddenly seen the light about and have been driven to assemble this Knights of the Round Table cohort to address, exhisted too.

    With the hernia gone i have lost the augmented balls, but where have yours suddenly sprout from?

    Just asking. And try not to give the ole man too much of the highfalutting talk, i isnt too quick pun de big words dem.

  6. George C. Brathwaite Avatar
    George C. Brathwaite

    @ Piece …
    One will never be able to please all of the people all of the times. To my imperfections, I plead guilty because I acknowledge my human strengths and weaknesses. Now that we are sure you can see the contrary side, let us see how best we can fix some of the problems that face us knowing that all will not agree on the course of action.

  7. Yagga Rowe Avatar
    Yagga Rowe

    Where were you when Seethru was dictator in chief?
    Richie Haynes praised Owen + BLP for good stewardship.
    Sandy weaken the Bajan Brand

  8. Jack Bowman Avatar
    Jack Bowman

    Rosemary Parkinson tells us on June 25, 2013 at 11:14 AM:

    “… this Bill is about US…ALL OF US (government included) AND NOT JUST A CHOSEN FEW. This Bill will impact all our lives … Minister Lashley…Sir…you have an opportunity today to convey to all creatives that you are going to really listen … Do the creatives proud Sir … we want this Bill right not just for us but for all creatives …”.

    I think the guy who replastered a damaged wall in my house last week was pretty creative. My sister prepares a damn fine salt fish dish, and it’s pretty creative. That homeless guy who used to live in the doorway of an abandoned shop in Oistins, obsessively combing his hair, was pretty creative in constructing some living space out of old refrigerator cartons.

    Define “creatives” or this whole message, indeed this whole debate, is meaningless. The mechanic who fixes my car is creative. The guy who makes Digicel phone games that I’ll never play is creative. The woman who grills my marlin at Oistins Bay Gardens is creative.

    Or is it that you have a peculiarly precious conception of “creatives”? The wordsmiths and the music-makers, is that it? The carnival outfitters and those twiddling the knobs at the mixing desk? The bloggers and blogmeisters and potters? Are the coopers included? The blacksmiths and the hairdressers and the hewers of wood? The hysterical pastors and the wildly creative fisherfolk, the masons and gardeners and advocates of the innocent, the women who walk that long coast road every morning from Oistins to Atlantic Shores, there to clean bathrooms while creatively managing their household budget? Are they in your creative group?

    The doctors of the human body, bound by oath to do no harm, and the doctors of the human mind, bound by the same oath, are these “creatives” in your view?

    Define “creatives” or your passion is without meaning. Even if you get a billion, seven billion members of the CCCG, it’s meaningless if it’s limitless.

    I’ve actually met some of the knob-twiddlers behind the mixing desk, and in my experience they’ve been much less “creative” than the Oistins-to-Atlantic-Shores women who’ve been husbanding their resources and creatively raising a household as “creatives”.

  9. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    Jack Bowman

    A creative is someone with the ability to build a unique item that has worth to someone other than himself … (c) BAFBFP 2013

  10. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    George

    You surely ain’ want my input … You see I ain nah academic, so any prose that goes beyond five paragraphs will never be attractive to me, so I gun ride this one out.

  11. Adrian Hinds Avatar
    Adrian Hinds

    George you still feel the same way you did about the things you said on Jamaican radio several years ago?

  12. Jack Bowman Avatar
    Jack Bowman

    Dear Baffy de lil bajan rapis,

    We is not talkin to you. When we want to talk to you, asshole, we’ll let you know beforehand. Ya wid me on dat? We got ya bawlin? Ya got de chinee o’ de joo ready ta ba funna? Baffy, ya lil gobshite Bajan rapis, ya got we bawlinnnnn!

    We want to hear Ms Parkinson’s definition of “creatives”. We’ve listened to you enough. You are a dickhead.

  13. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    @ BAF

    We see a man horning you, with Serena!

  14. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    LOL

  15. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    @ BAF
    But he look at if he needs some help, still! LOL

  16. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    BAF

    Come and talk man. Leh us get some fun off you. The horner man white too. We still feel he need some help. LOL

  17. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    Pach

    The man married … But he do Serena a world ah good … Can’ complain atol atol …! Serena likes Nadal because they suffer from split personality traits. This guy has married guy has focused her in a way that I could not, so I gotta give t’anks …!

    Jack

    Pardna, I is a man dat loves ta get cuss … HA HA HA. But tell mah de truf man, talk sof’ so na’body but me could hear… as man, you neva rape nabody yet …?

  18. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    @ BAF
    That white thing got she playing her best tennis ever! But he putting real horns in you.

  19. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    Na … not atol. She had a lot of rapper boy friends in the past who must be feeling slighted that this Parisan has been able to do something that they could not, with all of their Ghetto charm. Serena is now almost fluent in French. Look, the man might be White, but no man will take on a woman like Serena, with all of her obvious assets unless he was packin’… and I am pretty sure that this man is. Serena can’ keep she hands off of him. I just hope that he was leaving his wife before Serena entered the pic. In any event, she does want to have children and this guy already has his share, so there is still hope … HA HA HA HA

  20. George C. Brathwaite Avatar
    George C. Brathwaite

    @ Adrian Hinds

    The answer is yes, my views are consistently one Barbados, one region, one Caribbean, one love.
    Indeed, only last Friday morning I gave comments via Hot 102 Radio Jamaica, maybe you can refer to that as well.

  21. Jervis Zeuldeick Avatar
    Jervis Zeuldeick

    Oh common, I’m so confused now with all of these comments. >.< someone pls help me. lol

  22. Jack Bowman Avatar
    Jack Bowman

    Quoting Pachamama on June 25, 2013 at 4:29 PM

    “BAF

    “Come and talk man. Leh us get some fun off you. The horner man white too. We still feel he need some help. LOL” [.]

  23. Jack Bowman Avatar
    Jack Bowman

    BAFBFP on June 25, 2013 at 4:36 PM has a question.

    Here’s the question: “Jack, Pardna, I is a man dat loves ta get cuss … as man, you neva rape nabody yet …?”

  24. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    BAF

    Don’t pay that sycophant (Jock Baumann aka Jack Bowman) as mind. Let him go on his blog here – http://bajanblogwatch.wordpress.com/

  25. Jack Bowman Avatar
    Jack Bowman

    Jack Bowman | June 26, 2013 at 4:54 PM |

    BAFBFP on June 25, 2013 at 4:36 PM has a question.

    Here’s the question: “Jack, Pardna, I is a man dat loves ta get cuss … as man, you neva rape nabody yet …?”
    Pachamama | June 26, 2013 at 5:37 PM |

    BAF

    Don’t pay that sycophant (Jock Baumann aka Jack Bowman) as mind. Let him go on his blog here – http://bajanblogwatch.wordpress.com/

  26. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    But Jack

    This rape thing really got your goat nah … HA HA HA. Look, you hold fast to what is right, hear …. Don’t let Pacha or me distract you or get in your way. People that hold fast to correctness always get my respect … God bless …!

  27. Jack Bowman Avatar
    Jack Bowman

    So then we get Pachamama on June 26, 2013 at 5:37 PM, informing us thus:

    “BAF’. Don’t pay that sycophant (Jock Baumann aka Jack Bowman) as [sic] mind. Let him go on his blog here – http://bajanblogwatch.wordpress.com/”

    Jesus Harold Christ on a bike. You really are a phucking asshole, aren’t you? You really are. It’s rare to meet a true phucking asshole.

    Those of us about to die say LOL. And the true dickheads among us (among we?) say HA HA HA …(in the best language of the true and genuine dickhead).

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading