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The Power of ALL

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There is so much divisiveness (almost typed derision) in Barbados of late. In the same way an organisation is defined by the quality of its employees and the ability to be productive – the definition is the same for a country. Barbados will only overcome the many challenges it faces if the majority of  the citizenry is led to unleash its collective intelligence for the good of the whole. Sadly we are far from this being a reality anytime soon.

Within the government ranks the Eager 11 episode has fizzled to David Estwick versus the rest. The discord periodically played in public by the government betrays the loyalty to the Westminster model of government and its aged old conventions. On the other side of the political aisle we have the leader of the Opposition battling demons as well in the form of former prime minister Owen Arthur tossing political barbs from the Independent side located on the government bench, sacked ‘Leader of Opposition Business’ Kerri Symmonds or the senseless bassa bassa between George Payne and Edmund Hinkson. There is a resignation the Westminster system we have bastardized breeds an adversarial politics. Do not expect any solutions from the political class.

What about the trade unions?

The Barbados Workers Union (BWU) and the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) both represent retrenched National Conservation Commission workers, yet, the NUPW decides to march and the BWU decides to wait until the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) meets.

The bigger issue we see is the embarrassing position, or so it seems to BU, of a social partnership formed to represent a shared position of labour, government and private sector, yet, the largest credit union is NOT a member of the partnership. How can we pretend we have a partnership given the fracture? Why is there no outrage at the hypocrisy of such an arrangement?

Interesting is that the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium can be chock-a-block on the weekends with churchgoers attending some convention or the other, yet the same religious constituent is not motivated to support causes of a national interest in the same numbers.   Instead of blaming the political class to haul our asses out of the social and economic morass we find ourselves, why are we not looking at the mirror to think and mobilize how to win our country back from these JAs. Shouldn’t our religious leaders want to mobilise the flock to demand accountability and justice from the system?

The biggest concern by BU is to observe an unwillingness by an educated class – billions sunk in education post Independence –  to define the kind of Barbados it wants to build. Why have we allowed all the businesses our forefathers slaved to support a way of life for Barbadians to be stolen by outsiders? In 2015 we are like sitting ducks in the face of hegemonic ambitions by all comers.

When will the hour come for an educated class to understand there is power in numbers.

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64 responses to “The Power of ALL”

  1. John Hanson 1781-1782- I SERVE 1788- 1792 BARBADOES. Avatar
    John Hanson 1781-1782- I SERVE 1788- 1792 BARBADOES.

    The Union was in BED with the DBLP government and some one open the door with an EYE PHONE TAPING ,
    THERE is no union only union members as they had at 1199 Union in New York , they also was in bed with the Union and the workers got what these workers got in Barbados, When you sleep with the Boss,

    Now the IDB hit them government twice, First $60 Million for no Clear title to land in the City and now another $160 Million for no Clear title for Black Rock Plantation for 4 seasons ,

    If We did not say this before , We have the Plantation Deed for Black Rock and the Garden , These are another 2 Plantations not Listed any where in Barbados along with Brittions Hill,= 3 so far , Well well , we dont see none for CAVE HILL PLANTATION EITHER, =4

    So what is the Use of the UDC? if the VAT came to be in 1997 and the UDC , so where is the VAT money going ? Vat is to go to land and no land can be sold for no CLEAR TITLE CAN BE SHOWN,

  2. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    David

    The problems that are being experienced by this country stem from the fact that all our leaders line up behind a political party, except in the case of Bizzy Williams who sees himself as a P.I.G and therefore supports both. Even independent senators are openly supportive of the DLP.

    Show me a civil society organization that is not split politically or completely towing the party line. This results in those organizations making decisions that would not hurt their party. A classic case in point is the NUPW deceiving its membership by acting in the best interest of the Government. They have become so ridiculous that some members of the executive are fighting against appointing Roslyn Smith as General Secretary only because she does not identify with a political party. If she were a Dem she would have been appointed to that post immediately upon the retirement of “What’s-his-name” Clarke.

    I am trying to say that the country is too politically polarised to see any improvement any time soon.

  3. David Avatar
    David

    @Caswell

    How de we ‘depolarise’?

  4. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    Caswell
    Would you agree that this polarization in the NUPW in particular,is the bastard child of Barrow politics culminating in politicizing of the Civil Service post 1974?

  5. David Avatar
    David

    In essence we are agreeing our institutions must act as the catalyst to shape and lead Barbadians. The people acumen will not manifest and demonstrate itself from the individual?

  6. ac Avatar
    ac

    we depolarize when we put our country first instead of self interest. that was the philosophy engrained in the Errol Barrow model. By receiving the benefits of free education our interest should be that of shaping and molding and refining the Country best interest .
    In turn we have refused to share our knoweldge and have only done so out of favoritism or a need to be compensated in one way or another,
    the fall out would continue not because we are ill prepared or unequipped but because of a callous and self serving attitude which has become spoiled and rotten and centralized to a philosophy nestled in ingratitude

  7. Observing Avatar
    Observing

    @David
    We all know there is strength in numbers but no matter how great the numbers bold independent leadership that desires true change and real improvement is needed. Haven’t seen that around lately at all.

    Regarding “depolarisation”, we’re 166 square miles with 280K people. Polarisation is an inevitable circumstance of our political situation (one only need go back to the genesis of the 2 major parties).

    What we need is a situation where both sides of the divide have the best interest of the country at heart and some common sense and ability to boot.

    Being divided wouldn’t matter if there was good governance and progressive developmental policies and projects that served us all.

    Just observing

  8. The Watcher Avatar
    The Watcher

    Barbadians need to give up their mendicant mentalities. In my view, the core of the polarization in government, and by extension the country at large, is rooted in our ability to “want” everything for free, and government to provide it.
    We want good roads, good salaries, lower prices for goods and services, more of everything that is of benefit to us, but we don’t think that these things have a price or at minimum, a cost.
    So, instead of supporting each other in business, we shun and scorn small businesses on the pretext that we are not going to “mek he rich”, but then go and support those who care nothing about. This is because our colonial enslavement has not really ended, its just repressed daily.
    Barbados needs a National Agenda that all who wish to be a part of, can buy into. It will be a project in the truest sense of the word, but it will have the ability to galvanize its stakeholders, the population, towards owning a piece of it and seeing a tangible benefit on its successful conclusion.
    Many people who have visited the country of Singapore, love to talk about its success, and, in the same breath, why we cant achieve that same success because of our political structure vs theirs.
    This cannot be further from reality.
    While Singapore has what amounts to a strong leader, something that many of us believe we don’t have, they also have what I like to describe as a “one-ness of purpose”, something that we apparently don’t want to have.
    They, like us, are human too, subject to all of the faults and imperfections that humans possess, but they have a singular mind as it relates to Singapore and the success of Singapore.
    Depolarization will either start with the people or a strong, politically un-biased leader. I will enjoy great uptake based on that National Agenda that I previously mentioned and culminate with the successful realization of its purpose.
    It wont come from the B or DLP in the fore-seeable future and certainly wont happen with these political “Post Turtles” that we have now on either side.
    They love that polarization because it allows them too to be irresponsible to the people and get rich in the process.
    Want a better, more productive Barbados.? Dismantle this non-functional system, and adopt something that works! I dare all of you!

  9. David Avatar
    David

    @The Watcher & Observing

    Not following your argument, it seems circular i.e. Chicken and the Egg. The majority of the people (masses) will follow. If we take this to a logical position then the question must be how do we produce leaders who are able to influence the herd. Do we accept that all citizens do not have the capacity to make the best decisions or hold relevant opinions, even if it their right to do so?

  10. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ ac January 25, 2015 at 8:15 AM
    “… In turn we have refused to share our knoweldge and have only done so out of favoritism or a need to be compensated in one way or another…”

    Now which member of the alternating crap (ac) consortium is writing here?
    Certainly not the same one who subsequently wrote on another thread:
    ac January 25, 2015 at 8:21 AM
    “Clyde mascoll collect data like a recycling plant collects trash.”

    How is knowledge established and facts determined if not through the hard work of collecting data?
    Maybe if he was collecting data on behalf of the deceitful damn(ed) lying party he, Mascoll, would be a building a treasure of information to prove how well the economy is performing and how wrong the rating agencies and IMF are in their assessment of the Bajan economy. He and the Guv of the Central Bank would be pals like two peas in a pod to make Fumble and Greenverbs Parris look like sworn enemies to thrash poor Ryan Straughn to pieces.

    One man’s thrash is another man’s treasure.

  11. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ millertheanunnaki January 25, 2015 at 8:45 AM
    “One man’s thrash is another man’s treasure.”

    Sorry about the ac slip.
    One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

  12. ac Avatar
    ac

    the herd is already spoiled rotten, NO ! one not one would endorse any political leader TODAY who runs on a platform on commitment to putting country first as it entails a mindset of having to give more than receiving and reading the many comments on BU the essence of each argument is always WHAT ABOUT ME’i am yet to read one argument that goes against that mindset.
    The status quo will remain in place going from one govt to another no PDC or BLP or dlp can change that ,that is what the people like .Hell will freeze over before a change of putting Country First ever supersedes a change of Self interest,

  13. ac Avatar
    ac

    miller maybe he needs to collect data that is relevant to the functioning of an economy and not from a reservoir of wishful” think tanks” that are awash and ablaze !uncompromising in highlighting the misfortunes of the country,

  14. old onion bags Avatar
    old onion bags

    David

    You are asking the near impossible my friend…..unless things come about to that most indecorous R word. Given the present system of our ‘means of control’ – government, how can the so called ‘educated class’ break ranks from the norm and emerge a Saviour ? We talking here of a new emergence…viz. Frantz Fanon’s .. the Wretched of the Earth. Errol Barrow ‘s move to achieve INDEPENDENCE from the England was in itself a new emergence. Our Westminister style of goverment is so deeply entrenched, controlling citizens from the womb to the tomb,that your ask would be deem anarchy and the result – Jonesing : breakin heads and rubber bullets. What we need with this present system is a STRONG Leader…..who puts country before self and is not afraid to kick out the Byers and Carringtons…We need men without greed. Real men\ women.

  15. old onion bags Avatar
    old onion bags

    snip >
    Frantz Omar Fanon (20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) was a Martinique-born Afro-French psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary, and writer whose works are influential in the fields of post-colonial studies, critical theory, and post-Marxism.[1] As an intellectual, Fanon was a political radical, and an existentialist humanist concerned with the psychopathology of colonization, and the human, social, and cultural consequences of decolonization.[2][3]

    In the course of his work as a physician and psychiatrist, Fanon supported the Algerian War of Independence from France, and was a member of the Algerian National Liberation Front. For more than four decades, the life and works of Frantz Fanon have inspired movements in Palestine, Sri Lanka, the U.S. and South Africa.[4][5][6]

    The Wretched of the Earth presents thorough critiques of nationalism and of imperialism, a discussion of personal and societal mental health, a discussion of how the use of language (vocabulary) is applied to the establishment of imperialist identities, such as colonizer and colonized in order to teach and psychologically mold the native and the colonist into their respective roles as slave and master, and a discussion of role of the intellectual in a revolution. Fanon proposes that revolutionaries should seek the help of the lumpenproletariat to provide the force required to effect the expulsion of the colonists. Moreover, in traditional Marxist theory, the lumpenproletariat are considered the lowest, most degraded stratum of the proletariat social-class — especially criminals, vagrants, and the unemployed — people who lacked the class consciousness to actively participate in the anti-colonial revolution. Yet, Fanon applies the term lumpenproletariat to identify the colonial subjects who are not involved in industrial production, especially the peasantry, because, unlike the urban proletariat (the working class), the lumpenproletariat have sufficient intellectual independence from the dominant ideology of the colonial ruling class to readily grasp that they can successfully revolt against the colonial status quo, and so decolonize their nation.

  16. David Avatar
    David

    @Onions

    Point taken but what is hope? Do we place faith in the ingenuity of man to overcome challenges? Isn’t history replete with examples of mankind making giant leaps?

  17. ac Avatar
    ac

    Starting with SELF is the right and proper way to start , Michael Jackson words are most appropriate “man in the mirror

  18. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ ac January 25, 2015 at 9:44 AM

    If not for Mascoll who else (other than the IMF) would have the courage and preparedness to expose the Governor’s money printing press? And we are not talking about Thomas de la Rue.

    We are talking about that printer’s devil who sees his elf-like self as the self-appointed currency debaser to His Majesty Stinkliar of the DLP Kingdom.
    Do you realize what the actions of that devil have done to the real value of the Barbados dollar and by extension the integrity of the general economy?
    Try exchanging Bajan dollars in any one of the other Caribbean territories and see what would happen.

  19. DeeWord Avatar
    DeeWord

    David, Observing’s point is accurate I suggest.

    As he says, “being divided wouldn’t matter if there was good governance and progressive developmental policies and projects that served us all.”

    That statement sir is true of governing a country as it is true of the WI cricket team.

    That is to say the collective goals supplant the individual self interest to the point the everyone is absolutely focused on the team goal and interlace their interest to that collective. Rather than place their interest above the collective.

    AC says; “we depolarize when we put our country first instead of self interest. that was the philosophy engrained in the Errol Barrow model” …

    yet, Gabriel asks, ” this polarization in the NUPW in particular is the bastard child of Barrow politics culminating in politicizing of the Civil Service post 1974?”

    Dichotomy apparently.

    The ‘father’ of our nation with the wonderful mirror of self worth and with the big ideas and plans that led us forward. But he was also the man that reminded us that all politics is local and according to many was as polarizing (at the personal level) as the opposites sides of a magnetized metal.

    So David it seems that we can be polarized and still be effective (Barrow and Tom were considered effective weren’t they) but in this modern era it doesn’t seem so easy to do anymore because now it’s all about what’s in it for me.

  20. old onion bags Avatar
    old onion bags

    And who shall make that giant leap first? Payne.lol…..The only way as I see it…so as not to radically confront the establishment is by a new THIRD PARTY consisting of strong emerging individuals like the Caswells and that young fella on Brass tacks Corey Lane….people all barbadians can see a geniune sense of care and knowledge who are willing to put country first.

  21. David Avatar
    David

    @DeeWord

    Are these matters so clear cut and absolute that you can conclude this or that position is correct? The best governance systems still require righteous or quality individuals to achieve the best results and influence. How do we produce the best individuals to be ramrod straight in delivering the right decisions. It does not happen by accident and this is the challenge, the how.

  22. ac Avatar
    ac

    Until Mascoll and You and the other BLP yardfowls can give an alternative one that is much easier and acceptable in the managing of the country fiscal affairs that is without further burden to the taxpayer his commentary would be given a big Yawn.
    The fact is that the Govt plans laid out alternatives and the BLP said HELL NO so if the country is to remain afloat outside of making some initiatives that might seem irregular, the question to Mascoll IS WHAT ARE YOUR SOLUTIONS

  23. David Avatar
    David

    You mean every single topic the pea brains among us have to use a political denominator? No wonder we continue to have this discussion.

  24. Artaxerxes Avatar
    Artaxerxes

    “The biggest concern by BU is to observe an unwillingness by an educated class – billions sunk in education post Independence – to define the kind of Barbados it wants to build.”

    There is some truth in the above statement. But, I remember there was a time at Cave Hill Campus when the majority of the lecturers were associated, or for want of a better word, affiliated with the DLP. Within the content of their lectures, they would use examples that were biased towards the DLP. This, more or less, influenced many young impressionable minds to become members or sympathizers of that party.
    More often than not, those parents who can afford to send their children to overseas universities are also affiliated with a political party, and this also influences the political choices they make.

    Allegiance is first and foremost to the political party, and not Barbados. So you will have a situation where an individual who may have expertise in a particular discipline, preferring to ply his trade in another country, or refuse to assist, because the party of his choice does not hold the reins of government.

    Political “posturing and grand-standing” is alive and kicking at UWI. If BU recalls the scenario that was being played out at UWI leading up the Guild president elections. It has been alleged that the Guild president is a BLP and would have been influential in swaying the opinion of students to protest against the introduction of university fees.
    Political strategy saw former DLP candidate Austin Husbands’ son, “Harry Husbands resigning a very well paying Personal Assistant position for the Minister of Labour Esther Byer-Suckoo, paying over $4000 monthly, to[enter the election fray in an attempt to] become the President of the Guild of Students less than two weeks before Guild Elections.” It must be noted that while being a young democrat, Husbands endorsed the government’s decision for Barbadians to pay tuition fees from September 2014.

    If we have these types of “political jousting matches” occurring even at the tertiary level, where the students have been unwittingly forced into political polarization, what can you expect from the graduating academics and the role they are expected to play in the process of developing Barbados?

    There will be those graduates who would be become disillusioned by the political posturing to the extent they won’t participate in the political process, because certain important developments or decisions are essentially politically influenced. Then there will be those who will only participate in any process when their party is the government.

  25. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    Gabriel

    You commented: “Caswell Would you agree that this polarization in the NUPW in particular,is the bastard child of Barrow politics culminating in politicizing of the Civil Service post 1974?”

    I could not agree with you more. Unfortunately, each successive administration has used the civil service as a political prize for them to manipulate. As a result, we now have a civil service that is split between the two parties and the public servants refuse to do their best when their party is in opposition.

    >

  26. Easy squeeze (make no riot) Avatar
    Easy squeeze (make no riot)

    FASCISM

    “A Merger of State and Corporate Power” – Mussolini

  27. Fractured BLP Avatar
    Fractured BLP

    Only the esteemed PM Freundel Stuart and eminent Finance Minister Chris Sinckler can save Barbados right now.

    Majority of the BLP MP’s do not want whicking Mia Mottley.

    The majority of rational thinking Bajans do want whicking Mia Mottley.

    Actually only …WHICKHAM…
    want she as PM……a.ka..Pussy Mauler

  28. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    David

    You wanted to know how we depolarise. It is simple; get rid of the corrupting influences called political parties. Bushie has been advocating a solution for some time now, that is a co-operative system of governance.

    >

  29. ac Avatar
    ac

    David January 25, 2015 at 10:43 AM #

    You mean every single topic the pea brains among us have to use a political denominator? No wonder we continue to have this discussion.

    David on which planet are living,?

    Don,t you know that BU is well known for the swinging of the political anvil, with diversionary angles that divide and attracts,

    Enjoy your day , don,t be mad at the receptor pay attention to the messenger

  30. watchman Avatar
    watchman

    @fractured blp
    you got what ACs have, a sick mind ,that can not be cured

  31. Easy squeeze (make no riot) Avatar
    Easy squeeze (make no riot)

    System should work as follows

    (a) We People Set Rules to Government
    (b) Government is Trusted (Trustee)
    (c) Government distributes benefits to People

    System Fails as follows

    (a) Government sets the Rules to people
    (b) People are trusted (Trustee)
    (c) People distribute Benefits to Government

    Instead of Self Determination we have Dictatorship

  32. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    Artaxerxes January 25, 2015 at 10:47 AM #

    “There is some truth in the above statement. But, I remember there was a time at Cave Hill Campus when the majority of the lecturers were associated, or for want of a better word, affiliated with the DLP. Within the content of their lectures, they would use examples that were biased towards the DLP. This, more or less, influenced many young impressionable minds to become members or sympathizers of that party”

    Oh please! When I was there not to long ago there was an even mix and those biased towards the BLP were more bitter and more vocal. I’m sure those students that had Wood or Mr. P would disagree with you.

  33. racehrse Avatar
    racehrse

    Might as well be a dictatorship when both parties hold the line, and two votes are all that that stand between staying afloat, and sinking.

  34. DeeWord Avatar
    DeeWord

    @ David January 25, 2015 at 10:23 AM …Are these matters so clear cut and absolute that you can conclude this or that position is correct? The best governance systems still require righteous or quality individuals to achieve the best results and influence. How do we produce the best individuals to be ramrod straight in delivering the right decisions.————–

    David, for all practical and realistic purposes yes I believe it’s clear cut. There is no natural ‘how’.

    Barbados has always had righteous, quality individuals. How they were weaned and evolved into that personality is an essay on development, economics and family and values that we can write another time.

    Of course there are still many of them around.

    What is needed today in our modern era is to ensure that the control mechanisms have teeth, are impartial and are effective in carrying out their mandate to a final and forceful conclusion.

    I would posit that our people in leadership and those below them have not changed as drastically as we present here. What has changed are the prying eyes and the ability to publicize, private affairs or malfeasance that once would see the light of day years later.

    What has also changed are the opportunities for graft and big money under the table. There are so many example where politicians and their servants (civil and otherwise) enriched themselves from big taxpayers funded projects (Edutech, UDC Housing etc).

    But we have not kept pace with policing and penalizing those who we have caught doing wrong things. In fact we have not done any policing period.

    That sir – a few criminal convictions, with jail time – would scare these bad actors either out of public life or embolden others to do the right thing more often than not.

    Of course, this is only one facet. But an important one.

    I am too cynical to believe that removing political parties itself is the answer as corruption and malfeasance abounds wherever humans operate: corporate, academia.

    We can only try to level the playing field for those who want to do the right thing and let them dazzle us; because just as we get a Madoff or an Idi Amin we also can get a Mandela or a Waren Buffet.

    Same in our local context.

  35. old onion bags Avatar
    old onion bags

    Kevin

    Political wolvering on Campus is nothing new…..both parties were equally represented. Could not be otherwise….neutrality was there too. I guess what Artaxex is implying is the extent of influence of recent

  36. are-we-there-yet Avatar
    are-we-there-yet

    David;

    My take on this topic is somewhat different from most posters who all show some clear appreciation of the trees but not (imho) of the overall forest that we and all mankind live in, and of how the conformation of that forest changes with time.

    I think the clearest description of where we now stand is that in terms of the cyclical age old battle between the followers of “service to self” and the followers of “service to others” that there now are very few human entities in Barbados of the “service to others” persuasion. We are practically all brass bowls in Bushtea’s terminology. Thus it is almost impossible for current leadership to be anything other than of the “service to self” persuasion and that is why everything around us has been falling and continues to do so.

    Over the early years since adult suffrage in Barbados, the initial leaders, including the members of the house of assembly, the legal system and profession, the church and the public service were predominantly of the “service to others” persuasion (n.b. The private sector leaders have always been steadfast members of the “service to self” orientation) and therefore we progressed steadily until around the end of OSA’s prime ministership when he apparently succumbed to the forces guiding such orientation.

    Thereafter there has been a precipitous decline in almost every aspect of our development.

    In the developed societies of the North the same war is going on but there the effects are somewhat masked by a Justice system that is still relatively even handed in that the big-ups cannot get away with wrongdoing.

    Esoteric literature suggests that In previous eons there were drastic corrections including significant earth changes when the balance between service to self and service to others became skewed towards a service to self predomination. We seem to be very close to that Point Omega in these days.

    Bushie has been hinting that his whacker is oiled up to start working soon. Perhaps he’s right.

    Is there anything that little Barbados can do to pull back from the precipice that seems to be evident for mankind at this time? Is there something that individuals can do? Are we too far gone re. materialism and brassbowlery to survive the coming chaos?

    The churches proclaim that there is a way. But their leaders seem to be no less imbued with the nectar of “service to self” than anyone else in the society and indeed they seem on par with the politicos in that regard. Can they change or realistically lead the necessary change?

    How do we go about obtaining a reversion to a predominant “service to others” orientation in Barbados and the World? Accepting a chaotic occurrence that places everyone at a low common denominator and then gradually progressing to another point omega in say 10,000 years from now? Changing leadership and governance to new Individuals who proclaim that they are different and can make a difference to our economy and society?

    It ain’t easy!

  37. Artaxerxes Avatar
    Artaxerxes

    @ Kevin January 25, 2015 at 12:10 PM #

    “Oh please! When I was there not to long ago there was an even mix and those biased towards the BLP were more bitter and more vocal. I’m sure those students that had Wood or Mr. P would disagree with you.”

    My friend, if you were actually a university student, I’m quite sure your comprehension skills would have been a bit more developed than they are at this time.
    Obviously, you did not read the entire post or understood the context within which it was written. Rather, you have chosen to “pick out” what probably offended you, to use as a basis to make your comments. This is even more substantiating evidence proving that you are not a university student, because if you were, you would have the ability to understand the entire post and comment accordingly.

    If you re-read what I wrote, you will note I mentioned “I remembered there was a time”, therefore implying what I experienced, with the likes of Dr. Farley Brathwaite or Dr. Frank Alleyne and others I will not mention at this time. If you were indeed a UWI graduate and your experiences were different to mine, then you could use this forum to relate what transpired during your period of attendance.

  38. David Avatar
    David

    @Are-we-there-yet

    Agree with a lot of what you posted. For some of us whose lives have straddled defining eras over the last 30-4- years there has been a shift in valueset and there is no doubt about it. How we make adjustments in the next 3-5 years to offer correction will be the challenge.

  39. Artaxerxes Avatar
    Artaxerxes

    @ old onion bags January 25, 2015 at 12:48 PM #

    “Political wolvering on Campus is nothing new…..both parties were equally represented. Could not be otherwise….neutrality was there too. I guess what Artaxex is implying is the extent of influence of recent……”

    Onions, I completed my MSc in Accounting at UWI Mona, Jamaica. You cannot imagine the level of political polarization on that campus and how it is blatantly displayed.

    Yes, we have had members from both political parties influencing the students at UWI, Cave Hill. The public has been often asking for opinions to come from the academics from UWI. Those lecturers whose comments are pro government are accepted, even though they are foreign, or are often given “picks” as chairmen of statutory corporations or on some committee [Dr. Justin Robinson].
    And those whose comments may not fall in the favour of the ruling party are ostracized; if they are foreign, they are told they gave no right commenting on Barbadian affairs or they are trying to incite people to riot [ask Dr. Tennyson Beckles or Dr. George Belle].

  40. DeeWord Avatar
    DeeWord

    @Artaxerxes …”There will be those graduates who would be become disillusioned by the political posturing …Then there will be those who will only participate in any process when their party is the government.”

    I gt your point about the influence on the students of the prevailing politics of the day but as Onions said in his post “political wolvering on Campus is nothing new”.

    The leaders (Barrow, Burnham, Gairy, Williams, Adams …) of these island nations in the 60’s almost to a man (and woman) were heavily influenced by views of many of the their lecturers – heavily communist and socialist at the time. Just as there would have been professors with free market convictions who shaped their thoughts. Akin to your professors with part affiliations.

    That has always been the nature of academia where tenured staff can speak their minds without fear of unemployment retribution.

    Are you saying your generation so different to not be able to manage it and decide for themselves?

    I suggest sir for those “who will only participate in any process when their party is the government’ then the University education simply makes them a higher class prostitute waiting to get their rewards for services rendered.

    Because essentially you are saying that the actual education (allows one to see a more expensive view of life) was apparently worthless as they are still myopic and insular.

    We might as well do away with the damn UE then!

  41. Walter Blackman Avatar
    Walter Blackman

    Artaxerxes January 25, 2015 at 1:36 PM # @ old onion bags January 25, 2015 at 12:48 PM #

    “.. those whose comments may not fall in the favour of the ruling party are ostracized; if they are foreign, they are told they gave no right commenting on Barbadian affairs or they are trying to incite people to riot [ask Dr. Tennyson Beckles or Dr. George Belle].”

    Artaxerxes,
    I suspect you mean Dr. Tennyson Joseph.

  42. are-we-there-yet Avatar
    are-we-there-yet

    Re. UWI and the fostering of political partisanship, it should be noted that the only faculty where such reared its ugly head was the broad social sciences (including economics), where Cave Hill had a fearsome cadre of pro DLP lecturers and a few generally timorous BLP ones who wielded great influence on their students thought since dissenting views were apparently not usually encouraged. One could easily discern the political allegiances of any lecturer in any single conversation on current matters. Farley Brathwaite, Frank Alleyne, Wendell McClean and Pat Emmanuel are the ones that come to mind.

    UWI was a hotbed for moulding the political orientation of most of the social scientists it produced in the late sixties and early seventies, towards the veneration of Barrow and the DLP. It might have changed somewhat now but the tradition might have been concretized in the system.

  43. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    The norm for universities globally and a practice that is crucial to developing societies into thinkers/thinking.

  44. Artaxerxes Avatar
    Artaxerxes

    @ Walter Blackman January 25, 2015 at 1:53 PM #

    “Artaxerxes: I suspect you mean Dr. Tennyson Joseph.”

    Thanks Walter….. yes, I meant Dr. Tennyson Joseph.

  45. Observing Avatar
    Observing

    @David
    “How we make adjustments in the next 3-5 years to offer correction will be the challenge.”

    Actually 3-5 years will only represent the START of the correction. The “outliers” are still cutting their teeth and biding their time so to speak. The events of this period are polishing the final rough edges.

    “how do we produce leaders who are able to influence the herd.”

    We don’t. They arise forged in the flames of independent thought, forward progressive vision and seized with fortunate opportunity and timing.

    Unfortunately though our systems have evolved to suppress such persons and rob them of any opportunities to create real change and growth. The herd mentality prospers because it serves a precious few who want to keep it that way.

    @DeeWord
    bang on.

    Just Observing

  46. David Avatar
    David

    @Observing

    Not entirely convinced that we have to follow the script every time.

  47. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ are-we-there-yet January 25, 2015 at 12:50 PM

    Touché Boss.
    Top drawer.

    @ David
    The biggest concern by BU is to observe an unwillingness by an educated class – billions sunk in education post Independence – to define the kind of Barbados it wants to build.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    How is it possible to even speak of ‘EDUCATION’ when we have no idea of what the real purpose of life is?
    shiite man …. it is like planning a trip that will take your whole life without having ANY idea of where you are supposed to be going. It does not matter how much money you throw at the travel agent, it will likely be wasted unless you can start by specifying where you wish to end up….

    Case in point….

    The one thing that we ALL know for sure (even Baffy) is that we are ALL going to DIE and leave all the lotta shiite we worry about here on earth…..probably to be splurged by lawyers and some relatives (like Simple Simon with her Auntie’s property….)

    YET, the whole focus of our existence and our very DEFINITIONS of success revolve around the accumulation of these shiite things, and the money that buys them…

    Have you ever considered that the WHOLE POINT of living could be much more about the PROCESS OF LIVING rather than the byproducts…..?
    …that the REAL success to be achieved is in refining the PROCESS of living and not in the by-products accumulations along the way?

    What implications would such a realization have on a MEANINGFUL national education system?

    What would be the emphasis on “Service to Self” versus “Service to Others”, as AWTY puts it, in such an enlightened system?

    Anything that starts out wrong, or even worse, starts out not knowing what the objectives are, can be guaranteed to end up wasting resources.
    EVEN MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR NATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

  48. Observing Avatar
    Observing

    @David
    We don’t have to follow the script but as long as Bushie’s brass bowls are in the majority and hold most of the levers of powerand decision making then the same will continue.

    @Bushie
    I agree with you, but, is it the job of “formal education” to show the real point of living? And hasn’t history shown that no matter which messenger comes with which version of the true story that the masses always revert to or stay in same old same old mode?

  49. are-we-there-yet Avatar
    are-we-there-yet

    Thanks Bushtea!

    Its not me, its just my distillation of; the revelations of savants like Edgar Cayce; the common denominators of the teachings of a variety of religions; and the observable effects of the cyclical nature of catastrophism on Earth and in our solar system.

    I think we’re in for a correction sometime in the near geological future and our current difficulties are just another signpost to the times we are now in.

    Mankind is now on the threshold of making in situ explorations of other planets in our solar system and even perhaps developing colonies on the nearest one – another signpost to, and potential confirmation of, the cyclical nature of our existence since a few artifacts exist that suggest that mankind (or our progenitors) in distant epochs visited and were very familiar with these planets.

    Mankind may be a lot more (or a lot less) than we think or have been taught to think.

    Barbados is just a microcosm in the mix but since we are part of the whole we need to carefully study and emulate, to the extent possible, the systems that underpin the successful countries or societies, while massaging those aspects that need to be modified to fit our peculiar circumstances.

    Our legal system is perhaps the most important one to tackle and fix. Freundel can’t fix dat. It has to be some other administration. Next is the overall political system. Freundal has clearly demonstrated that he also can’t fix dat. The people can though.

    Fixing Barbados properly almost certainly means that we will have to go through an extended period of hardship, chaos and downgradings before we get it right. Would Bajans be willing to do whatever is necessary to effect these changes? Would we embrace leadership that can demonstrate that it has a clear vision of where we need to go and how to navigate the pitfalls along the way and take on the sacrifices that will be necessary for them and for all of us for an extended period?

    Without the above I think we will be condemned to drift on gradually declining standards of living until proper leadership comes along.

    By the way, the most idyllic place I have personally visited was a village in the bush in Suriname inhabited by “bush negroes”. It was not developed but the people there seemed to have their daily wants taken care of.

  50. David Avatar
    David

    @Are-we-there-yet

    The last sentence of you comment says it all and aligns with Bush Tea’s position. What is happiness, what is our optimum role on earth and how do we achieve.

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