Submitted by Terence Blackett
“If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.” – George Monbiot
In the book, Political Ponerology, author Andrew Lobaczewski (1921 – 2007) studies the architects, primogenitors and supporters of psychosocial repressive/oppressive political regimes.His methodological approach examines the variables that lead to the promulgation and proliferation of man’s inhumanity to other men and the politics of subliminal intrigue used as a weapon to silence protest, dissent or peaceful revolutionary change.
Lobaczewski argued that moral conscience and basic humanity (natural precursors of natural law) will not be able to withstand such overt predations of social and political evil for much longer. His fundamental belief surmises that knowledge of the “nature of evil” and its effects on the poor; its Machiavellian effects on the common person; as well as other susceptible groups in society; can be the only rational object for making informed decisions given that true knowledge of our current reality is power and it can give resonance and light to an increasingly dark world.
Lobaczewski cites that in light of objective naturalistic language; [Ponerology] studies the causal components and the inherent processes of the “genesis of evil”, presupposing the psychosocial, socio-academic and its political parameters. He argues that we may attempt to analyse these ponerogenic processes which have given rise to human injustice, armed with proper analytical knowledge, particularly in the area of psychopathology, but again and again, as the reader will discover, in such a study, we meet with the effects of congenital as well as pathological factors whose “carriers” are often individuals in political leadership, who are characterized by some degree of various psychological deviations or defects of character.
Lobaczewski argues that what we’re seeing unfold in the politicosphere around the world today is worrying – tendentiously so, labelling the social policies of our governments as totalitarian, fascist & other incendiary forms of governance. Even in a small nation state like Barbados, (further amplified throughout the so-called Western world), the 20th century project, controversially labelled “DEMOCRACY”, have surreptitiously morphed into this new paradigm that many are finding increasing difficult to fathom.
We are witnessing the leadership of democratically led monolithic nations like Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States of “Amnesia” reverting to a social trajectory where political engineering uses the state as a tool of mass surveillance, repression and slavish control – creating deleterious effects upon the populace, electorate, working class & most importantly, the marginalized, downtrodden and dispossessed.
Democracy has been defined as a “system of government in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives.” “Government by the people and for the people” cited by 14th century ‘Morning Star of the Reformation’ John Wycliffe – a so-called Protestant maxim of (AmeriKKKan) democracy!
But in all fairness, this model now appears flawed and defunct – incapable of producing the “greatest good for the greatest number” – a utilitarian concept fogged & mired in the mist of a dystopian 21st century hyper-reality – soon to be relegated to the garbage dustbin of Enlightenment thinking. A postmodern relic of a bygone 1950’s era, where Western, Caucasian, Church-going, Conservative-Leave-It-To-Beaver type principles were held up as the governing norms of a compassionate, capitalist democracy – the poster child of what democracy was supposed to look like, with the 2 & half kids and the white picket fence. It is now evident that this kind of mendacious (AmeriKKKan) propaganda, sold as a bill of goods through mediazed “Pop Culture” indoctrination, did precious little to develop Barbados’ unique identity as a small nation state, given the ubiquitous nature our historical colonial past and the disembowelment of our African ancestry.
What Lobaczewski saw emerging out of the democratic project was what he called a “Pathocracy”: an insidiously dubious system of evil government engineered by a tiny ELITE* (“pathological minority”) which include heads of BIG BUSINESS & POLITICS, exercising control over a country and its populace, (in AmeriKKKa’s case, the global architect & engineer of its Washington Consensus), resulted in the entire planet being ruled and motivated, by purely pathological values of rampant consumerism based on demand/supply; proscribed civil obedience; and the sophistry & embellishment of human worship – all fed to us through the medium of mass M.E.D.I.A (an acronym for Mass Education Devils In AmeriKKKa).
Some on Barbados Underground, like “No-Holds Barred” agent provocateur Bush Tea AKA The Whacker* are amongst an enlightened few based on their geopolitical clarity on issues of governance facing our great country of Barbados, repeatedly ask: “have we entered a similar phase of political and socioeconomic reality, where for two long decades of BLP & DLP rule, yet our nation’s problems continue to exacerbate?
In our soon to be celebrated [49] year history – have we ever seen such widespread corruption encroaching on every segment of Barbadian society? The country appears stuck in a stagnant, malaise, DLP government that has become increasingly paranoid, reactionary and spiteful towards its own citizens. The local print & visual media spin ongoing insalubriously needless propaganda (as if we’re in the bewildering stasis of a cricket match) – refusing to call out the predatory capitalists in the country who rob, pilfer, embezzle and openly steal at will without fear of repercussions. All the while, visionless, out-of-touch politicians, implement egregious social policies, that keep the rich getting richer and the poor poorer. Religious and civic leaders openly decry the dearth and impoverishment of moral and spiritual values, yet ride high on the hog of entitlements, where church leaders preach greater “TITHE-PAYING” from sleeping sheep to support their decadent lifestyles and the pot of largesse within the society, needed for the persons of the poor gets siphoned off to lobbyists, political cronies and other capitalist stakeholders.
What a disgrace!
So from thousands of miles away, political voyeurs and others, watch in almost stark disbelief, as social activists organizations like “Barbados Underground”, daily rehearse the seismic dilapidation caused by the denigrated social structures of integrity, transparency & accountability – democratic pillars that could achieve much social parity were they legislated into the laws of the land. Sadly, the promise of just laws (a comfort for a fool) gets undermined by egocentric self-interest and perfidiousness, rather than the altruistic alacrity of “love thy neighbour”.
In Barbados, we are witnessing like never before, the abrogation of fundamental human rights, due to the punitive political policies of government, which restricts and even denies families, basic life necessities & essentials. Tax refunds not paid to working class citizens while ministerial salaries, perks & emoluments are paid as well as the crony capitalists who slobber at the trough of economic largesse have their accounts credited with millions of taxpayer’s dollars. Many cannot provide proper food, clothing & shelter for their families in a society so blessed with affluence yet financial & corporate embezzlement by predators like CLICO* et al sees no one go to jail while “BAGMEN” for poLIEticians and others walk free in a broken judicial system of two-tier justice, unlawful non-enforcement & non-detainment of the ruling class.
Most pugnacious of all, are the countless references of employees who are abused and slave wages paid to the poorest in our society – where the CEOs can earn 331 times as much as the average worker and 774 times as much as a minimum wage earner. These repressive conditions have resulted in suppression of creative individualism & the ability of our young educated class to explore their entrepreneurial capabilities – yearly precipitating an ongoing brain drain, as many leave the country in search of a better life elsewhere.
Such a refusal by past and present governments (both BLP & DLP) to implement INTEGRITY, TRANSPARENCY, & ACCOUNTABILITY LEGISLATION have resulted in duplicitous business activities within government, partner organizations and other state sanctioned luminaries. In stark contrast, a salubrious society prides itself on transparent internal and external processes, while respecting private property; the rights of the individual citizen; the right to protest against injustice; and, a healthy acknowledgment of freedom to disagree “strongly” with government policies. These fundamental pillars are the purest forms of democracy!
Barbados is fast becoming an intolerant and suspicious society – in part bolstered by the trickle-down effect of macroeconomic partisan politics & policies, where socioeconomic divisiveness brings in its wake, gun & knife violence and death on our streets – causing anyone who is different to us, whether CARICOM* national or “foreigner” to be subject to the “holier than thou” attitude or whoever disagrees vociferously with the state apparatus mindset of social control.
Conclusively, Lobaczewski “evil Elite” as viewed through the prism of the centralization of power control dynamics – oozes an attitude of rank hypocrisy and blatant contempt for the poorer working classes, as their actions show that the “0.01% Ruling Class” does whatever is necessary to maintain its wealth, privilege, political clout and largesse. Po LIEticians who are elected “PUBLIC” servants, continue to safeguard these imperialist, colonialist ideals, by strictly following a proscribed policy script, even at the expense of their taught values or the poor average citizens they represent, because representation of such extremes in inequality, will continue to perpetuate, between the richest and poorest in Barbadian society, thus securing the status of the richest, as the average citizen is considered a mere ‘resource’, to be exploited, (hence the term “human resources”), rather than as human beings with God-given human worth, talent and virtue.
The political class have successfully created these clandestine yet arbitrary divisions in the population (aptly termed, partisan politics) where class, ethnicity and creed have inflamed race relations, social disequilibrium and seething conflict between the HAVES* & HAVE-NOTS*; between Caucasian and indigenous folks and most noticeably with one another based on Black on Black crime statistics. Dissension is suppressed; free speech monitored and public debates frowned on and open demonstration and protest against the establishment rebuked. Anyone attempting to go beyond these boundaries are considered terrorists, barking mad lunatics and therefore, dangerous radicals and subversive.
It may be time for a rethink as to where we are heading as a nation!
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