The following Editorial was written by the Dr. Malcom Grant who is the founder of the popular Facebook Group SURVIVING OUR HARSH ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT (SOHEE 20,806 members).
I just have this uneasy feeling in “my bones” with regards to the future of OUR children and their children, here in the Caribbean.
THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR OUR LEADERS TO BE FRIVOLOUSLY GRANDSTANDING. Our current leaders, both political and non-political, need to realise that their actions (or inactions) will reverberate for generations to come, throughout OUR region.
This false sense of security that some of us have, that we are not currently and personally being affected, can be very easily razed and shattered. For the Caribbean, especially the Lesser Antilles, are in relatively close proximity, and the social (and economic) ills in one sovereign nation, can easily and quickly metastasise to affect the other proximate nations within the region.
In order for us, as a Caribbean people, to mitigate against these horrendous predictions coming true, our leaders are going to have to dig deep within and show a great sense of maturity, almost impeccable vision vision and proactive leadership. All these qualities have been in very short supply in recent years.
In the mean time, the ticking of the clock is not only becoming increasingly louder, but also moving the hands noticeably and frighteningly closer to OUR midnight hour.
We here in the Caribbean have long past the epoch of our post-independence honey moon, respectively; where we can no longer afford the luxury of continuing along the same old merry path of, “business as usual”. We are currently threading water surrounded by the globe’s most dangerous of sharks.
Time and circumstances are not on OUR side.
We have no choice but to embrace our Caribbean nations’ adulthood, not only metaphorically, but even more importantly, in a tangible, functional and sustainable manner. Thus displaying the true and quantitative meaning of independence.
WE CAN DO IT. WE MUST DO IT. IF NOT FOR OURSELVES, FOR OUR CHILDREN AND THEIR CHILDREN.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.