Posted as a comment by Greene to the Government Using Throne Speech to Signal Fresh Guard
(minor edits by the Blogmaster)
Over the years and with experience, I have found that humans don’t analyse events properly and thoroughly. They come up with excuses and not the proper aetiology for why events occur. Thus they solve for the wrong problems or don’t learn from past events making the same mistake over and over- a recurring loop so to speak.
Take for example the so called lost decade between 2008 and 2018 where it is often bruited about without proper analysis that BIM lost its way. Because that was the period BIM’s economy plunged in line with the economies of most countries- a period roughly between 2008-2016 known as the great recession, a PM who was not a great communicator when not on the campaign trail, and where the populace believed that Govt MPs got rich beyond the salaries of their offices.
However, if the period prior to this is examined, you would find that on the face of it the economy was travelling at warp speed in line with but lagging the tremendous economic growth that visited the rest of the world. We had an effervescent PM perhaps because of the economy and he enjoyed great political freedom and gravitas, MPs got rich over night with little push back from the citizens because everyone was in an economic state of euphoria. This for the most part was the period between 1994-2008. There were many scandals from the GEMS project to Greenland to Hardwood to the Kensington Oval redevelopment to the Barrack Building to EDUTEC not necessarily in that order and that is only a few. What really marked that period for me was there was no attempt at building a sustainable black economy. Government’s capital projects were mostly, if not all routed towards the traditional money class Bajans who do not reflect the racial make up of most Bajans.
I have always contended that that period signalled the no return point for BIM. The desecration of the West Coast, the sell off of Government lands, the borrow and spend policies by Government, followed by the borrow and spend habit of the population at large, the rise of land prices and other prices with no comparable rise in salaries, the stupid mantra of land is only an asset and the push to make BIM a first world country built on credit and piss poor laws and enforcement thereof, were a milieu for disaster.
It was a slow burning crisis that just needed a catalyst to set events in motion as BA Turner theorised in his 1978 seminal work called Man-made Disaster as distinguished from natural disasters although it is arguable whether there is a difference. He posited that all disasters have an incubation period where latent pathogens go unnoticed or if noticed excuses are created, erroneous analysis made, or cultural habits prevent proper fixes
All the signs were there of system failure- huge national and personal debt, corrupt politicians, a population spending beyond its means, weak legal infrastructure, dilapidated island wide physical infrastructure, a failing unreformed civil service, an uncaring and expectant public, an unchecked criminal underbelly, and a greedy private sector.
Then entered a deep recession as I mentioned above (2008-16) and the flaccid DLP regime after Thompson. It failed to arrest the slide if it could have. It is my contention that would have called for a PM and Cabinet with huge cajones to effect systemic changes that were needed and long overdue, an understanding civil service and a pliable private sector and public. None of that was present and none of that could have been, given the heady days of the previous years and the expectations that those days would continue and hence the deep disappointment that they didn’t.
That the DLP didn’t recognize this pending disaster or if it did, did nothing, is what Turner (1976) called rigidity in organisations, inability to handle multiple issues, ignoring warning signs, and a tendency to minimise problems that often negatively impact disaster mitigation. And so the DLP was blamed for the drastic economic slide of Barbados and was soundly embarrassed at the polls. It did not win a seat and won 1 or 2 constituency voting boxes.
Returning to Normalcy
The present Govt headed by MAM labelled that period the lost decade and every ill that BIM ever suffered was located there. No attempt was made to differentiate the period of PM Thompson from the period of PM Stuart and none was made to examine whether they inherited any problems from the previous administration. Perhaps because some of the new MPs were in Cabinet in the 1994-2008 period, it was enough to give Bajans a place to direct their anger at the failings of the DLP. As Drubek (1994) contends, the politics around accountability substitute systemic failures for individual guilt. And as Boin (2005) points out, even when this is known, leaders spin this information to assign blame away from them-selves.
From deliberately defaulting on the debt repayment, to BERT, to BOSS, to BEST and the rest, MAM and the BLP have sought to return to normalcy, if normalcy can be defined as the period between 1994-2008. They have been diverted partially but not entirely by; COVID, legal missteps (ACOP bungling and the failure to pass Anti Corruption law in the Senate), and policy issues (Ministry of Education numerous faux pas).
That leads into the question of capability to solve problems. Capability in government often relates to political leaders and government department possessing the technical and financial, organizational and policy wherewithal to respond to the matters at hand (Cigler, 2007). Effective response may be hampered by lack of delegation, spotty decision-making and inadequate communication (Paton and Jackson, 2002). Furthermore, apathy (political and public) to pending problems, budgetary restraints and organizational dysfunction militate against disaster planning and response (Drabek et al., 1981). It is a matter of argumentation whether such issues depict the present BLP under MAM
To the very present
So here we are after a Throne Speech that inter alia, sees BIM becoming a Republic next year, civil unions for gay couples, and a host of financial manoeuvrings which are yet to be digested fully by the public. Suffice it to say the prospect of civil unions is an easier sell than gay marriage, and becoming a Republic are the topics occupying the minds of Bajans. Some ask whether this Thorne Speech hullabaloo was a reset or more hot air from a PM who loves to talk but delivers very little in terms of substance. I will state definitely I don’t see a reset. Moreover, the question that remains is, are we in a recurring loop?
Good post.
@Hal
I second that.
Just observing
If I may say, I believe that Yardbroom, Old Onion Bags, Bonnie Peppa et al, would have been very pleased with the quality of this post.
“Suffice it to say the prospect of civil unions an easier sell than gay marriage, and becoming a Republic are the topics occupying the minds of Bajans. ”
that’s the intent, while your mind is being occupied with all that STUPID SHIT for the next 3 years…your people are being victimized and ROBBED, check out Caswell’s article, when the fcuk are yall going to wake the hell up…steuppsss.
some of you like too much dumbass pretty words…
Lost decade can niw be summed up as ten years of prosperity to two years of social decay and households sitting on the precipice of poverty waiting to fall over the cliff
Cant imagine if this govt is given another 8 yrs what a hell hole barbados would become
Kunckleheads smoking weed especially amongst the youth whose job proposals are lacking
Same sex unions along with uprise in violent crime
All which would make the lost ten years look like a sunday school picnic
Anything that is lost as OSA so aptly stated is the blp a govt that has blatantly used smoke and mirrors to find the way
Quite true – all of it! And no reset yet. As I said, pothole filling but no new road.
A reset requires more than a throne speech. It is a process that requires an awakening. It requires some truth telling, pretty much as you have done here REPEATEDLY AND ELOQUENTLY and a twelve step programme in every constituency.
It requires self-examination, acceptance of the part we each have played and a realization of what we need to do to break out of the vicious circle.
Actually, the day we renounce the monarchy we should also take down Nelson and use the ceremony to reset. Adrian Greene would be a good man to call.
Great article. Thanks for the memory jog. One is worried.
Same sex unions have always been here though not recognized legally. Weed is being smoked even illegally.
What we need to get rid of are the yardfowls on both sides who will read a post such as this and miss the point completely.
Such yardfowls enable the politicians to continue to bask in the “glory” of their “achievements”. Without these yardfowls the politicians would be stripped bare and realize that they are naked.
Yardfowls give the politicians cover.
Well written article which asks the same question many of us have and thats ” where is the beef?”
It was a well delivered speach by the GG, who I will admit is one of my favourite GGs (Cuss me if you want i dont care) but it lacked “The beef”, the detailed plan of implementation that is needed to move it from a dream to reality. The diversification of the economy was also absent in any detail. I would of loved to of heard of a massive green house project for instance, being undertaken by the state on state land, then leased to small farmers and co ops for food security. Or the use of some of the state owned un-arable land being used for solar farms. It is that type of pro active thinking that in my view was missing. I keep asking a question that nobody wants to touch and its this. How will the state and private sector exist in an ecomomy that is 25% smaller a year than budgeted for? It is the answer to this type of question that we need to hear. The gay thing and the republic talk good for Brasstacks, but it will not put food on the table or give any unemployed bajan a job.
@ John A
The speech was too long, contained too many irrelevant issues and, had no real new policy proposals. The civil union thing is also another of her do not explain, do not apologise things.
What does she mean by same-sex civil union? Will the civil partner become legally the net of kin? Will s/he have inheritance rights? Will s/he be entitled to a work-related pension?
Will the civil partner be allowed to legally adopt? Will hetero-sexual couples be allowed to enter civil partnerships? If a couple want to separate, divorce, will they have to get legal authority to?
If all these conditions are met, will a civil union be a de facto marriage?
The throne speech is more of a policy statement. The details of implementation would not be included.
I suggest you read Adrian Greene’s Sunday Sun column that explains the role that culture plays in putting food on the table and creating jobs. Some of you compartmentalize life. It does not work that way. It is all interrelated.
It was too long. It was too short. It had no details. It had too many details.
It had no new policy. It borrowed from Britain. It stole from BU.
It was a speech. It did have policy and some details. We must listen for the later details and closely watch the implementation.
P.S. If she stole from BU is that a good thing or did she steal a roll of crap?????
Don’t know why everyone is still dwelling on that stupid ass speech, it was a show of pomp and bullshit to distract…it means nothing, ask them about it in 6 months and they won’t even remember half the LIES THEY TOLD or the false promises they made……..just don’t forget to remind them that they inadvertently told the truth for once in their lying lives and can’t take it back now….all the PMs, ministers, senators etc, except for Caswell, Barbados has ever had, lied to the people..they were and are all frauds…..colonial agents, pimps for the palace, still carrying out the will of slave masters…
A+ for precisely and correctly (in my opinion) mapping how Barbados arrived at this stagnant state.
The answer to your question is unfortunately YES, and the reason is simple. Focused and sustained actions to solve real problems and fundamentally build an economy are missing.
Too many important positions in the civil service and in the cabinet are filled with theoretical people only who have never ever really built any thing in their lives. Therefore the required entrepreneurial skills needed now en masse to be creative and build a nation are lacking. The core problem can’t be hidden or plastered over anymore with the next loan or foreign reserves (most silly metric ever) top up.
That’s the difference with the Singapores etc of the world. A significant number of doers and those who can and have done it in those places versus career talkers and those who can only dream of doing it in our backyard. (Don’t start me on that too many lawyers and economists who really create nothing argument again because the evidence is overwhelming…it keeps coming back to that reality)
Let’s entertain ourselves with the sideshow politics….if only it solved real problems and pays the bills
It’s not only Barbados by the way. The USA is slowly losing its competitive edge to China and other 9/9/6 cultures (google it) because at the end of the day real work has to be done to build and sustain economies
With all of that gloom though it CAN be changed or fixed. The longest and toughest journey starts with the first step.
Assuming you really want to take the journey
And the journey must start at the beginning. What is keeping us from being what we need to be to do what we need to do?
That is the question that must first be answered.
Even Britain recognized the Throne speech for what it is
A revised version of the same ole sh.it
Chihuahua braking at greyhounds
What a belly laugh the British had over a cup of afternoon tea
@ BAJE September 15, 2020 6:56 PM
“MIA MOTTLEY IS FIRST LESBIAN PRIME MINISTER OF BARBADOS
JEROME WALCOTT IS AN OPENLY HOMOSEXUAL BLP MINISTER”
YOU HAVE A BIG SEPTIC-TANK.
Since you’re an expert on PM’S and associates sexual orientation preferences. Can you elaborate on Errol’s, who established the boys elite academy in the 1960’s on Paradise Beach Estate BlackRock main road St. Michael. David and Leroy, your buddies and most Luscious Toffees were initiators at said establishment. The BU community would like your first hand knowledge on them too. Get it right the first time….
See what i mean, but at least we will hear who is hiding in the closet, stuck in the closet, pretending they are not closeted…and that is exactly what Mia wanted, everyone distracted with the salacious gossip about other people’s sex life and not the workers who are being robbed their severance pay..
Hal…ya must be salivating…
WURA,
The PM stated that the right to severance pay will not be affected.
Thar is not what Caswell is saying and I have more faith in what he says, he also says laws will have to be legislated to make “not affected” a reality..
i don’t trust KNOWN LIARS…
Am more concerned that Bajans are still in that colonized mode where they would much prefer to gossip about people’s sex lives, the marijuana she is criminalizing Black people over, and the every few years talked about going republic that they all forget al about soon after, along with talking incessantly about someone stealing a salt bread or a nail clip and none of these brainwashed creatures will never ever think that they should be STANDING UP FOR THEIR OWN HUMAN RIGHTS….or that of their fellow Bajans, all of whom are being demoralized and dehumanized by a sell out black government….
even Hal got the gossip fever and he is not even on the island, the Bajan condition….
Maybe something is wrong with me. I see Barbados as a country with problems that can be fixed, no worse than most countries.
I see politicians no worse than the average country who need active and engaged citizens to keep them in line.
I see an unacceptable justice system that is being worked on.
I don’t see devils around every corner. I see flawed human beings who need to be called to account.
I see life – messy and in need of work as it always was and is.
It is a challenge that never goes away.
An exercise in gaslighting.
Caswell is probably right and he can certainly be trusted to ensure such laws are passed.
We shall keep on it.
Enuff,
And I don’t cook with gas. My stove is electric.
@ Dirt-Shitter
I DON’T CARE WHAT ERROL BARROW OR HIS DLP COLLEAGUES WERE.
NONE OF THE PEOPLE YOU MENTIONED WERE/ARE IN MY CIRCLE.
I ALSO NOTE DLP DID NOT TRY PUSH THROUGH SAME SEX CIVIL UNIONS NOW LIKE YOUR CORRUPT AND TWISTED BLP MATES.
The issue of the lost decade is an interesting point as it shows what happens when wages are stagnant but inflation goes along as usual. Forget the politics and stop and think on it for a moment.
So you started the decade working for $2000 a month and you ended it working for the same thing. In the meantime an item that cost $10 at the start of the decade now at the end cost $13 due to compounded inflation. So in real terms we are 30% poorer at the end of the decade than the beginning. Now we know no one can give any of us a 30% increase in salary to level the inflation animal, so we can live at the end of the decade the way we did at the beginning so what do we do?
Well we cut out the mid week chefette and the friday ice cream and we try to balance our expense to income flow best we can. In the meantime if we all do this the economy contracts. Then when we think there is hope, along comes Covid and takes another 20% out the ecomomy in tourism losses so we are we now?
Well you lost 30% due to inflation and stagnation and then you lost another 20% due to covid so to get back to ” the good old days” you have to make some major changes to the structure of the economy and quickly, before we get even poorer as a people in real terms.
As i said it was a good article which we should all stop and think on especially those in power.
DonnaSeptember 16, 2020 5:36 PM Enuff, And I don’t cook with gas. My stove is electric.
++
Whuh deng! You got solar or you got shares in Emera?
DonnaSeptember 16, 2020 5:31 PM Maybe something is wrong with me. I see Barbados as a country with problems that can be fixed, no worse than most countries.I see politicians no worse than the average country who need active and engaged citizens to keep them in line.
++++
Mean like both the US and UK who have serial liars at the helm?
Lost decade can niw be summed up as ten years of prosperity to two years of social decay and households sitting on the precipice of poverty waiting to fall over the cliff
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@ Mariposa
MY FRIEND.
YOU LIKE YOU BEEN SMOKING THE WRONG THING FOR WAY TOO LONG.
ALL @Greene HAS EXPOSED IS THE LONG ONGOING CORRUPTION OF BOTH BLP AND DLP FOOLING THE SILLY MASSES LIKE A MERRY GO ROUND FOR MANY MANY YEARS.
THE ONLY REAL CHANGE BARBADOS NEEDS IS TO ONCE AND FOR ALL BANISHED THESE TWO INEPT CORRUPT PARTIES SOLELY CONCERNED WITH FEATHERING THEIR NEST EGGS AND THEIR MAINLY WHITE BENEFACTORS.
BETTER TO START WITH A NEW OR CLEAN SLATE OR IN THE NEXT 30 YEARS SOMEONE WILL SPELL OUT THE SAME AS ABOVE ARTICLE AS BOTH BLP AND BLP LOVE PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS HEARTILY LAUGHING AT THE STUPID VOTING PUBLIC BEHIND CLOSED DOORS WHILST GETTING WEALTHIER AND THE VOTING MASSES POORER WISHING FOR THEIR PRAYERS TO BE ANSWERED BY BLP OR DLP IN VAIN.
BETTER TO START WITH A NEW OR CLEAN SLATE OR IN THE NEXT 30 YEARS SOMEONE WILL SPELL OUT THE SAME AS ABOVE ARTICLE AS BOTH BLP AND DLP LOVE PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS HEARTILY LAUGHING AT THE STUPID VOTING PUBLIC
Considering solar but my electricity bill is not at all high.
Crusoe,
Two of the worst serial liars right there. Nobody here can match them.
Talk about a lost decade is nonsense and purely BLP political propaganda.
Why? It can be reasonably argued that every decade since 1492 have been lost, at least for Afrikan peoples brought here against their will.
These types of missives from the mouth of the Mugabe are merely aimed at giving the yardfouls soundbites to repeat ad nausium but for sensible people it presumes that the next ten years can’t be any worse when in truth and in fact they is a much better chance for that outcome as compared to the last ten.
Has, there
Seems like tourists from the UK may become more of a threat than an opportunity.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/world-news/20200916/uk-ration-covid-19-testing-amid-failures
@Greene
So far the DLP post May 2018 has not made any improvements to how it communicates with the public. The BLP on the other hand has invested heavily in its communications team and use of digital media.
A word to the wise should be sufficient.
@Greene
So far the DLP post May 2018 has not made any improvements to how it communicates with the public. The BLP on the other hand has invested heavily in its communications team and use of digital media.
A word to the wise should be sufficient.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
SO THEY ARE BETTER COMMUNICATORS TO A VOTING PUBLIC WHO ARE FAR WORSE OFF.
MY PRAYERS FOR 2020 AND BEYOND IS THAT LOCAL BAJANS STOP EATING SHIT WHILST BEING FOOLED AND BELIEVING IT TO BE CHOCOLATE.
2020 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, TIME TO BE INDEPENDENT THINKERS INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING HYPE AND FAILED EXPECTATIONS BY BOTH BLP AND DLP FALSE PROPHETS.
@ Greene
A well written and balanced piece.
The numbers do not lie.
The junk credit ratings do not lie.
Infrastructure crumbled.
If government is suppose to be a continuum then the buck stopped with Stuart and his eager 11.
The DLP won the government at the start of the global recession and when islands and other countries were on the road to recovery a few years later Barbados was sliding.
The Lost Decade is a brand the DLP earned.
Donna
I was referring to the main post not yours. I repeat an exercise in gaslighting by the sympathetic Dem Greene.
yes the buck stopped with Stuart but it did not begin with him. you have missed the point. one has to understand where and how a problem arose. first to find the source of the problem, then to identify it, then to find solutions to fix it.
if you keep looking at Stuart as the problem you will never discover the aetiology of the problem and therefore never solve our systemic issues and we have a lot. besides ineffective Stuart and the DLP along with the deep recession at the time were the perfect storm (the catalysts) that put events in motion. the matter was incubating for a long time even before Arthur but it reached it zenith under Arthur. it just needed some precipitating event to roll off the cliff.
nevertheless it is ironic that we are looking to the said same very people under whom i argued that we reached the boiling point to solve issues that they had a big hand in creating.
@Enuff
No point missed. Stuart assumed/won the government and was mandated to arrest the decline you identified in the same way you expect same from Mottley.
Enuff,
I knew that. I was agreeing with you.
David
When you trap yourself with these dead end ideas uttered by Mugabe in an emotionally charged political moment you basically leave yourself with no room to retreat, consider other possibilities.
We know that it will take a few more years before you start to see that the next 10 years, after 2018. will be far worse than the previous 10.
@Pacha
This blogmaster fears no labels.
David BU you took the words out of my mouth.This joker Greene and his cronies Austin, John A , and Mariposa aka ac think the speaming to 5 year olds.From the time as Mr Athur called them wild boys took over it was all downhill.They were led firstly by Mr Thompson as finance minister who clearly was disaster with his first budget draining the life out of the economy with onerous taxes.After his death Mr Stuart presided over 23 yes 23 downgrades to junk bond status.The only shining light in that period was Mr Sealy who did a good job in tourism.Anybody living here who thinks those 10 years were not lost are living in la la land.The redwash 30 to nil is evidence of what people in general felt about them in 2018 not wanting to see none of them.Personally, i do not see the Dems returning inside 15 years especially when led by either of in my view two political losers in Mr Pilgrim or Ms Depeiza.They cannot even win a seat far less lead a party to victory.Therefore Greene save the empty talk you are impressing your Dem friends only.
i expect nothing from Mottley but a recurring loop.
and yes to Stuart and he did not, but as you put it the decline did not Stuart with him. he was merely one of the dramatis personae. arguably Mottley played a bigger role than Stuart in getting us where we are today.
It does not help to whitewash the lost decade of economic terror. For ten years the country has rotted, all roads kaput, shit in the streets and on the beaches of the south coast. Government jobs only given to relatives and DLP members. The population insulted. These are the facts. Some even say that the DLP government has promoted racial prejudice against blacks. I do not explicitly agree with this assessment, but I will put it up for discussion.
Our current government is very different. It has done the only right thing in 2018, namely declaring national bankruptcy, which should have been declared as early as 2013. After that our government pushed through important reform projects. I know, not enough, but that is due to the Taliban conservatism of the population and their lack of enthusiasm for work, but it is not the fault of our government.
Just imagine if the DLP had remained in power in 2018. By autumn 2018 at the latest, the currency reserves would have been exhausted and Barbados would have slid into uncontrolled devaluation. I know some would welcome that, but certainly not the masses. But it would have been even worse. The DLP would have (if I follow the present DLP president) totally sealed off Barbados from March 2020. Not even medicines would have made it to Barbados, thousands of Barbadians would have been stranded abroad and tourists in Barbados would have been locked up and abandoned to impoverishment, perhaps for years. Surely Prime Minister Stuart would have gone into hiding. Instead of him, the American Inniss would have talked foolishly and Big Sinck would have excelled with even stupider sayings.
Fortunately, this is only a nightmare. We have to thank God that Mia Mottley rules over us and uses the crisis to promote the popularity of our most beautiful island. Next year, in the coming presidential republic, we need a ruler with an iron fist. Only one person in Barbados can accomplish this task. And that is Mia Mottley.
No labeling, just reality
Someday maybe we will be able to discuss the facts without the politics and fowls clucking in the background. Regrettably that day isnt here yet. The reality is the depth of our situation post covid has gone way past the D and B blame game. Every month we go on hoping something will happen and not addressing the issues, all we are doing is chalking up a larger deficit that all of us will have to address regardless of party loyalty.
@John A
The system we have that elects parties to government is by design adversarial. Politics will always undergird every discussion and debate.
I wonder how close the new constitution will resemble China?
@ BAJE September 16, 2020 5:37 PM
You should have ducked…
You are correct. They were not your regular circle of FRIENDS. You were an invite for one night, chaperone to the Academy by my uncle. If you remember, it was the celebration 🍾 In anticipation of the successful September 1976 elections. You ended up drunk with uncle Cameron. The next morning you and your atheist beliefs were the laughing stock of the house. It was your boisterous “Oh God, Oh God”.
@Greene, you made some interesting remarks above which u very sweetly glossed over. Please if u will clarify further this one:
“No attempt was made to differentiate the period of PM Thompson from the period of PM Stuart and none was made to examine whether they inherited any problems from the previous administration.”
1.What were the policy proposals initiated by PM DT which Stuart didn’t carry forward that would have differentiated the two admins?
2.What key projects did DT have on stream which were visionary and had an impact on Bdos which were grandly better than any done after his passing?
In sum, clarify the demarcation of the DLP pre and post DT’s death to support your assertion.
And as the Bligmaster said don’t ALL political admins pick up the spoils and rewards from the previous govt… the BUCK stops and starts basically 18 months into a new admin… you own everything by then so either u jettison the albatrosses or work hard to make them soaring eagles!
It’s on the current bosses NOT the previous ones… that WHY you sought to be elected, after all … to IMPROVE the governance NOT cry ‘woe is me’!
Thus I don’t get your “excuse” re “whether they inherited any problems from the previous administration.”
The piece is certainly well written but it’s not as dispassionate an essay as others suggest.
I also wondered about the assertion that “Government capital projects were mostly if not all routed towards the traditional money class Bajans who do not reflect the racial make up of most Bajans.”
There are small Black business men who benefited nicely during that period as far as I KNOW … to highlight “capital projects” gives you an ‘out’ so to speak as we think of major construction or large tenders under that heading… but govt largesse can go far and deep beyond that “narrow” interpretation.
In that regard I do NOT accept your assertion.
Anyhow, it’s what it is.. as the man said.
@David
I guess you are right but it is a pity that it blinds some from having a factual discussion not blinded by party loyalty.
Both parties have done good and bad over the years, but all in all i think as a small island we have alot to be grateful for. This government inherited a tough hand but they said they could handle it. Then covid came along and changed all the rules. Time now is of the essence in terms of change. What you think this years deficit stands at year to date as we speak?
Tick tock goes the deficit clock!
@ John A
“Someday maybe we will be able to discuss the facts without the politics and fowls clucking in the background. Regrettably that day isnt here yet. The reality is the depth of our situation post covid has gone way past the D and B blame game. Every month we go on hoping something will happen and not addressing the issues, all we are doing is chalking up a larger deficit that all of us will have to address regardless of party loyalty.”
Will this be after Barbados puts a man on the moon and becomes a nuclear power? To hope is human.
@ William
Nice one, a man can hope cant he?
@William
The problem is while we play the party game United Nations is forecasting that Covid will take $8.5 Trillion USD out the ecomomy over the next 24 months.
Stop and put the zeros to that figure for a moment.
@ John A
I waited patiently on the Throne Speech because I figured that we would have been bold and creative. We were neither.
As for the party hacks they criticized a 14/15 member cabinet as too large and then endorsed one almost twice that size. Mark Maloney was the worst businessman in the country band then he got just as much or more than he ever got before. Typically BLPDLP hypocrisy.
You, @ Hal, @ Pacha, @ Donna @ PLT are worth more than the thirty jokers in parliament and the other thirty that are now on the outside. Without Caswell Franklyn , there would be no voice of the people in either the lower or the upper house. And of course the efforts of some moderators on Brasstacks.
@John A
September 16, 2020 9:46pm
Yes, we inherited a broken Economy. Our PM chartering a course for success.
@Greene
If we are doing the cold analysis thing there is the one year period when Thompson was sick and Stuart acting where he did close to nothing to assert leadership. In that period of drift in the beginning of the recession a lot of damage was done. The comment is not to rubbish the thrust of the article that dark clouds were on the horizon from Arthurs tenure.
David 06:51
You know this writer is reliable for truth telling.
Up to the beginning of this recession/depression there had not been any sustained recovery, globally, from the recession of 2008_9.
@Pacha
Why did Barbados plummet further than most other countries in the period labelled the lost decade?
So far the DLP post May 2018 has not made any improvements to how it communicates with the public. The BLP on the other hand has invested heavily in its communications team and use of digital media…(Quote)
The BLP is the government, with a 30:0 parliament (subsequently reduced). The DLP has not got a single member in parliament. Comparing chalk with cheese. Voters made their decision in May 2018. Only the dumb will keep looking back.
You had no problem up and down the blog challenging Grenville Phillips if his political party was fit and proper to challenge for government. All opposition parties are open to scrutiny by the electorate.
You had no problem up and down the blog challenging Grenville Phillips if his political party was fit and proper to challenge for government. All opposition parties are open to scrutiny by the electorate..(Quote)
You fabricate. But that is your style, a poor substitute for intelligence. My challenge to Junior has always been about making public the officers in Solutions and appointing other spokespeople. Just ask him. Or better yet, do a search. Stop creating fiction with your demented mind. It is not the first time.
It does not matter the reason, the result is the same, an attempt by you to hold political parties vying for government accountable read fit for purpose.
You may have the last word.
David
This writer was possibly the most scathing in criticizing the DLP. We continue to calll for its leading members to be made to try to exist without heads for hithertofore unknown levels of political malpractice and cowardice.
However, Greene is generally right with has historical analysis. True, it somewhat softens the responsibility on the DLP and if that is to happen so let it be. This is merely a function caused by the passage of time, more sober reflection. And it works both ways.
But to continue to locate blame only on the last DLP regime while giving a pass to the current mismanagement seen, even under far worse circumstances, is unhelpful.
@Pacha
Have no issue with Greene’s anatomization, as you know being a longstanding BU family member this blogmaster encourages commentary from all and sundry. It has defined BU. Greene like any person submitting an article can expect to attract a robust critique.
To answer your question @ 3 47 a.m Honourable Blogmaster I, Piece the Prophet, will share that it was because, of all the governments this count has ever had, ” the concentration of incompetents and “people one step away from the bailiff” was in such concentration that Barbados did not have a chance!
There is a relationship actually a formula between
1.the # of idiot representatives
2.how many are hiding from bailiffs
3.the vision of their leader and
4.the size of the balls of the leader (which also includes fake balls and dildoes)
You will notice that I, Piece the Prophet said nothing about the world economy BECAUSE THAT ALWAYS GINE BE THERE.
As you examine my time tested formula you will see that barring the pretend balls of Mugabe Mottley, ALL THE OTHER FACTORS ARE THE SAME!
So we can expect the same non performance with this set of MPs because there are 30 of the idlers in the HoA augmented by Consultants Galore or Pussies Galore
The Mugabe Mottley PR team is much better at spinning shyte for public consumption but nothing has changed
In fact the Covid pandemic has made it worse!
To expand on this point in the opinion of an ignorant, humble blogmaster, it is about the motive of persons offering themselves to serve in public office. In our system of governance it is meant to be a selfless task first and foremost and NOT a vacancy for the unemployed, poorly paid or ‘opportunity’ seeking individuals.
Thanks for the link. The theme has outlived BU. A few bugs WP have been unable to fix so far.
It does not matter the reason, the result is the same, an attempt by you to hold political parties vying for government accountable read fit for purpose.
You may have the last word….(Quote|)
Truth matters. Historical accuracy is important. Stop fabricating things. You have done it over the years. The result is that people assume what you say is true. You must set the standards.
Piece The Prophet
Not only Covid. The accompanying recession which this regime failed to foresee, even when warned.
And yes, these are worse times.
The Dees will blame external factors for their failures so will the Bees.
Pacha…don’t mind them, there will be no hijacking of UKs colonial system to systematically enslave the Black majority by these blackface crooks and their sidekicks in the minority community, not on our watch, we put too much work and time into this not to have the wherewithal to get all of them locked the fcuk up..somewhere.
Piece the ProphetSeptember 17, 2020 4:20 AM
Wait Piece, you feel you is Collis King? That was brutal batting.
@ John A
Greetings from I, Piece the Prophet from here in the Caves of Wisdom.
I note that you also have taken up the “banner” and now have become one of The Resident Enemies of the Mugabe Mottley Dictatorship
It is not that the ole man has abandoned the site but sometimes, when one has kept the lighthouse lights burning for other travellers to see, it is time to let others tend the flames for that light.
I see that you are ably assisting High Commander Theophillus Gazerts as is Baje, BimJim, gentile Donna and several others of a new guard whose many names de ole man can’t remember right now.
The Sage Annunaki, Northern Observer, De ingrunt Word, Mr. William Skinner, Mr Hal Austin, Waru and several others of the Old Guard, continue to remain constant in the charge against this Despot Mottley
As de ole man prophesied she going become bolder and do nuff strange things to make sure she becomes
DICTATOR FOR LIFE
So uou have to remain vigilant and keep the social activism on Full Speed Ahead
David 03 : 47
Some of the same factors mentioned – cowardice, malpractice of the dlp plus issues raised by Greene.
@ Crusoe,
I forgot you Crusoe and him whom I love Pachamama (love in the Agape sense cause we in Barbados heheheheh)
Mr Vincent Codrington and Waru
There is a new scent in the wind of Barbados
It is called FEAR!
When de ole man was posting these Stoopid Cartoons years ago many of you will recall how the Rented Pair of Jackasses Hee Hee and Hee Haw used to come and assail de ole man
http://imgur.com/gallery/FtqYJWz
And that was expected because “The Power of Discernment” is not granted to all.
And, as you know, I am Piece the Prophet heheheheheh
But, with the passing of time, extraneous events have “caught up” with de ole man’s prophesies from the wilderness.
And people are now seeing what de ole man saw at day one
So now, as we see, strongly and clearly stated in the words of the Honourable Blogmaster
“… it is about the motive of persons offering themselves to serve in public office.
In our system of governance it is meant to be a selfless task first and foremost and NOT a vacancy for the unemployed, poorly paid or ‘opportunity’ seeking individuals.”
De ole man sees that more people are AFRAID now the scales on their eyes have been removed
There is much more work to be done cause this “Republic trickery” is designed by Mugabe Mottley to undermine democracy completely
Keep Vigilant!
The reason why the promise to become a Republic and same sex civil unions are the two most talked about issues coming out of a marathon two hour Throne speech is quite simple.
When one looks at the nebulous concepts of almost everything else said, there really isn’t much that deserves any comment.
Outside of the two aforementioned , the only other clear proposals are: $40 million for a sophisticated debushing / maintenance campaign and $300 million for the tourist industry ,,to appease the ruthless hoteliers, who have made it very clear that they will not pay severance and would destroy the economy if they don’t get what they want.
Unfair to the Governor General
I belong to neither the BLP nor the DLP. I have voted only three times in my life and I have become disenchanted with politics. I voted twice for Michael Lashley and once for Ralph Thorne having left St Philip. I do not profess to be a scholar of any standard but I read and understand a bit of what is told to me and what I overhear.
What the Government did to Dame Sandra Mason yesterday morning was deliberate and unethical. The Governor General is not a creature of any party and her public utterances – whether actually hers or acting as a mouthpiece – should not be filled with partisan statements.
We all know that the sentiments made public yesterday during the throne speech were those of the Government – specifically Prime Minister Mia Mottley. The message she had to give Barbadians through Dame Sandra needed no input of partisan politics. Come on Miss Mottley, show some bloody grace! You are the Prime Minister already, you are not campaigning to be Prime Minister. But to have Dame Sandra reading a speech going on and on about government responding to “economic mismanagement” and the country being damaged socially and otherwise by the lost decade and poverty increasing over the lost decade and all that, was uncalled for. The PM would know that Dame Sandra would obviously be reading her speech. This obsession with power will be the ruin of some of our regional leaders.
You all have souls to contemplate and health to pay more attention to, than trying to use all means necessary to influence the gullible and to hold power. Nothing has improved in Barbados since the government changed. In fact, the living hardships for Barbadians have got worse. I voted for Thorne because I got fed up with the DLP but now I am fed up with Prime Minister Mottley and her government too. Learn from the demise of the late David Thompson who was Prime Minister for less than two years. He probably thought he would be in power for two or three terms too because he was young. It doesn’t pay to be brutish and manipulative in politics.
Government is a continuum and I am sure that since Independence, every Opposition can point to something the government of the day did that did not help the economy, poverty alleviation, society or whatever.
D.B Bishop
( From Barbados Today 8/17/2020 as a letter to the editor)
@ David September 17, 2020 3:47 AM
“Why did Barbados plummet further than most other countries in the period labelled the lost decade?”
Instead of euphemizing the Sinckler regime, our blue apologists should take a look at the growth curve of CARICOM members. There was no global recession from 2008 to 2018. What a lie. We had an economic slump in 2008/09, after which all economies recovered quickly with the exception of North Korea, Greece, Barbados and other run-down economies.
We had 10 years of stagnation for the following reasons. I call it the Barbadian disease: BBD too expensive due to dollar peg, too high wages, too low productivity, too bad work ethic, too high taxes and too big administrative apparatus.
Willian Skinner is right.
The abuse by the regime of the office of the GG, as much as this writer abhores monarchy, was repulsive and begins a higher level of cultural decadence.
We thought that were alone in noticing how the GG was made to be no more than a mouthpiece for a political party.
However, we live in an era where anything goes, whether in Barbados or the USA.
Or D B Bishop
@ William
It was a brutal abuse of the governor general – 62 pages and nearly three hours of reading rubbish without even a glass of water. But this was not the first time. Go back to Arthur’s state funeral, when the head of state, the governor general, had a walk on part in the Mia Mottley show.
The woman is something else. Her arrogance is mind-boggling.
The speech is timed at 2 hrs 10 minutes.
And yes the littering of the speech with colloquialisms and political phrases offended sensibilities.
This is all so much of the same, up to the time the DLP were sent packing they were blaming the previous BLP regime for the country’s woes. The worm has turned and the BLP are blaming the previous DLP administration for the issues that confront them, the only change is that they have managed to put a catchy descriptive of it and the gullible has lapped it up, bajans really have short memories.
@ Pacha
I share your sentiments. However, the entire letter including the heading was lifted from Barbados Today, from the letter to the editor section, as indicated.
@ Pieces
Morning I thought you had gone in full retirement good to hear you.
As you know the party thing dont matter to me. When Sinkler and dem was doing foolishness I blister dem on this same blog. So if this group do foolishness they wil get blister here too. Its not about who say what with me its about what was said. The messenger to me is irrelevant.
So we question statements that lack facks, we continue to ask for as much information as is possible and we try to make sure we are kept in the loop. If that makes you a D or a B well i dont really care, nor do i care who it offends.
Truth is if the press did their blasted job then those of us on the blog who want it wouldnt need to ask for it here.
The GG wanted to do that stupid shit, she controls Mia under the Constitution…
but…….
“The abuse by the regime of the office of the GG, as much as this writer abhores monarchy, was repulsive and begins a higher level of cultural decadence.
We thought that were alone in noticing how the GG was made to be no more than a mouthpiece for a political party.”
and that’s where the …but…comes in.
mouthpiece for a political party that did not select her for the GG post…
that’s why I said Sandra wanted to do it, Mia cannot remove her, but she can have Mia removed…
but…..
Good attempt to WATER down the blame of who is responsible for “the lost decade”
gREENE
YOUR partner just called you DUMB. after being the first one to agree with your article
“The BLP is the government, with a 30:0 parliament (subsequently reduced). The DLP has not got a single member in parliament. Comparing chalk with cheese. Voters made their decision in May 2018. Only the dumb will keep looking back.”
“The PM would know that Dame Sandra would obviously be reading her speech. This obsession with power will be the ruin of some of our regional leaders.”
since she wanted to make it an international charade, others had to make it an international charade for her too….the government, under the Constitution…is rightfully owned by the GG, she is the rightful head of government… HER GOVERNMENT…as representative and blah, blah,, blah…hence her own little colonial circle that operates outside the parameters of the Constitution…Mia or any other PM is just the manager. for the island as elected and PAID BY THE MAJORITY POPULATION….she is not the head…
It is refered to as a lost decade because the TOTAL GROW for the 10 years was negative. We may as well end up with a lost two decade according to how much we sink this year and how fast we recover after.
I am predicting growth in every quarter for 2020. @ pacha 🙂
2021
@ john2September 17, 2020 8:50 AM
I am predicting growth in every quarter for 2021. @ pacha 🙂
Don’t you think it is risky to make such a prediction?
Bajans are some of the most blindly optimistic people on the planet.
The plans laid out in the Throne speech to resurrect the Tourism industry is a huge gamble.
What is the plan to create new sustainable industries/ businesses to replace the slumping Tourism Industry ?
Prepare for a couple years of ” cutting and contriving ”
@ Piece the Prophet always good to read your contributions.
David et al,
my objective was not to assign blame but to show how we dont learn from the past and how we dont solve problems because we want to or dont know how to analyse honestly the source of mistakes.
the source of our problems in Bim is a system failure for all the reasons and in all the areas i pointed out . to provide solution we must understand the problem. i fear we dont and that is why we go around and around in a recurring loop.
our failures i contend reached critical mass under Arthur because the economy was overheated and we did nothing to solve the structural deficiencies in our system. the economic euphoria merely masked them until that mask was lifted by the great recession and the ineffective DLP under Stuart. critical changes in times of plenty are more important than in lean times if only because they directly affect the ability to manoeuvre. bust almost always follow boom
i am not absolving Stuart of any blame neither am i strictly assigning blame to Arthur. as much as Stuart was a victim of circumstances so was Arthur. each reacted according to their personalities and experience and survival instincts. as someone said, govt is a continuum and issues in our system were built in for sometime. every system of govt and even personal philosophies and beliefs need a reset or a re examination every 10 years or so. every 5 years now is the norm. otherwise organisational culture causes and fosters faults in the system which if left unchecked will lead to failure at some point
i began my professional career as an analyst and as such i was trained to spot trends, and locate problems as accurately as possible to prepare for future issues. it is an ongoing process. the past plus the present equals the future.
with a certain degree of accuracy people and events can be predicted based on that formula. you only have to plug in events into the formula. it can be personality or financial assessments or for that matter any thing that will help the predictive index. alto that term means something slightly different nowadays
It is all over the world (CNN, Fox News, Europe) that Barbados is going republic. Finally, we get what we deserve, namely a banana republic.
What a great day for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II! Finally, she no longer has to deal with rebellious, impoverished islanders.
@Greene
Good comment. Thanks for the elucidation.
Mia’s monkeys, Mia’s circus…
..I know there will be much more than hell to pay if she thinks she using the colonial system to enslave the majority population and keep the racism, etc going….seeing as the people are already the HUMAN COLLATERAL to pay off all those IMF loans she is spinning around borrowing…..while all the thieves got billions of dollars of the people’s tax money, pension money and properties OFFSHORED…
she better build her own system tout de suite….chop chop, no time to waste, 2021 is right around the corner, and that Mia system better not resemble anything colonial, racist, oppressive, exploitative etc in content……she can even call it the Mia System…
Many of our commentators misjudge the economic reality. Of course, our government should not be measured by the promises it makes in its Queen´s Speech. The speech has only a rhetorical function; it is intended to appease the naive masses of the natives. That is a good thing.
No government in the world can successfully fight off the economic catastrophe. But some consequences can be mitigated. We should be grateful to God that Mia Mottley has once again placed our island with the republic idea in the international media in a most impressive way. This is what it is all about, and nothing else.
If only enough top performers in the media learn that our beautiful island exists, some of them will build their villas here and create many jobs for cooks, gardeners and maids (in other words, where any education from UWI is useless). At the same time the government should encourage the unemployed local masses to emigrate. I have heard that there are beautiful places in Guyana and Ghana where you can settle as a farmer.
Yep we gotta start outlining what the Mia system will not contain……it definitely will not be accepted with any 17 and 18th-century colonial laws on the statute books with the additional Slave Codes neither up nor downgraded to be directed against the Black population for maximum effect…..Mia’s System sans any colonial construct….can’t wait to see it..
BAJAN IN NY
There is a reason for the smiley face after my prediction.
Seriously
There is a possibility that there may be negative growth in the first quarter because we still had a tourist winter season this year and that will be greatly reduced next year.
Q2 when bim was shut down should be the lowest point/ drop in the economy ever. i dont expect the island to shut down again so with or with tourist i expext growth in Q2 3 and 4.FOR 2021 COMPARED TO 2020
Greene
Smoke and mirrors! How far can one take the blame back? Why stop at Owen? Some go as far back as Barrow/independence
Should really be the “Lost Half Century”
What about the centuries before?
TronSeptember 17, 2020 9:19 .What a great day for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II! Finally, she no longer has to deal with rebellious, impoverished islanders.
+++++
No, but she has to deal with her own idiot, the little Trump poodle. Hopefully she can put a collar on Boris and walk him, like she walks her Corgis.
@Pachamama September 17, 2020 7:08 AM “The abuse by the regime of the office of the GG, as much as this writer abhores monarchy, was repulsive and begins a higher level of cultural decadence.”
@William Skinner September 17, 2020 6:53 AM “Unfair to the Governor General. What the Government did to Dame Sandra Mason yesterday morning was deliberate and unethical. The Governor General is not a creature of any party and her public utterances – whether actually hers or acting as a mouthpiece.”
@Hal Austin September 17, 2020 7:40 AM “It was a brutal abuse of the governor general – 62 pages and nearly three hours of reading rubbish without even a glass of water.”
So tell me guys, when has a throne speech not been the baby of whatever political party in office?
Is the GG a prisoner? Is she an enslaved person? I am sure that she saw the speech before she read it. If she objected she could have handed in her resignation., that very morning if necessary. If she had done so what could anybody in or out of Barbados have done to her? I am fairly certain that her mortgagee is paid, her son raised, and her pension as a judge secure
I take it then, that the GG as an honest woman, read the speech before hand and agreed with every single word in it.
@Cuhdear
“I take it then, that the GG as an honest woman, read the speech before hand and agreed with every single word in it.”
are you being sarcastic? i hope so. i didnt know that agreement was a prerequisite to the GG delivering the PM’s speech
Hal Austin: Barbados is a failed state. That’s why I live and remain in the UK.
Hal Austin: All those ideas are from the UK (where I live because Barbados is a failed state) and is plagiarism. The government is clueless though.
Hal Austin: I suggested post office banks. Ryan Straughn stole my idea. There are no post office banks in the UK.
Me:🤨
@ Greene
This is Barbados. This is who we are.