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(Mismanagement × Incompetence × Corruption) + Lack of Civic Responsibility = Stupidity³

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The theory of stupidity states that goodness is a dangerous enemy and reason is futile. Stupidity can wreck lives and country when combined with power. It threatens stability when it’s embraced by authoritarian leaders who use propaganda and fear in exchange for acceptance and belonging. 

Why are Barbadians so angry and stressed? Just as bosses determine company culture so too does leaders of countries by their social and fiscal policies. Thus, the many allegations of financial mismanagement and social dysfunction lies at the feet of our globe trotting big spending Empress Mia.

The youth are hopeless, frustrated, angry and echoing the disrespect for law and order by the politicians. The government via the Attorney General have been ignoring court judgements and rulings. What do you expect the average person who is hearing and seeing a few living large while they suffer? Corruption at an all time high in customs, police service and politicians, ask the Indians who are paying the bribes.

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23 responses to “(Mismanagement × Incompetence × Corruption) + Lack of Civic Responsibility = Stupidity³”

  1. Terence Blackett Avatar
    Terence Blackett

    @David

    Pls, revise “THE” in the 1st line…

    Thanks…

    #BeautifulPiece

  2. John Avatar
    John

    Stupidity is trying to convince people that 30-0 is a landslide and not the nullity that it is.

  3. John Avatar
    John

    The famous line from Forest Gump goes “Stupid is as Stupid does”!!

  4. Social worker Avatar
    Social worker

    One of the best articles that reflect what is going on @David, the popularity of auntie is threatening to make her the worst Prime Minister since independence. The murders, I told a friend recently that if you observe the purchases in the supermarket you will see poor choices that are bad for brain. Stress and hopelessness is very rampant, and my office is seeing a lot more coming in for help. Murders will round off around 70 cases this year according to a UK based criminologist friend in 2025 and escalate to around 120 by 2030. Politicians affinity to drug dealers and their financing of politicians is know among the streets. A friend who is social worker who is migrating plans to write about it in her thesis and the link to crime at all levels.

  5. John A Avatar
    John A

    I would say that it seems most leaders tend to lose focus at some time. Look at the the Columbian president saying that his people will not be allowed back on Columbian soil unless they arrive by domestic airlines and not military planes. He says ” they must not be treated like criminals.” So wait them enter a foreign country illegally and may ARE criminals so what’s your point?

    I use that example to show that politicians can always find a way to spin a situation for a few brownie points. We talk nuff here but act little. What have we done in 25 years to Crack down on the ZRS? The Nuff talk and no action approach is also seen by the criminals as well. They are getting bolder because our system permits it. As much as we don’t want to accept this it’s the truth. It’s not just the ZRS now but the clowns on the scrambler motorcycles, the thousands of uninsured vehicles and the list goes on and on. It has all developed because the authorities have allowed it to. Why you may ask? Well it’s simple every few years you need the vote!

  6. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    “(Mismanagement × Incompetence × Corruption) + Lack of Civic Responsibility = Stupidity³”

    this is some sort of soundbite but is meaningless as the Devil is in the Detail

    There should be some sort of metrics to drill down into Mismanagement x Incompetence x Corruption that accounts for Laziness x Sloppy Work x Lack of Effort by Complacent Staff who are paid the same regardless of Quantity and Quality of Output

    I would say Lack of Civic Responsibility trope for Clients and Customers (Public) of Government and Business is doing them a disservice as they are always shortchanged and shafted and have no means of recourse to remedy the situation

    = Stupidity³
    This is a throw away tagline
    Problems should be defined and addressed for solutions to be implemented as an ongoing project for improvements

  7. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Nothing to add here!

    Simple and to the point.

  8. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Civic responsibility means nothing without both popular sovereignty and national sovereignty.

    Without them, civic responsibility is merely a demand from those whose ideas or ideals are located in a fictional past.

    Popular sovereignty cannot be limited to once every five years.

    And national sovereignty cannot be limited to notions of whether you’re a republic or not. For example, national sovereignty can never coexist with financial dependence on multilateral institutions. Just as how popular sovereignty cannot be a function in the hands of political elites or their distribution of resources.

    Has the time not come for the thinking about these matters to be responsive to the radical changes in the socalled democratic índices globally?

  9. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Internet is for moaners groaners whiners

    Some random soundbites : ‘low energy’ ‘setting the bar low’ ‘shake up required’
    Politics should be objective not subjective and not lowest common denominator

    The expression “lowest common denominator” is used to describe (usually in a disapproving manner) a rule, proposal, opinion, or media that is deliberately simplified so as to appeal to the largest possible number of people.

    homeostasis in Barbados (HOH-mee-oh-STAY-sis)
    A state of balance among all the body systems needed for the body to survive and function correctly. Homeostasis refers to any automatic process that a living thing uses to keep its body steady on the inside while continuing to adjust to conditions outside of the body, or in its environment. The body makes these changes in order to work the right way and survive.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    If what you suggest is correct and most will agree, the system should be sufficiently responsive to generate options for renewal? This is the problem. We cannot do the same thing repeatedly and expect a different result. We just had a group of our intellectuals sit together, meet with citizens and the result was to repurpose a 1966 colonial fashioned Constitution. What do you take away from it?

  11. Concerned Parent Avatar
    Concerned Parent

    As a Barbadian with young kids I am afraid of the inplications from the influx of many foreigners who are either unskilled or have a criminal past. The deportations by Trump, Canada, UK and the Europeans will see crime numbers in Barbados going through the roof in short time. As a teacher I am concerned about the class sizes and the limited resources allocated to my school now most principals are humbled by contracts.

  12. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Intelligenge³

    To simplify the methodology process for renewal and improvement
    1. Spot the shit
    2. Clean up the shit

    I Hope this helps Barbados for the future for it’s journey to a Brave New World

  13. Terence M Blackett Avatar
    Terence M Blackett

    WHEN CONDITIONS GO FROM BAD 2 WORSE 2 COLLAPSE: #Expropriate

  14. David Avatar
    David

    Agree it is a time to be concerned given our inability to solve problems. Hopefully law enforcement officials have a plan.

  15. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David

    We all know the problems, we know the locations on our highways where nonesence occurs, we know the times it occurs and we know the offenders as well. What more dem want to act?

    Personally I think I need a big ass old truck and let me weld 4 H beams on the 4 doors plus front and back. Then I will do like everyone else and pay no insurance. I even got a name for the front of it already too. LAW AND ORDER bold cross the top of the windshield with all other windows tint black like night! After all if you can’t beat them join them. LOL

  16. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Social worker January 27, 2025 at 7:50 am “The murders”

    50% of those who died violently this year were allegedly at the hands of familly

    Stepfather/stepson
    Uncle/nephew
    Girlfriend/boyfriend

    This is very bad. But how do we prevent family members from murdering each other?

  17. Xcop Avatar
    Xcop

    From former police sargeant and journalist Wade Gibson facebook page.

    A Question of Leadership: Part 2
    Demystifying Mia Amor Mottley

    Twenty-two years ago, just before departing from the now predictably defunct Barbados Advocate, I wrote Part 1 of a political column on the leadership of then Prime Minister Owen Arthur, with the intention of a second installment to examine his highly touted deputy leader Mia Mottley. That script was intended to be impartial as usual, even if supportive of Miss Mottley’s potential. The separation from the “Old Lady on Fontabelle” thwarted that script for two decades. However, like Mr. Arthur before me, there has been self-purgation on Miss Mottley’s promise, as the ensuing years have proven quite revealing.

    Back then, I referenced the tone and texture of some of Mr. Arthur’s utterances (and actions) bearing distinct resemblance to a Machiavellian ethos. Having sat and interviewed Arthur in the library of his West Terrace, St. James home, and spoken to him on other occasions, I formed the impression that he was a voracious reader, a significant intellect, and one who had immersed himself in Robert Greene’s seminal work, The 48 Laws of Power. Many of Arthur’s manoeuvrings suggested Greene’s political ‘bible’ was a blueprint for his leadership.

    I have not only followed Mottley’s political career as my previous parliamentary representative, but as occurred with Arthur, I have sat and conversed with her at her private home, at her official Ilaro Court residence, and elsewhere. I cannot accuse her of being a voracious reader as I have never seen her with a book nor been exposed to her library if one exists. However, plenty of what she does and says, falls in line with what Greene has suggested is necessary to build personal aura and to win and control the crowd, whether Mottley is aware of it or not.

    Greene notes in Law 6 that a leader should court attention at all costs. He says: “Everything is judged by appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colourful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses.”
    Mottley set the foundation for her political ascension with her now well-known quip, “Gimme de vote and watch muh”. She also publicly asserted after her ‘coronation’ that all “big works” in Barbados must go through her. Mottley has loomed large from the start and has stood out head and shoulders above her middling parliamentary colleagues. She received the vote as leader twice, overwhelmingly, but in many instances, people are still watching to see how the confidence reposed in her has elevated Barbados and its citizens. On the other side of the equation, numerous individuals perceive Mottley as having palpably pursued personal promotion.

    In just under seven years, Mottley has become the most travelled prime minister in the history of Barbados, and arguably the Caribbean. Whether the majority or any of these ventures have redounded to the benefit of those souls living in Bush Hall, Jackson, Bibby’s Lane, Green Hill, and elsewhere, is anyone’s guess. But no one needs to speculate on whether these trips have enhanced Mottley’s profile. She has been on British and American television, been interviewed by the world-famous Christiane Amanpour, been featured in widely circulated magazines, received regional awards, and chaired several important fora. Her name has also been mentioned as a possible candidate for a prestigious international position. Whether major or minor, her every word receives prominent coverage in both public and privately-owned local media. But the question remains, how have Barbadians gained as a result of their vote of confidence? If they are profiting vicariously through her elevation, how?

    Despite the presence of a Government Information Service to assist Members of Parliament and other state officials with their interactions with the general public, Mottley created additional public relations entities upon assuming power. In many instances, these have assisted in giving more meaning to Greene’s suggestion of a leader appearing basically larger than life. Media houses have even been instructed to ensure that references to her should always include her middle name “Amor” – love in Latin, Spanish and Portuguese. This stipulation was not in place before she assumed lofty office. A simple tweak but quite symbolic!

    Greene suggests that at the start of one’s leadership tenure, one has to learn how to attract attention. He says: “You must attach your name and reputation to a quality, an image, that sets you apart from other people. This image can be something like a characteristic style of dress, or personality quirk that amuses people and gets talked about. . .Never be afraid, then, of the qualities that set you apart and draw attention to you. Court controversy, even scandal. It is better to be attacked, even slandered, than ignored….” Within this context, people are still talking more than six years later about the individuals with criminal connections invited to her government’s swearing-in ceremony at Parliament. Whatever one’s opinion on that occurrence, it is still being discussed today and Mottley has not been ignored. In terms of the attachment of one’s name to a quality or image, “climate change” and the name “Mottley” now roll off the tongue together in many regional and international spaces. Was that by design or a natural eventuality?

    The Prime Minister’s relationship with friend or foe, as well as parliamentary colleagues, makes for interesting observation. Greene suggests that leaders should be wary of friends as they will betray you more quickly since they are easily aroused to envy. “Hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them,” Greene posits. Mottley rules over her parliamentary colleagues with basically an iron fist. Some will argue that several of them owe their existence in the Lower Chamber to her popularity over two elections. Some will also argue that not all are her friends. Some persons have found high-paying employment in her government who were not always perceived as friends.

    Economist and former Democratic Labour Party
    (DLP) member Dr. Clyde Mascoll was embraced by the Owen Arthur administration after his split from the David Thompson-led DLP. Indeed, Arthur projected him as his number 2, a position most observers naturally assigned to Mottley. But rather than that causing any latent friction, Mascoll has found favour in the bosom of Mottley’s administration.
    Speaking at a BLP branch meeting at a primary school more than a decade ago, current Minister of Foreign Affairs Kerrie Symmonds, in a report carried in local media, openly expressed his displeasure with aspects of Mottley’s attitude. He was also previously not particularly flattering of her (and others) physical attributes with his “1,000 pounds of blubber” reference, but he too has been embraced by the maximum leader.
    Additionally, some members of the Barbados Labour Party, including Attorney General Dale Marshall, who supported Mottley’s ouster as Opposition Leader in 2010, continue to be embraced by her whether directly in Parliament or with political jobs. Miss Mottley has been brilliant at breaking bread with those perceived as having wronged her.

    However, not all foes or perceived enemies are always embraced. Greene notes that: “All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely…if one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out….” Dr Maria Agard, the former MP for Christ Church West, showed herself to be one of the bravest and strongest members of the BLP during their association. But in one of that party’s greatest moments of political cannibalism in 2016, she was expelled by the Mottley-led BLP for daring to defend herself. An effort to do likewise with Arthur resulted in him eventually quitting that institution with a warning to Barbadians about the BLP’s soullessness and their possible future under a Mottley administration.

    Greene advises political leaders to discover each person’s thumbscrew. That Mottley has had previous adversaries line up to serve her is testimony to her ability to detect that gap in the castle wall. The likes of ambitious neophyte Tyra Trotman finding a welcoming perch at Roebuck Street without public grumble from dissenting individuals is classic leadership powerplay.
    Then there is the mystery of John King. The general public, and especially BLP supporters in St Philip West, might never know what is his thumbscrew. But King’s decision to quit a seat in the Lower Chamber after one truncated term and take up residence in the Senate is a more curious case than that of Benjamin Button. We all know the outcome of what King did, and who it accommodated, but many Barbadians remain bewildered as to what would spur an adult male to demote himself. Terms such as political castration, emaciation, and others not printable, were uttered by many in several corners of Barbados. Many have interpreted the move as a powerful leader simply getting her way. King is now a principal cheerleader in Mottley’s We Gatherin’ spectacle.

    In his treatise, Greene indicates that a leader should not commit to anyone. “It is a fool who rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.” Such a philosophical stance could make a politician criticize a prime minister for having too large a Cabinet that was fewer than 20, but then engage one that is almost double, while mentally inert citizens bat not an eyelid. Such political ideology could also lead a prime minister to criticize arrangements between businessman Mark Maloney and a previous government while she was in Opposition, but continue unabashedly to have similar or greater business relationships with the same individual when on the throne. Indeed, such thinking could even lead to an extended partnership beyond construction and into the realms of attempting to import vaccines.

    But in all of this, the question remains, if the wider populace disavows itself of political loyalties, what can it point to as the elevation of communities and livelihoods in Barbados? The island remains debt-ridden, crime-ridden, taxation-ridden, cost-of-living-crippled, and morally moribund in many situations. It is there to be seen in plain sight. Yet, those influencers of straw whose caps are intermittently filled, or media operatives who mimic ladies of the night, do just enough to perpetuate a façade that life is not too bad, or conversely, it could be worse. They ignore the fact that while millions of tax dollars were waived for persons of means, including the father of Miss Mottley, middle and working-class persons who faced unemployment or underemployment before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic, found themselves before the law courts or other tribunals for student revolving loans they simply could not repay in the stipulated manner.

    So, why do Barbadians seemingly ignore these occurrences? Is life so solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, as English philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote in Leviathan, and their state of nature so untenable without a maximum leader, that they succumb to the fear that has engulfed Barbados since 2018, and pretend that all is well in paradise? Greene, perhaps, gives an explanation for the combination of apathy and errant hero-worshipping that has neutered thousands of Barbadians. He advises leaders that people have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. “Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.”
    While revelry as well as a party culture has been emphasized in recent years, Christianity and morality have been deemphasized in Barbados.
    Images of Miss Mottley onstage gyrating with artistes or other individuals, have endeared her to many supporters – young and old, and created the veneer of being one of the masses. As Greene asserts, it is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch than go against the grain. It is good politics. “Think as you like but behave like others,” Greene suggests.

    Miss Mottley always speaks in terms of Bajans “punching above their weight”. It makes Barbadians feel a sense of pride. It makes them feel important. However, such a suggestion is political sophistry on stilts. We cannot be punching above our weight if we are in a debt crisis; if we are still dependent on imported fossil fuel; if our agriculture industry is deficient and we cannot feed ourselves; if our manufacturing sector is struggling; if economic diversification is a verbal distraction while volatile tourism remains the concentrate; if violent criminal activity has become a cottage industry; if freedom of speech is under threat; and if public spending of taxpayers’ dollars has become a secret. We are quite likely flailing the air while attempting to lift ourselves in a bucket of rhetoric.

    Finally, Green advises in Law 37 that there should be the creation of compelling spectacles. “Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then, full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearance, no one will notice what you are really doing.” Perhaps, it will even go unnoticed when you are doing nothing.
    The government’s propensity for staging excursions, bus-rides, frolics at Farley Hill, the Botanical Gardens, and elsewhere, where people sate themselves on food and spirits, and there is temporary relief from life’s travails, is not incidental. The use of entertainers in such undertakings, especially in attracting and ‘sedating’ the youth, is not accidental.
    Burdening superstar Rihanna with the designation of National Hero while she is still in her summer fits into the idea of symbolic gestures and spectacle.
    However, the effect of spectacles ends, and reality returns eventually. Charisma, adulation, acclamation, the bow taken in a Cathedral of Light whether in Nuremberg or Bridgetown’s National Heroes Square, all pale into insignificance if the people have not thrived or are not benefiting from the daily political sound and fury swirling around them.

    But only the Barbadian masses can determine if they too feel elevated.

  18. John Avatar
    John

    El Salvador is a good place.

  19. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    This piece of writing is not vindictive. It’s neither a hatchet job. It represents the finest wriitten observational account of our prime minister to date.

    I am glad that I am not the only one who has made statements about Mia’s appearances. I observed and was ridiculed by some when I spoke of Mia’s outlandish scarves. These scarves gave her the appearance of a regal Indian or a member of African royalty.

    We have a very powerful and a shrewd Prime Minister. The job is hers for as long as she wants it. She remains the greatest conductor of the music of our country’s politics. She also bring much theatre to our political garden and is a mistress of PR.

    Whether this is good news for Barbados majority black population remains to be seen. She is a populist and has the ability to touch the souls of her people. They believe that she is one of them. That, alone, is sufficient in perhaps one of the most docile islands in the Caribbean.

  20. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Wade does write sweet as shiite hear? ..and he got the balls to go with it…

    However his use of Robert Greene’s work is somewhat flawed, in that, Green writes about the 48 laws of Power – over NORMAL people…
    Applying Greene’s logic to our local Brass Bowls presents a number of complications…

    It does not require much to gain local BBs’ unwavering commitment to political leaders. Any kind of promise – however far fetched, provides comfort to our BBs, who easily accept failure to perform, lack of accountability, and even clear dishonesty.

    Our history of being convinced of our own inferiority, and of ACTUALLY coming to ACCEPT that position, creates a special level of idiocy that defies Greene’s logic.

    Bushie’s thesis of ‘brassbowlery’ however, MUCH more closely represents the local status quo which MAM has been able to exploit. This is well documented on BU.

    No wonder we are so screwed – if MAM is using such thinking as Greene’s as the sledge hammer to beat local brass bowls into shape…

  21. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @TLSN January 27, 2025 at 10:07 pm “…when I spoke of Mia’s outlandish scarves. These scarves gave her the appearance of a regal Indian or a member of African royalty.”

    Not my impression at all.

    I always wonder “aren’t those scarves making her too hot?” after all this is the tropics.

  22. John Avatar
    John

    Going, going ……… gone?

    Get yours now!!

    https://nvestestates.com/land-sale-barbados/?msclkid=706a3039f9ee1675d11f57a007479b8a

  23. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    drugs.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2025/01/30/tests-conducted-on-suspicious-substance-sold-to-student/

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