The exhortation has been that Barbadians should not worry. The word worry is one that carries an ambiguity of connotation.
It might imply an excess of concern or in local parlance “worrying oneself sick”, falling into a depressed, almost catatonic state that renders one incapable of coming to terms with whatever it is that troubles. Hamlet, the ill-fated Prince of Denmark, was said to have been “sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought”, as he pondered the possibility of “taking up arms against a sea of troubles”.
Then there are those who would dispel worry altogether, and here is implied a carefree complacency in dealing with overwhelming difficulties. The song says Don’t Worry, be Happy. Elsewhere, we are encouraged to “take no thought for tomorrow”. But the five foolish virgins failed to fill their lamps with oil, apparently with dire consequences.
While it may be damaging to worry oneself sick, it may also be equally foolish not to be seriously concerned about the challenges that we individually and collectively confront.
In the case of a nation the concern goes beyond the present to the prospects of our children and generations yet unborn. People actually suffer when countries fall into economic, social and political decay for lack of vision and appropriate governance.
We worry depending on our subjective perception of the gravity of the challenges we confront. Our own self-confidence and perhaps faith in a redeeming grace. Read recently that “God’s grace is not so poor a thing that it cannot present itself in any number of ways”.
We worry too depending on our particular social location. We may, for example, have an appreciable level of financial security or live in a safe neighbourhood where we don’t feel particularly threatened. Personal relationships that afford some level of psychic comfort may be relatively sound. However, none of these comforts are automatically sustainable. Individually and collectively, we have to work at their sustainability.
One does not have to be a worrywart to be concerned about Barbados going into 2015. We legitimately worry about the state of the economy, the length of the recession, the loss of jobs, possible devaluation, the apparent increase in abject poverty and seemingly deficient conditions at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
We are told that the Barbadian economy could go into “a state of comatose” by the end of the fiscal year. We may worry about youth unemployment and our children’s ability to find a place in the sun. We may worry about ostensibly systemic structural issues facing a justice system described by one highly regarded Barbadian as a mess.
Barbadians have always prided their country on its relative peacefulness, particularly the absence of violent predatory crimes. Today they are legitimately worried about the rising tide of violence, particularly crimes involving the use of firearms occasioned in large by gangs and a burgeoning drug culture.
Add to that the growth of praedial larceny, white and blue collar criminality. We tend to romanticise the past because its pain is no longer with us. However, Barbadians were a people with a quotidian, deep-boned sense of public decency. We worry about a pervasive vulgarity that now characterises so much of our public demeanour.
Most Barbadians have not lost faith in the basic premises of our democracy. What they have lost faith in and are legitimately worried about is a so-called political class and leadership that fails to inspire. This is a ruling elite that is perversely partisan and short on class in terms of vision, intellectual acuity. Politicians worldwide promise more than they can deliver.
As is said, they campaign in poetry, but govern in a dead, leaden, often unintelligible prose. It is vexatious and worrying to Barbadian taxpayers that under two administrations, a public entity Caves of Barbados Limited (CBL) could run with its accounts unaudited since 2005. The back-page story in the MIDWEEK NATION of November 24, might make one worry oneself sick to the stomach.
Supposing the story is true, when the Cave Authority was transferred from the Ministry of the Environment to that of Tourism, “all the signed annual reports at the ministry went missing”.
Those documents held at the Cave are said to have “vanished”. For consultative services, CBL is charged a fee of $766 855.24 on a $25.7 million loan. A previous consultation on a $33.7 million loan had cost a mere $17 000 plus vat. A revised invoice was eventually settled for $487 817.40 VAT inclusive.
How are these figures arrived at? Where is the accountability and transparency? And we hear time and time again about following “best practices”.
As Gladstone Holder used to say, these things are not for our comfort. to any thinking person, they should be a cause for worry. Either the investigative mechanisms are not in place or we lack the willingness to interrogate them. How can one not worry about these things or at least be very concerned? Perhaps we are now beyond caring.
Ralph Jemmott is a retired educator and social commentator; email rajemmott@caribsurf.com