The general election season is upon us, and we are already beginning to hear an awful lot about somebody called “the small man”, and about politicians doing things for the “small man”.
But just who is this “small man” who has to have things done for him?
Clearly, the people who make such statements have an image of the tens of thousands of working class people of our society as relatively helpless child-like creatures who need to be shepherded along.
More than once we have heard even noted trade unionists being openly dismissive of the capacity of lower and mid-rank trade union members to think and make decisions.
This type of attitude is in complete opposition to the socialist vision of man and society. The democratic socialism that we subscribe to holds fast to the notion that the citizen/worker possesses the ability and social insights required to participate directly and fully in the governance of his or her society.
Those who labour under a “small man” image of our people are also out of sync with the fundamental movement and patterns of our history, for, at every critical juncture of our history, it was the working people who discerned and showed the way forward!
This is an issue that we in Barbados need to reflect on very seriously at this stage of our national development!
We have entered an era that is characterized by the menacing spectres of neo-colonialism, re-colonization and economic stagnation, and by the resurgence of a variety of right-wing, racist, anti-democratic and anti-Third World ideas and concepts. We had therefore better understand that we are going to have to fight all of the old battles all over again if we are going to be able to maintain the social welfare benefits, the level of national development and the quality of life that we currently enjoy.
We are of the view that if we are to stand a chance of being successful in such life and death struggles, we must develop a system of governance in our countries that allows for the full and direct participation of all of our citizens. The fundamental policy decisions in our societies must therefore be made on the basis of the widest and fullest participation possible.
We do not want or need a “corporatist” system of governance in which the men at the top in Government, business and the unions sit down together in some private room, work out a programme for the country and then seek to impose it on the people.
This is a backward trend of governance that, unfortunately, is becoming more and more prevalent throughout the world today. Modern “corporatism” is a type of feudalism in which the state and the economy are run by a clique of latter day private and public sector “barons”.
The democratic socialist accepts that every society requires discipline but, for us, the discipline of the marketplace and the discipline imposed by the top people are both equally unattractive. We believe that the self-discipline of full democratic control offers our best hope for the future.
• The PEP column represents the views of the People’s Empowerment Party.