THE RECENT MEETING of various sectors to probe what’s going on in Barbadian society and to find solutions to the many worrying issues facing us was no doubt welcomed by the increasing number of people who keep asking “ What’s really happening here? How can we solve the problems?”
Though these consultations, in the past, haven’t been known to result in any positive action, we live in hope. A lot of our problems lie in our acceptance that change is inevitable – even if it’s not change for the better.
I heard someone involved in Crop Over say when discussing the vulgarity of some costumes, that costumes have “evolved” and there’s nothing that can be done to stop it.
That attitude, extrapolated to other areas, can only spell disaster. Another problem is our hankering to be world class. But as a recent posting from the Shekinah Medical Centre so rightly states “nobody defines world class …..It implies being up there with the big up nations in the world.
Like America – where every week some lunatic goes on a shooting spree, where Wall Street’s financial skullduggery plunged the whole world into chaos, or China where the air in Bejing is the colour of mud ……” Is that what we want to emulate? Then there’s the “too much technology” the prime minister spoke about. I couldn’t agree with him more.
Technology is useful and essential, but it’s been taken too far, so far that we no longer control it; it controls us. As was said recently, “as the technology gets smarter, we get dumber”.
Lord help us if a “system goes down”. Everything comes to a halt since we can no longer add or subtract or write a bill or receipt, we have to stand idly by until the system “comes back up”.
And if it’s a Flow problem, who knows when that might be? The resulting lack of human interaction we experience daily as we go about our business causes frustration beyond all comprehension, and the trouble is, it will get even worse. Soon we will have driverless cars, robots in our factories (added to those we already have in our telecommunications call centres), banks that apparently will consist of small rooms containing a multiplicity of machines, computers, CCTV cameras and a total staff complement of about four “real live people” – one to meet and greet and the others to feed the machines with paper and money.
Social media communication has fuelled this “global village” concept, where everybody knows what’s going on everywhere and everyone is in everyone else’s business, causing the worldwide pandemonium we see today. As far as I can see, it has done more harm than good. But nowadays if you don’t use words like globalisation and trade liberalisation, you’re old-fashioned and should shut up. But what exactly is globalisation?
According to some, it is the “big idea” of the late twentieth century and lacks precise definition, but others describe it as the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture.
However, this interchange, facilitated by information and communication technology seems to have had a profound (and negative) effect on our youth. Babies aren’t bornbad, but the constant bombardment with destructive actions seen on television and via other forms of technology will no doubt have a negative influence, especially if it’s not balanced by any positive human guidance. Yet we accept all this as inevitable.
Globalisation as we know it today, introduces cultures which were previously alien to us – those of greed, selfishness and excessive materialism. We hear of graduation ceremonies for primary schoolchildren,complete with all the paraphernalia, people borrowing to buy Kadooment costumes, some hesitant to send their children to church unless they have a new outfit everyweek, lest they be teased.
It’s time we forget some of the global village talk and concentrate more on our own villages, realise that not all economic development leads to a good quality of life and that stable families are the foundation of a successful and happy society.
We all have a responsibility to play our part – parents, relatives, teachers, priests, employers who seem to have little regard for their employees’ family life, and of course, government. We must bite the bullet and stem this dangerous tide.
• Dr Frances Chandler is a former Independent senator. Email: fchandler@caribsurf.com