SOMETIMES GOOD IS UNACCEPTABLE
…….by Yves Ephraim
I am reminded in the Bible of the story of Cane, where he sincerely thought that he was doing good to offer to God the fruits of his labour as his own sacrifice. As it turned out, his apparently good offering was rejected by God, completely.
Human reasoning would sympathize with Cane, arguing that he was really sincere and gave of his personal best, therefore he was unfairly treated by God.
Cane’s offering was rejected, not because it was not sincere nor his personal best but because he dared to define what is acceptable by his own terms and not God’s.
I relate this Biblical story to address this tendency for apologists of the government to blabber off a litany of accomplishments of the government when we question the absence of REAL progress.
What these government apologists do not recognize, is that we are not suggesting that no progress or improvements were made, but rather that the progress or improvement that has been made has no relevance.
It is about a misalignment of priorities and interests of the government with the people’s.
For some of us it is unacceptable to live in a country where our own government acts in a manner that relegates Antiguans and Barbudans citizens to be mere mendicants and low-cost workers for our entire lives. Never owning our homes, our careers or our future.
We are expected to own nothing but be happy.
If Antigua and Barbuda is to be a SUSTAINABLE “Economic Powerhouse”, its economy must be owned by its citizens.
Rich citizens make rich countries. This has been the formula for success, all throughout history, from the mercantile system to current.
China was a poor country that, in our lifetime, emerged as a world power after its citizens were allowed to own and build industries that have successfully exported to the rest of the world.
I cannot find any evidence of any powerful country that has become wealthy by selling off its prime lands to foreign interests or allowing it’s economy to be controlled by foreign interests.
It is private enterprises that create an economy of goods and services. If those enterprises are homegrown, the the country stands to benefit.
As a cautionary tale, we witnessed how the Gaming Industry collapsed when the US Government threatened to imprison its own citizens who had invested in that industry and threatened their own bankers. I wondered how different the outcome would have been if Antiguans and Barbudans were empowered to have a 50% ownership in that industry.
This brings me to one of my a pet peeves: that is, the licensing barriers that exist to prevent private Antiguans and Barbudans citizens from profiting from the telecommunications industry.
To me it was telecommunications that allowed Antigua and Barbuda to profit from the Gaming industry. What this technology allowed was an avenue to access foreign markets without having to travel to those developed nations.
I believe that if we liberalize the telecommunications industry, our young, intelligent and entrepreneurial citizens could launch international ventures that would earn foreign exchange. Our experience in the glory days of the Gaming Industry proves this.
Liberalizing telecommunications will help stem some of the brain drain, particularly in the IT industry that is in high demand.
Our attention on education is useless unless we pair that with building an entrepreneurial class of citizens. Otherwise, all we are doing is spending lots of money on the UWI campus to train young people to flee to first world countries because they cannot find meaningful occupations at home.
Ask yourself, of those graduating with you from secondary school, how many of your classmates are still in Antigua and Barbuda? We do have a real brain drain issue!
What is the point of educating our young talented citizens to deny them the opportunity to earn a living and frustrate them to leave.
Under the status quo, how would that investment in Education by taxpayers derive any meaningful returns for the country at large?
My main thesis is not that no good has been achieved, but rather the good done so far is not relevant since that good has not significantly advanced Antiguan and Barbudan ownership in their land and economy.
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