EDITOR, The Tribune.

I have been reading with despair about events happening in our beloved country and seeing the blatant lack of care for we, the people, who continue to be blinded and duped by partisan “politricks” instead of demanding accountability, transparency, and truth!

I congratulate the Organisation for Responsible Governance www.orgbahamas.com that continues to educate and advocate for the passing of the Freedom of Information Act. Unfortunately, I have little faith that it will be passed because our ‘politrickcians’ know no other way to operate other than under the cover of secrecy which is why The Bahamas continues to be smeared with having an increasing level of corruption!

A case in point is the latest hot topic of the former administration’s alleged mishandling of DRA funds. As a concerned citizen, I wrote several letters to the press asking questions and looking for answers to no avail. So what was the opposition doing during the past two years when all of this was allegedly going on? Was it not their responsibility to ask questions and get answers?

Are we, the people, content to gossip about each day’s scandalous revelations whilst the mustard and ketchup partisan battle rages on – one no better than the other - whilst completely neglecting the bigger picture after the fact, and to our detriment? Do we not realise that is our money that is now all gone – allegedly squandered yet again, leaving us saddled with the substantial generational debt incurred to be paid by us, our children, our children’s children, and beyond?

This is a recurring travesty, yet we remain dumb, without questions and demands as each insidious five year partisan cycle turns over, as W B Yeats stated so eloquently in his poem ‘The Second Coming’: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre… things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;” hurtling us nowhere fast.

It seems as if we prefer to let the partisan “politricks” run on with their destructive games rather than open our eyes and see what we lookin’ at! We, the people, must demand better - but that won’t happen unless we become better educated, question more, demand answers, and advocate for our own emancipation!

A very wise man once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result, so more fool us since the ‘politrickcians’ continue with their charades, mouthing off in front of the cameras to score brownie points for their side instead of advocating for the Greater Good for whom they were elected to serve and who meanwhile continue to suffer!

Wake up, Bahamas! We are about to celebrate our 50th anniversary of Independence in less than a year’s time, yet we are still acting like ignorant slaves in a colonial present instead of emancipating our minds as independent, sovereign thinkers! How can we be truly independent if we still hold on for dear life to the exterior trappings of our colonial masters? We remain shackled to their chains, demonstrating inferiority by believing foreign is always better, and acknowledging their superiority for example in retaining foreign honours and holding them in higher esteem than our own!

Open your eyes, Bahamas! We may be considered a third world country, but many first world countries are very aware of what riches and resources our country has and would happily take them from us! We are a rare and precious jewel on this earth we call home, but unfortunately the majority of us - particularly the ignorant ‘politrickcians’ - do not even recognise this! Our enormous wealth is staring us right in the face, enshrined in the creativity of our people and our enormous natural resources which we remain largely ignorant about! Instead of investing in we, the people, first we would prefer to go begging to the foreign first world, stupidly bending over backwards to give away our patrimony to ‘foreign’ who laugh all the way to the bank!

See what you lookin’ at, Bahamas! When folly is bliss, wisdom cannot be found! Partisan ‘politricks’ is destroying our country, and nothing will change for the better unless we, the people, demand better of our politicians! It is ignorant to be dumb, so know when you do not know and be humble enough to admit it; have the respect to listen to your own and ‘say ya sorry’ when you mess up; adjust the balance and look beyond the sole outward trappings of foreign wealth, and focus inward more to build our own solid foundation; demonstrate independence and sovereignty with testicular fortitude and negotiate from a position of strength, not servitude, for the benefit of the greater good!

Bottom line: Emancipate your mind and save our country!

PAM BURNSIDE

Nassau,

February 15, 2022.