These children will follow in the footsteps of our adults, whom they watch very carefully.
And then, we wonder why our politicians, pastors, and police are such moral and professional failures.
This isn't the first generation on the slide downhill.
Yes, it is about responsibility.
But, it s also about a broken system which has produced a broken ruling class, a broken justice system, a broken police organization, a broken parenting system, which is producing our broken youth.
Until we embrace education as a national priority, nothing can change.
The last thing our politicians, especially this present administration, want is for a populace smart enough to understand the level of criminality that exists here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILQepXU…
Are we any different here?

We don't care.
This, like almost every other thing that needs to be corrected, is just talked about.
It almost seems like we are paralyzed.
Unable to solve and correct even the smallest little thing.
We excel at talking. Nothing more.
Yes, he is lucky to be alive.
And, if there were no witnesses, or cameras, would anything have come of it?

John,

You are wrong on most every point you make. Overwhelmingly, the world is seeing through the bullshit which the US serves up.
BRICS will soon, if not already, have a greater share of GDP then the west.
Due to the genocide in Palestine, the world has realized that the US is evil. As is much of the west.
Let me guess. John. You believe Israel has a right to defend itself.
If so, STFU. I don't engage with soul dead people.

The US is finished. Most of the educated world sees this.
I hope you live long enough to see it fully, if you even then admit it.
The Bahamas produces nothing and will see the effects of these draconian, unChristian policies sooner than later.
I have to remember that with people like you, the cruelty is the point.
Bravo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrbyJuk…

Easy to forget the rest of humanity, it seems.
Yes, yes the democrats.
As it goes.
JohnQ, the reason I simply find it painful to visit the US anymore.
You haven't listened to the idea that cruelty is the point.
Did you really see who benefited from the trickle down tax cuts?
Do you really think trump is not a sociopath?
Do you really think letting a drug addled musk dismantle the government there a good idea?
Why can't Iran have a nuclear bomb?
But, Israel can?
And, the stock market, who owns that?
Is Marjorie Taylor Green a democrat?
The derangement syndrome is clearly b y those who fail to see how trump lied, lies and will lie.
He betrays everyone around him. Everyone John.
Great judge of character, John.

"Theodore Roosevelt bemoaned the constant critic who has never been involved in political life or government but who endlessly editorializes, comments on, and lambasts certain politicians, especially those for whom they have a personal vendetta:

“A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticize work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities—all these are marks, not as the possessor would feign to think, of superiority, but of weakness.”

But then, we have the reasonable statement that "All life is politics" which is what I believe.
So, Roosevelt was simply being a lowly politician, not a statesman, a leader, nor honest.
He was a politician. Who all have a propensity for speaking something other than the truth. Every person who participates in national debate is fostering and strengthening democracy, not just those who hold political office. Politicians are supposed to be representatives, not gods or tyrants.
I offer no apologies for never entering politics. Some people are smooth-tongued orators, who can sell anything to anyone. Some can comfortably lie on a daily basis. I will leave that to the politicians. My parents reminded me that you are the company you keep. I don't see one in Parliament I care to associate with. Not one.
My job, as I see it, is to do as much of the needed reading, research and work to elevate people's consciousness and their decency. That is not the job of a politician.
I believe in true equality. Economic inequality is at the root of most of the world's problems today. Would I be doing myself, or anyone else a favor by entering politics? A world I am patently unsuited for and certainly have not developed the taste for putrid behaviour which seems necessary in today's political world. This is a so-called Christian nation. What was Christ hung on the cross for? Simply telling the truth. We still don't comprehend the message, do we? How do adults not see this? The reality is deeper and uglier than we care to admit. It is much easier to shoot the messenger.
No Simon, while I can lament and empathize with your recognizing the seemingly terminal trend we are witnessing for humanity, I cannot take to heart your criticism of the critics.
Newspapers are all supposed to be checks on power, not stenographers for the politicians.
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Did the people fail the media, or did the media fail the people?
I think I know.
Once we enter the putrid political realm, the media seems to lat down and sleep with the dogs.
Just my perspective, from a non-politician.

Hey Simon,

I feel as though you've painted a damned if you do, damned if you don't, picture of politics for me.
I will always be on the outside, vigorously criticizing those on the inside.
I have written on many issues for 50 years now. Many people have encouraged me to go into politics, to run for office.
Here is my stance. Politics is about compromise. Personally, I have a hard enough time articulating my own positions based on educated and moral reasoning. I have, in the very words by Martin Luther King Jr., tried to fashion a "radical revolution of values" for myself. I have tried for many years and many thousands of books, to reach some semblance of ideas, concepts, and explanation of emerging social trends that allow a kind and Christian ethic to be put into action. I am not a politician. I would be killed quicker than a mosquito for espousing some of the ideas for governance I have come to.
I insist on equity and fairness, which at once, precludes Capitalism. How far would I get with this rather Christian idea, in this supposedly Christian nation?
You state: "The hard reality is that it is difficult to find eligible and good candidates with the portfolio of qualities needed to serve in elected office."
100% true. Now, why is that? For me, it belies the old adage that, "we are the company we keep."
If we take this concept forward, perhaps this explains why we have such a hard time attracting qualified representatives.
My own observations based on simply reading the paper is that, like many many governments worldwide, our own government is populated with fully compromised individuals with questionable motives and ethical ambiguity.

You further state: "Candidates reflect the broader society with our myriad strengths and tremendous limitations in populating politics, government, journalism, religious life, civil society, and union leadership with more adept talent.

"The crisis in attracting quality leadership may be seen in the ever-declining quality of print and broadcast journalism, the decline in the quality of senior public officers, and the difficulty in attracting religious leaders with greater theological depth. We have a dearth of talented leaders across the board."

Simon, when you use phrases like, "tremendous limitations" and "a dearth of talented leaders across the board", how should I respond?
What kind of person wants to jump into this pool and associate with these people?

And, let's be real Simon. Anyone who reads the Tribune on a regular basis understands that money rules. Whether in campaign funding, political purchases, even down to the reality that our politicians still buys votes for cash, right out in the open. Surely, you must know how down and dirty Bahamian politics has gotten.

The billionaire class has captured all politics, everywhere.
If one can't see this, sorry.
This CHAOS is exactly what the elites want.
Every opportunity to buy assets for pennies on the dollar is a win for those liquid enough to buy, buy, buy.
They don't care about human life or any of that Christian nonsense.
The US is being sacrificed. As is Gaza.
If you don't see the connection, again sorry. Go back and do the few thousand hours of reading that it takes to understand the history and development of this new world.
It is all connected. Only fools who get their only news from the media and social media are at the loss, and do not understand what is happening.
This is the greatest transfer of resources in all of history.
The numbers don't lie.
A handful of people now own most of the world's resources.
If you don't believe this, again sorry for your ignorance.
Nobody in their right mind suggests the US is improving under trump. Nobody with a brain.
No educated, decent person thinks trump hasn't betrayed The People. He works for the owner class, just like our politicians here.
This is the new normal for brainwashed people. bahamianson says progress. Find me one sound mind that says so. The damage being done to the average US citizen is immeasurable in history. This is indisputable and backed by reams of data. This administration in the US will be completely responsible for millions of deaths globally.
Are you really that dense son?
trump is a deranged, selfish lying fool. Only someone with no sense of decency or ethical backbone cannot see trump as the failed little man that he really is. It is all well documented by his own family and any educated psychologist alive.
The owners of the world will continue to implement a world where there is no privacy, no personal rights, and the destruction of democratic rule. We will be told what we can buy and sell. Where we can go. What we can say. Don't see it? Sorry again for your lack of cognitive abilities.
I don't intend to be mean, but very very few people in the US think that country is headed to the right direction. They have been lied to. Who likes that? Even Marjorie Taylor Green has turned on trump. I mean let's be serious.
Anyone who spends a few minutes a day reading knows very well the exponential growth of these AI and other technologies which are there to control individuals.
It saddens me to listen to so many really ill-informed and seemingly ignorant people continue to support a fascist dictator wanna be who doesn't respect anything or anyone on this planet except himself.
Say what bahamianson?

Don't worry. We are ALL owned. We took our eye off the ball for too long. Independence is an illusion. We have now borrowed so much money, and signed away our children's future that independence is merely a word.
Like the way this administration uses the word "transparency". These words have no meaning here.