I was shocked to read and see that there were others who actually agreed with banker and what he wrote above.

- Firstly, banker and the Ghanaian economist who he quoted were very wrong. I can't comment on the speech George Ayittey gave because I have not seen it but there were multitudes of post-colonial leaders/thinkers who are worthy of praise, admiration and imitation. Its up to people like banker and others who agreed with him to educate themselves. Beyond Nelson Mandela, there were leaders like Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, Thomas Sankara, etc, etc, who were highly intelligent, courageous Pan-Africanists, many of ended up being assassinated by the colonial powers for trying to bring positive change to the continent of Africa and the world at large. Educate yourselves before spewing and agreeing to such non-sense.
Did colonialism create a leadership vacuum, of course. Can it be filled by a government willing to develop their countries for the benefit of all its citizens, of course it can. There are multiple examples of this, educate yourselves.
- Secondly, how was Pindling's tossing of the mase an example of disrespecting democracy? The most basic definition of democracy is one person, one vote and the peoples right to self determination. During the time Pindling tossed the Parliamentary Mace out, the government did not represent the majority of the people. Thus the toss was a legitimate, non violent act and the beginning of a country's road to independence and real democracy.
- Thirdly, this idea that black people cannot govern themselves is filthy idea. Corruption is not restricted to any people group. You will find corrupt politicians and government officials where ever governments exist...where ever humans breathe for that matter. The reason corruption exist to the levels that they do in Africa is far more complicated phenomena than any cultural cause banker may be trying to suggest.

Given the perspective banker wrote his opinion it is clear that he does not have a full grasp of history, global governance and maybe commonsense. His claim that Black people can't rule themselves is ignorant, misguided and dangerous. I hope that the majority of readers of this page has the intelligence to recognize this.

The more these politicians speak the more they reveal their ignorance.

In comparison to an income tax, a value-added tax typically falls more heavily on people with low incomes. So a government that values a society with more social and income equality will likely oppose a value-added tax.
This is a fact. It speaks for itself. No one has to prove anything.

If the PLP government cared for the poor as it likes to claim, they would not have implemented VAT. That is not opinion, its a fact.

Some good points made though out this thread. But if I were a reporter present while Mr. Sands were making these comments, I would ask him what exactly does he mean by poorly socialized students? Are the children savages that can't be helped? Are they a few steps above animals or what? Would he prefer that they not go to school?

In truth, that statement is not only blame shifting but it illustrates the divide that is continuing to grow through out this country. An "us" versus "them" sentiment. From politicians who take the average citizen for some type of idiot, to teachers who couldn't care less about whether students learn or not. When I attended school my principals referred to students as "their kids". They took a personal responsibility and interest in "their children's" actions. Seemingly, this kind of dedication and responsibility exist in smaller numbers, if at all. I am certainly not hearing it from Mr. Sands. Not to mention the social and structural education issues that have already been shared here.

- Firstly, I disagree with you Chucky. The growth rate should not match the inflation rate. The growth rate needs to out-pace the inflation rate. When you subtract inflation from the growth rate, you end up with the "real rate of growth". For example, growth is expected to be 1.5% for 2015, the Central Bank has inflation at 1.24%, therefore the real growth rate for the Bahamas this year is around 0.26%, if that 1.5% wasn't already adjusted for inflation. Growth should always be higher than inflation. If not, no real growth is taking place.

- Secondly, Mr. Bowe's view is far too simple. If a sense of entitlement is all that plagued this country, we would be in better shape. On the list of problems in this country, the sense of entitlement is on there but is not the cause of the other issues. Educational, social, healthcare, political and legislative reform are all needed, urgently. These areas have processes that can be observed and quantified. How can anyone measure the sense of entitlement?! Was a survey done? How does a sense of entitlement effect us negatively vs positively. Last time I checked the more developed countries are the most entitled people on the planet. This is just more meaningless nonsense! The people of the Bahamas need to get on their government to ensure actual structural reforms are taking place.

Even in those fields it can be a toss up...depending on who you know that is. I personally have a friend with a Masters Degree in Finance, years of experience and has been unemployed for two years. Every interview she has been on (which according to her has been few and far between) has resulted in employers saying she is too qualified.

The final paragraph of this editorial is amazing by the way.

**Here we go again!** This 20 mil is probably in response to what BAHA Mar CEO Sarkis Izmirlian had requested---that investments be made to improve the performance of young Bahamians. The government will point to this and say "see what we do?!" Of course anyone of intelligence knows that this money will not even scratch the surface of this country's structural problem of having a poor educational system that produces D- students. So basically this money is just being thrown away and will change nothing.

**Education reform must begin within the kindergarten system working its way up to high school in an effort to equip children with the necessary tools to enter the University of The Bahamas and leave with the skill sets needed to be productive citizens in the economy and society at large,” the statement said.**

The most important point made in this report. True education reform is needed, and if tackled, will automatically bleed into larger social issues. If a Bahamian government has the will and mobilizes the resources needed to engage the problems here, change can truly take place.

Diane Phillips makes some good points. Bahamian companies can learn a lot from foreign ones in terms of technology and best practices. But Diane Phillips is not an elected official with responsibility of decreasing a 6.2 billion dollar debt and is not participating in a 16% unemployment rate.

That money should have been kept here in the Bahamas and spread completely over a number of small and medium business. I believe the site is BS, but if you are going to practice BS like this, make sure it helps a large number of Bahamians.

Why is it that Bahamian governing bodies need foreign institutions to tell them something that is painfully obvious? Part of the reason why so many Bahamian government policies fail, apart from them just being corrupt, ingenuous or just plain ole stupid, is the fact that a lot of them are based on opinion and not numerical fact. Everyone has opinions, that doesn't mean that your opinion should become law! Unfortunately this is what Bahamians suffer under. The information and statistics collected in this country is a joke and it leads to poor decision making and straight up corruption.
Practically speaking it is also why the numbers that will be produced for Carnival revenues will be a joke and why unemployment figures can be fudged with, and these are just "minor" examples. The lack of proper information also makes it easy for idiots to operate a "bush league" government. Just hawk low quality information to the people, give lip service and its business as usual!

Bran is spot on with his criticisms here. We are all negatively affected by VAT. Whether by the growing crime rate, disintegrating social fabric, low economic growth or high unemployment we are all affected. I am in doubt that the current government can even connect the dots to see what is going on in the country is a result of their policies. But criticizing them alone is not enough.
Like the PLP government that implemented all of this, Bran/FNM are not providing any real alternatives. Transparency and responsibility measures should be the basic mode of operating any successful government, but we don't even have that! Transparency and responsibility, while being ultra important do not ensure progress. As far as I have seen, not one of our politicians have offered any legitimate measures to heal, stabilize and grow this nation.
If y'all believe in prayer, I hope ya prayin'.