Courage, Care and Capacity
The Bahama Journal Editorial
This Tuesday past, we did precisely what so very many other people around the world thought they had to do – this is to say, we tuned in as Barack Obama, president of the United States of America delivered his State of the Union address.
This address while nominally delivered to and on behalf of the American people is one that piques the interests of the entire world because the United States – despite the challenges it currently faces – remains number one in the world.
And for sure, it remains the one country upon which the Bahamas and its neighbors in the Americas and the Caribbean also rely.
As reported in the Washington Post, “…Mr. Obama said that one of the most important things he could do in his presidency was to “open up more markets to American goods around the world.” He struck an optimistic tone, even as he described the challenges the nation still faces in a difficult economy with unemployment above 9 percent.
“We’re living in a new and challenging time, in which technology has made competition easier and fiercer than ever before,” Mr. Obama said. “Countries around the world are upping their game and giving their workers and companies every advantage possible.”
“But that shouldn’t discourage us,” he continued. “Because I know we can win that competition. I know we can out-compete any other nation on earth. We just have to make sure we’re doing everything we can to unlock the productivity of American workers, unleash the ingenuity of American businesses and harness the dynamism of America’s economy.”
We wish Mr. Obama and his great nation all the best.
We also know that, this beloved land of ours is currently being challenged and tested by any number of forces arrayed against it is clearly evident.
As in the case of the United States where forces conducing to the good are currently contending with certain reactionary tendencies, so too in a Bahamas where so very many Bahamians are apparently sick and tired of things as they are.
These people want change; and for sure, the kind of change they yearn for has to do with the grounding of a new kind of Bahamian – namely that kind of person who can comprehend that true nation-building must have love at its foundation.
In addition, there must also be in place leadership that has vision sufficient to take the Bahamas to that sweet place where each Bahamian sees himself as custodian of this nation’s patrimony.
But surely, there are some matters prerequisite to change that must be put in place – and here sooner rather than later – if this dream of real change - is to be translated into purposeful action.
Three such now come to mind; with these being: courage, care and capacity.
Courage plays its part when those who lead do what they must; care comes when they realize that, they can and should human beings with the greatest of respect – and for, the best of intentions are always for naught where and when capacity is either missing or some how or the other lacking.
And evidently, engaged and enthusiastic leadership has a crucially important part to play in this process.
Indeed, when we make any sustained reference for better and more committed leadership; in truth we are putting the case for leadership that has requisite depth and power to get the job done.
And so, whether the job in question has to do with health, education, security – or ongoing investment in the nation’s sustained growth and development, there will always be a need for the generation of that cadre of leaders who have the moxie to get on with the job at hand.
In such a renewed Bahamas, leadership would truly lead.
Put simply, while we have a pressing need to get out from under our current set of problems; there is commensurately, a crying need for the Bahamian people to become more engaged in this process of change.
There is also a need for the forging of a truly national consensus on a number of issues that now beg for both resolve resolution.
Here crime comes to mind; so does the matter involving undocumented migrants living and working in the Bahamas – and their relatives who routinely brave the high seas in order to join up with earlier migrant-pioneers.
Evidently, therefore, the time is surely now for both the governing party and its parliamentary opposition, and other interested parties in civil society to – once and for all – hammer out a consensus on this matter involving Haitians and other such people that best serves the national interests of the Bahamas.
Evidently, "things as they are" is just not the way to go.
In the ultimate analysis, the best leadership that a people can ever have is comprised of men and women seized with will, vision and demonstrated capacity to be up and doing with their assigned jobs.
January 28th, 2011
The Bahama Journal Editorial
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.