The Tribune

By PACO NUNEZ

Tribune News Editor

THE roots of our crime epidemic can be traced all the way back to the advent of majority rule, according to a political veteran who played a key role in the events of that time.

The former top official, who wished to remain anonymous because he has been targeted for speaking out before, said the “give me” culture cultivated in the years leading up to independence transformed what was once a peaceful community into a dishonest and violent society.

“We never used to have crime like we have it now,” he said. “We could move around freely. No one was killing anyone, there was nothing to be afraid of.”

While the political veteran agrees with the common analysis that blames the breakdown of the family – and in particular the number of child parents – for our social ills, he claimed this phenomenon itself was encouraged by politics.

“In 1967 and again in 1968, when the PLP won, there was a feeling of ‘this is our country, we got it’ – a freedom of thought that came from feeling entitled,” he said.

This feeling was reinforced by suggestions from the very top of the new government that all Bahamians would become rich as a result of the political sea change.

“The message was: “Y’all will have this, y’all will have that, y’all will be millionaires – a pie in the sky message,” he said.

“People felt you could do whatever you wanted, and then everything tumbled off a ledge.”

According to the veteran, who spent years in the inner circle of the country’s first Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Pindling, another factor was the PLP’s decision to continue using an election tactic long employed by the former UBP government, but which had unforeseen consequences when used by black politicians on their own supporters.

After the widespread sense of national pride and solidarity created by what was seen as a noble struggle for equality, many quickly became disenchanted at the sight of some Bahamians “grabbing for food” and other gifts from PLP politicians, in return for loyalty.

A sense of resentment crept in, as these Bahamians felt the worth of their own vote was being degraded by the spectacle of bought allegiance among their poorer compatriots, and an unhealthy rift slowly began to emerge within the country, which has led directly to the deeply divided society we live in today. And, despite all the harm it has done over the years, “this tactic is still being used today”, our source lamented.

Some in politics could see where things were going and wanted to intervene.

His suggestion was a training programme, to teach young men trades in an effort to steer them away from the “give me” culture and towards success based on merit and hard work.

But, he said, senior PLPs were afraid this would cost them votes as the public feared conscription into some sort of army.

A more radical attempt to steer the country in a different direction came in 1970-71, when a group of senior PLPs decided to protest.

When the dissident eight – who would go on to join others and form the FNM – tried to “put the brakes” on the culture of entitlement and irresponsibility prevailing at the time, they were suspended, sparking a poisonous political battle that had consequences which are still being felt, our source said.

Again, it was a question of internal strife – of Bahamians dividing against those they formerly viewed as their own – which damaged the national psyche, he said.

“When I entered politics, it was altogether different. It was whites against blacks in the 1940s. Then it became, and it continues to be, blacks against blacks in this country,” he said.

The tribal mentality of the early PLP, which saw it launch hostile attacks on any who disagreed, protected and perpetuated the “give me” culture that had been created, so that over time it bled into all areas of the country.

Thus, when the PLP moved to oust all the foreign heads of government departments and replace them with Bahamians, it was inevitable that supporters and friends would get the top jobs – regardless of ability or qualifications.

Over time, this grew into a general atmosphere in which merit was worth nothing compared to personal connections.

And, today, as many in Nassau’s poorest communities have told us, young men think nothing of robbing other Bahamians, because they believe that no one who has money or property got it fairly.

Asked what his personal hopes for the country all those years ago had been, our source said: “I was hoping to see – I still do – equal opportunity for everybody. Educational equality, so people wouldn’t have to bend to the political wheel.”