The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

OPEN response to Branville McCartney’s “It cannot be business as usual” for country’s finance woes. As reported in Tribune 242, December 20, 2016.

Mr McCartney,

I would expect your concerns regarding our country’s finances to be well received. Yes, the Dept of Inland Revenue, Public Treasury and Ministry of Finance all need to be brought up to this century’s standards. A wholesale house shuffling is in order. Jobs should go to those qualified to do the job. I am in full agreement that transparency is essential. Even simple computers, available anywhere, could effectively halt the accountability problem.

However, your statement, “We need to look at anti-corruption legislation where persons who think they can significantly benefit from corruption are penalised” somehow rings hollow to me.

The Bahamas already has legislation against corruption, theft, and the host of other ethical ills which utterly plague this society. The problem is, for the most part, that there are no consequences for bad behaviour in The Bahamas.

Therefore, criminality has infected what seems to be, a majority of the population. Remember the part about punishment being a deterrent to crime? Well, what we have here is the result of many decades of getting away with almost anything in this country; from violent crime, to bank fraud, to stealing from Road Traffic, taking bribes, to you name it. Therefore, it appears that what is really needed is a judiciary that does it’s job. No politics, no outside influence.

Think that is the case here? If there are no repercussions for criminal behaviour, laws that are already on the books, as has been the case, what do you really expect? More laws are not the answer. You want an easy political fix, it seems to me. The real fix, the real solution, is to raise and educate children to not go along with the status quo.

This will take a generation, at least. Yes, the status quo is the problem. Isn’t it obvious that the unending slew of theft, graft and corruption that is highlighted over and over again on the front pages of our newspapers, are part of our culture? Do you really think, Mr McCartney, that the dire fiscal situation here is due to a few bad politicians and a handful of government employees? I maintain that the problem is an epidemic in this country.

The culture must change.

Secondly, the Tribune article states that you said “that the numerous high net worth individuals living in The Bahamas as permanent residents provided a ready source of advice and expertise upon which the Government could draw.”

Mr McCartney, I suspect that the majority of high net worth individuals who have “permanent residency” in The Bahamas, do so specifically to avoid paying taxes in the countries where they are from. If you looked clearly at the statistics, you would understand and agree that the world is favoring, in no uncertain terms, the high net worth individual, and totally ignoring the vast majority of humanity. This is not up for debate. It is a fact. Not to see this, and to suggest that these same people who have manipulated the system with their high paid lawyers and accountants to not pay taxes, who make cash contributions to politicians, that these are the people we should be taking advice from, is simply crazy.

Like you, I am also a business person. However, it is crucial to understand the difference between running a business and running a country. Yes, there is a difference. A great difference.

Currently, if you look around the world, including The Bahamas, you can’t help but notice the disparity of wealth between those who rule, and the rest of the population. How do you explain this, Mr McCarthy? Are you suggesting that having money confers on someone the ethics, the ability to be policy makers, or the good leadership qualities required for running a country? I would argue the opposite. From my reading, most rich people inherited their money.

Those who “made” millions and billions of dollars most often “made it” in the finance sector of the economy, which produces nothing of value except by making money on money and by the continued squeezing of the hard working, tax paying people.

I believe, having money changes the way people think. I find it curious that so many business people claim to be Christian. For, if we were honest about the message of Jesus, we would understand that our social behaviour is about as far away from Christianity as imaginable. Jesus’ only known act of violence was in turning over the tables of the merchants and money changers in the temple. Jesus was a radical. He wasn’t liked. Very few people would have voted for him.

He spoke the truth. So, he had to be crucified. If he came back to The Bahamas tomorrow we wouldn’t recognise him. Nor, would he recognise this so-called Christian nation.

One statistic Mr McCartney. 85 people in the world own more wealth than the bottom half of the world’s people, nearly 3.5 billion people. What would Jesus have to say about that?

Yes, answer the question honestly, Mr. McCartney.

The United States just elected a high net worth billionaire businessman to lead their country. Let’s see how that turns out for the citizens of the US and the rest of the world.

Until we realise that we must unite against the true reasons why the vast majority of humanity remains forever oppressed we will continue to get more of the same. It is beyond politics.

It is about enlightening oneself so that we can cut through the utter nonsense that each five years brings us.

The ultra rich now control the world and it’s leaders.

No different here. The numbers house guys, the bankers, the Bay Street boys, the high net worth individuals call the shots.

They call the shots, even though they have no particular statesman-like qualities. We can only say that they are good at making money. They may treat their families like crap.

They may speak bad about dark-skinned or light-skinned people. They may treat women as sex objects, or joke about beating them. They may over-charge for essential life saving medicines. They may make their fortunes building land mines and bullets and bombs. They may make their money by having a numbers house and fleecing the poor. They may have squandered millions from the Public Treasury.

They may have bled Bank of Bahamas dry. They may have overcharged consumers for gas. They may have made millions from a country’s natural resources, while the true owners, the citizens, get nothing. They may have made millions as an MP doing deals and getting a cut of the action. Am I wrong, Mr McCartney?

Are these the people we should hold in high esteem, allowing them to run our affairs, because they are high net worth individuals?

The world is in the sorry state it is in, with the vast, vast majority of the world’s people suffering and starving and struggling to pay their bills, not because they didn’t fulfil their roles as good citizens by working hard and paying taxes, but precisely because the rich have made the rules and gamed the system to favour themselves.

If you don’t understand this, or refuse to acknowledge that this is how the

world works, then you are not being honest, or are ignorant of reality.

There is more than enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed. Until we understand, and get rid of this fallacy that the rich create the jobs, we are doomed.

The reality is that the rich have made their money due to the hard work of those around them, by working the system with opportunist lawyers and paying off politicians. Why do we continue to revere and pander to the rich, giving them permanent residency, giving away the people’s Crown land, allowing them opportunities we are unwilling to give our own citizens of The Bahamas? These are the questions many Bahamians are asking. These are the realities which need to be challenged and changed by those with the wisdom, intelligence, honesty and courage to speak out against and fight against the sorry state of affairs that presently exist in the world today.

There are no quick fixes. There are no magic bullets. The people have lost their faith in the system, Mr McCartney. Don’t take it personally if people are no longer interested in politics. They may just be catching on. Realising that after listening to the drivel coming from the politicians lips every election season, the people will still get swung. It happens year, after year, after year. Show me I am wrong, Mr McCartney.

NORMAN

TRABULSY JR

Mangrove Cay,

Andros

December 21, 2016.