The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

When I was a mere lad growing up is the settlement of West End, Grand Bahama, I used to hear older guys say that some Bahamian women would say “no” with their lips, but write “yes” in the dirt with their toes!

Alas, indirect communication is entrenched in our culture. What we say is not always what we mean. We are a nation enthralled by platitudes; our politicians are masterful purveyors of platitudes. There are some critical issues facing our country that they can correct/change with a simple majority vote in Parliament.

Our divorce laws are archaic, oppressive and expensive. Instead of commencing a comprehensive overhaul of our outdated model, the policy makers are sliding down a slippery slope called marital rape. Nonsense! A spiteful wife could easily sabotage her husband’s life by accusing him of marital rape, and if convicted in court he is ruined for life!

She gets the house, the car and custody of the children. He gets prison time, criminal record; no job and no reputation. If we had sensible divorce laws she could file on grounds of cruelty, incompatibility, no fault, etc., get her divorce and they go their separate ways. Marital rape is just a back door avenue for divorce and further emasculation of the Bahamian male.

I’m aware of many cases where a Bahamian couple separates, start families with other partners, but never divorce. Twenty-two years after the estrangement the man dies. You guessed it; the vengeful wife commandeers the body, plans the funeral leaving the common law partner and her children of the programme. Medical and recreational marijuana is a topical issue nowadays. True to form, here we are peeping from behind the proverbial global gown-tail looking for guidance and approval. This is not the time for pusillanimous capitulation! Black Bahamians are keen to revive the injustices of the UBP reign when certain public places and positions were off limits to blacks. Well, that has been more than 50 years ago.

We need to talk about how many thousands of black young Bahamians who have been marginalised and disenfranchised since majority rule for smoking recreational marijuana!

So much of our human resource handicapped with criminal records: the stigma; stench; and brutality of Fox Hill. If we truly “had sense” we could have revolutionised the industry, by making POT a legal controlled drug. We must have squandered over a billion dollars in the unsuccessful war on marijuana, and in the process corrupted and compromised most of our institutions. Please stop trying to make it more palatable by throwing “medical marijuana” out there for a consensus! I have never used “illegal drugs” and have no desire to do so, however, I fully support the legalisation of marijuana for personal and medical use.

Archdeacon Palacious committed a cardinal sin when he said that black women breed too much. Well, what he say that for…..the indignant backlash was immediate! How dare he! Well, he was absolutely right! Yinna can get as emotive as yinna want; the empirical evidence is right before our collective disingenuous eyes.

There is an alarming percentage of our population that are unproductive and/or dysfunctional. These folks are the most prolific baby makers! Get real….their offsprings are more than likely to be trapped in that same vicious cycle.

No matter how politically correct we pretend to be, the consequences are brutally devastating. So we remain polite and every year, we build more schools; we find more hospital beds, expensive trauma units because of violent Bahamians; we eventually must build a bigger prison; find more money for social services. Meanwhile, the base of productive and responsible Bahamians (the ones who pay taxes) keep shirking. If we don’t get a handle on this dismal trajectory, the majority of us won’t have pot ter … in, nor window to throw it out!

BRADLEY L ARMBRISTER

Freeport

October 1, 2018