The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

AGE/AGEING is the real time machine, created by God Himself and not by man’s ingenuity. Like climate change, to which I am a recent and reluctant adherent, age and aging are real phenomena. The brutality and scope for unusual snow storms and blizzards across much of the North Eastern Coast and cities in the USA and across vast portions of Europe are direct and compelling evidence for all the world to take note of the devastating effects of climate change/s. While the life span in the USA is, allegedly, decreasing, people world wide, are living much longer than they would have done before, according to available data and statistics.

Holiday travel and commerce were disrupted big time and some parts of the world are still digging themselves out. Electrical supplies have been knocked out by the unexpected weather changes. Flooding and avalanches have resulted in the deaths of scores of persons around the globe. With the now full bloom recession and the attending inflation, world wide, are wrecking havoc among many nations and Island States such as The Bahamas.

Another debilitating realisation, at least here at home is that we are living longer and will place an unsustainable financial burden on National Insurance as more of us, God forbid, will find themselves living on a relatively meagre monthly pension and/or pay cheque to pay cheque. In fact, there may now be more “working poor” Bahamians than ever before.

We all want to live for as long as possible and it is not uncommon, when one reads the obituaries, to read about Bahamians who are routinely living to be 80; 90 and more years. In a direct contrast to this phenomenon, we also hear and read about Bahamians laid to waste at early ages, especially when it comes to “death” by alleged gang related homicides. As the longevity of Bahamians increase, so will the pressures on NIB. As a correlation, as too many of our younger people are being slaughtered, national productivity falls dramatically and the state is obliged to “take care” of the children and widows of such deceased person.

It would now seem that either dramatic climate changes or old age will take out most people going forward. The ravages of Dorian are still present with us and, I predict, will be with us for yet awhile longer. To this very day, not a single Bahamian, in authority or otherwise, knows with certainty, just how many of us or our foreign brothers and sisters, would have died during the passage and lingering of Dorian. As a low lying nation, almost at sea level, The Bahamas can ill afford to continue to remain climate change deniers or to take the very visible signs lightly going forward.

Philip “Brave” Davis, KC, MP, our indefeasible Prime Minister, came to this realisation months before the electoral victory of the PLP and his elevation to Primus Inter Pares. From the moment they were sworn in, Brother Davis and his team hit the ground running both to deal with shoring up the sustainability of NIB and to sensibly deal with the inevitable challenges of climate changes here at home. He’s been like a whirlwind traveling all over the globe to attend and contribute to climate change conference up in New York; over in Scotland and most recently in Egypt. He is now recognised as one of the world’s leading advocate on climate change.

He also, along with the input of Deputy Prime Minister, I Chester Cooper (PLP-Exuma), the enlightened Minister of Tourism & Investments, have been traversing the world seeking out good and sustainable foreign direct investments. So far, apart from the Grand Lucaya, continues to be an elusive deal to clinch, exciting investments, international and foreign, are beginning to line up.

Yes, ageing is a part of God’s master plan for mankind. To age, one has to live long enough and certainly to the proverbial span of three scores plus ten. It is almost Satanic for a single one Bahamian to die, unless by unpreventable consequences of disease or illness; below that age bracket. It is my submission, by my own experiences, that an individual does not come into his/her own until “maturity”... around their 30s and 40s. Until that time, the vast majority of our wonderful people are busy with flippancy and pervasive sexual haunting, coupled with alcohol and illicit drug abuse.

In conclusion, as the Earth ages and the larger nations continue to proliferate industrial carbon emissions and the never ending burning of fossil fuel, debilitating climatic changes are inevitable. The facts speak for themselves: ‘Res Ipso Facto’... It also follows that as Bahamians live longer and longer in the majority of cases that the long term funding and sustainability of NIB must be addressed sooner rather than later. Yes, age and aging are the real components of a time machine.

The late great author, H G Wells, was able, in fiction, to design and build the fabled “time machine”. Only God, however, has succeeded, so far, to create and evolve the real one. I submit that to age gracefully and with intact dignity as a human being were parts of God’s mater plan for mankind. Well do I remember Melchizedek, the King of Salem, who lived forever. Death is foreign and was only brought in following the original sin of disobedience: ‘For the day thou eat of the tree of good and evil, thou shall surely die’. I further submit that God was very serious when He admonished Adam and Eve to dress and care for the Earth.

ORTLAND H BODIE Jr

Nassau,

December 26, 2022.