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SERIOUS BUSINESS: Stabilize SIDS’ steadily sinking ships

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work
within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” – Ephesians 3:20

In a column I penned just under a year ago, entitled “CARIBBEAN SUSTAINABILITY”
(https://nothingbeatsbusiness.com/2019/07/caribbean-sustainability-basil-springer-column-monday-on-july-29-2019/),
I posed the question “When are we going to open the Caribbean parachute?”

Since then, our communities and those of other small island developing
states (SIDS) and coastal communities have been further smitten
(directly and indirectly) by a global pandemic, racial inequality
protests and pockets of decaying morality in global leadership. These
negatively impact the sustainability of SIDS, with no idea when these
issues will be resolved. SIDS ships “have sprung a leak” and are
steadily sinking.

If we are to stabilize the sinking ships, we must diligently repair
the leaks by developing a multi-faceted strategy which collectively
focuses on spirituality, politics, economics, people, and the physical
environment.

Spirituality – we human beings on planet Earth are in this together,
notwithstanding our multicultural, multiethnic, multireligious,
multiculinary, multigenre (musical) and multilingual diversity. We are
all sentient and spiritual beings attempting to master an earthly
experience. We are intrinsically born equal, but greed and power have
historically divided us. We shall all benefit by pursuing the goals of
love, peace and harmony.

Politics – the political systems which govern the nations of this
world span a left-wing to right-wing spectrum. The left-wing focuses
on freedom, equality, fraternity, human rights, progress, reform and
internationalism. The right-wing focuses on authority, hierarchy,
order, duty, tradition and nationalism. The challenge is to move
towards moral people-centred global leadership, which would engender
equality, dissipate cor-ruption, protect the vulnerable, and
ultimately nurture a win-win situation.

Economics – how do we mobilize the essential elements of economic
growth – capital, the workforce, entrepreneurship and technology?

The current economic climate has resulted in massive borrowing for
which our grandchildren will be burdened to repay. Why not be
imaginative and create government incentives to mobilize and protect
the massive private sector savings to get the economy going again – a
win-win situation?

We need to match workforce demand with workforce supply to increase
productivity.

Let entrepreneurship fly with the innovative Shepherding model,
instead of letting it wallow in the mud of traditional systems with a
global 90 per cent startup failure rate in the first five years.

Incidentally, globally, less than four per cent of all children die
before reaching the age of five. This is a credit to the maturity of
the public health systems. We need an entrepreneurship preventive
healthcare system.

STEM is an acronym for the fields of science, technology, engineering
and mathematics. Why not support the initiatives of STEM-related
programs because too few college students are pursuing degrees in
these fields.

People – we must be more diligent in following the hygiene, mask and
distancing public health COVID-19 protocols, especially now that
borders are being reopened. Remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and
self-actualization, which influence future human behaviour.

Climate change – we need to continually look at means of reversing the
impact of climate change, which spawns drought, flooding and
hurricanes. The drive to replace fossil fuels by renewables must be
accelerated.

Finally, the United Nations Charter, which is 75 years old, sets out
four main purposes: maintaining worldwide peace and security,
developing relations among nations, fostering cooperation between
nations in order to solve economic, social, cultural or humanitarian
international problems. These are more relevant than ever today for
SIDS to survive and thrive.

Barbados Advocate

Mailing Address:
Advocate Publishers (2000) Inc
Fontabelle, St. Michael, Barbados

Phone: (246) 467-2000
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