A GUY'S VIEW: Population control or expansion?
“Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the third world, because the US economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries.” – Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State.
THE discussion on ridding the world of millions of black people has been brought to the fore again, in light of the miraculous vaccine which has appeared in record time to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The fact that Bill Gates is behind the vaccine and is a known proponent of depopulation has not been lost on many. How does the view that Barbados needs to import people fit into this scenario?
An increased Barbados population should not be a short-term stop gap initiative to sure up some vague economic theory. This should be a corollary of a consensus position that the people understand and support, especially since we were always told that this country was over populated. These conflicting positions are a great example of how the puppet masters pull the strings that suit them when it suits them: we were over populated so we needed birth control; now we are under populated, so we need to import people, not have more children. Unfortunately, the Family Planning Association has done too good a job for the majority of Barbadians to forget their message. Consistent with modern western thinking, the majority of our women now place money and career above family and that is not about to change anytime soon.
Our population could be increased responsibly with appropriate support from the state and buy-in from the rest of us if we implement a wholesome programme of support for women of child-bearing age. With a little imagination, this can be done.
Rather than have women traversing the Courts to collect financial support from reluctant fathers, the government should develop a comprehensive approach to giving dignified support to mothers. There should be universal testing for paternity, and once fatherhood is established, support should be mandatory.
Housing should be provided for parents with young children. This would not only be to the benefit of mothers but also their children. However, to the consternation of our recent thinkers, fathers in a similar position should not be excluded.
Giscard d’Estaing, former President of France, once used a tortoise to demonstrate that his vision of a united Europe could be achieved if it were pursued slowly and steadily. Barbados needs to have a long-term vision for the development of its people. Every decision cannot be informed by the next elections.
Recently, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries met to discuss how they could maintain their place of power in the world. They are determined that the might of white will remain forever; hence, they are concerned by the rise of China as an influential power. They will not have it. We can stand by and watch how they will seek to achieve their goal.
For them, countries like Barbados are no more than markets and outposts. For short-term food, we can continue to hitch our wagon to theirs, but we must understand that their decisions are made in their interests and we would be foolish to believe that their interests and ours coincide. If we have any doubt about that, we should reflect on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Development there means European development. Our Prime Minister once wore a hat that brought her face to face with this thinking.
If our population issue is one of market size, our neighbours must all have the same challenge. The solution to that, therefore, would be in deeper integration and true co-operation rather than the political show which the region maintains. Our leaders need to look for like-minded partners and build alliances of a deeper nature. The leeches will follow when progress becomes obvious, but the further you can go without them, the better.
The Caribbean project was doomed to failure from the time it was thought necessary to add states at their request rather than by their commitment to true integration. Some simply did not want to be left behind, just in case. CARICOM may be left in place, but we need to pursue deeper alliances for mutual development with particular countries on a one-on-one basis. The CARICOM arrangement looks good, but will take us nowhere.
If we import rather than produce our needed population, will there be a racial component in deciding who we import? Will we be following the plan to reduce the black population of the world? Does the Welcome Stamp serve a dual purpose or was it a testing of the waters?