On the Taste of Sand

by Nicolette Bethel

The ostrich is a lovely bird. Big. Flightless. Beautifully feathered (as we should know, as many of their feathers adorn Junkanoo costumes). Fast.

And much maligned.

Ostriches, according to legend, ignore danger by burying their heads in the sand. (The fact that they do not do this in actuality is neither here nor there; what matters today is that people think they do.) So, according to legend, instead of running or fighting when they're threatened, they simply stick their heads underground and wait for the problem to go away.

The ostrich, not the flamingo, should be our national bird.

I'm not talking about the size of ostrich eggs, or the fact that an ostrich can outrun even Tonique Williams-Darling (they can apparently clock up to 31 mph in speed), or even the fact that an ostrich could be turned into a great Junkanoo costume. I'm talking about the head-burying thing.

We Bahamians could beat the ostrich at its own game. And I'm not talking about politicians here. I'm talking about us all. After all, politicians these days react far more to interest group interests or public pressure than they initiate great things. So the more we dig little holes in the sand for the heads of our leaders, the deeper they'll bury them.

Let's just list some of the issues that are pressing our nation today. Perhaps most urgent is the question of what we call euphemistically "the immigration problem", but which we all know is really the massive presence of Haitians in The Bahamas. They have changed the landscape of our country, we complain. They've changed the personality of our people, who are imagined by Bahamians older than me to be passive and non-violent by nature (though I'm not so certain about that). They crowd our public services, they use up our taxes, they're eroding our culture.

Now I am not at all convinced that the issue is as simple as all that, but for the sake of this article, let's just say it's so. What's been our reaction to this problem? We haven't changed our solution in almost forty years. And the problem has not only not disappeared, it's got worse, far worse. The reason for its worsening is not that Haitians are bad people. It's that we have not accepted, or implemented, a solution that will actually work. Our heads are firmly planted in the sand here, and our tails are waggling in the air.

But that's not the only issue that affects us. Another one is the question of world trade. Whether we sign treaties or remain isolated, we have to deal with it -- not simply at the Ministry of Finance's level, but at the level of every vendor in the nation. And in fact, it's rarely the vendors who have to be educated about world trade; after all, they obtain their wares, most of them, from all over the world. It's the bureaucrats and lawmakers who need to be inserted into the global context so that our laws and our regulations become relevant again.

But are we engaging with the issue and struggling with it and talking about it and carving out a solution that will ensure that we will remain as prosperous in the next fifty or so years of our history as the mid-century Sands-Christie economic model allowed for the last half a century? (If you don’t know which Sands and which Christie I'm talking about, go read up on Bahamian history of the twentieth century and find out. Hint: Not Michelle; not Perry.) No. We're digging holes for our politicians' heads, and sticking them firmly into them. Don't look at regional affiliations, we're shouting; we don't want no foreign workers. And so: heads buried, tails waving, we stench in the mid-twentieth century, with the millennium racing past us.

I could go on to talk about Junkanoo, which has reached a crisis of its own -- desperately in need of a new model of governance, but stymied by the reluctance of politicians, civil servants and Junkanoo leaders alike to let go of even a little of their power, and sponsorship and public support eroding . Or I could talk about Bahamian culture in general, which is in dire need of some kind of statutory, institutional body to oversee its development. In a world in which our children have been enculturated by television and film to be fractured North American clones, we continue to believe that it is possible to administer cultural activity from an understaffed division in a ministry whose first interest has, from its creation, been sports. Or I could talk about the cumbersome and ineffectual nature of our educational system, which was created by duplicating the worst of the colonial model and which eradicated the best. Today, we choose rather to assign police officers to high school campuses instead of seeking fundamental reform.

Our collective heads are buried so deep in the sand that we are blinding ourselves with the sediment.

It's a myth, you know, that ostriches bury their heads in the sand. Ostrich lovers decry the myth as a slander of enormous proportions.

But not to worry.

We Bahamians can bury our heads with the best of them. Our heads are so firmly planted in the dusts of the desert that we had better learn to love the taste of sand.

Comments

[las]

The airport redevelopment, the Nassau city urban renewal, the relocation of the port, the relocation of the Montagu market, the putative national energy policy...are these examples of putting our heads in the sand?

Or simply the refusal of politicians and civil servants to act rationally and forthrightly?

[Rick]

Three quick comments:
1. This blog might interest you: http://firebringer.blogspot.com/
2. Why is it so necessary for government bureaucrats to get involved in trade as you suggest? All they need do is set the parameters that they have already done (documentation etc) and get out of the way. Why do you feel otherwise?
3. I certainly agree with you that our culture (junkanoo, music, the manners we used to have) are all very nice, but I am not so sure you need another government bureaucracy to fix it? If it is so important, why can't a group of concerned Bahamians such as yourself get together with the individuals involved in "culture" and fix it yourselves? Government has its hands full "fixing" eveyhting else!

[nicob]

Larry: the latter, natch. The list you've given is a great list. But what guarantee do we have that they're actually going to survive the present administration, should they not reach fruition in the next two (or seven) years? The rhetoric is there, and in some case the action, but where is the infrastructure to ensure that these wonderful initiatives continue?

And Rick: thanks for the link. Regarding (2), it's necessary because of globalization. They haven't set the parameters yet by any means. We are still operating in a protectionist society, in an economy which us under threat by international forces in part because it has been so successful. That's why I feel otherwise. And regarding (3), you have a good point. But culture costs far more money than the people involved in it in this country have the opportunity to make. What's more, every nation needs a cultural infrastructure for its citizens, and we don't have one. We don't have a culture of cultural activity, and so we can't look to private citizens/corporate sponsors to provide it. We need a national library, just as we need a national collection of Bahamian art, literature, innovation, etc; a national theatre; a national training centre for professions other than academic and vocational, especially given the fact that we have a potential consumer base of 5 million plus; a national curriculum; a national rhetroric. This (unfortunately?) falls under the government's purview. It already does, ineffectively. What's wrong with working to make it more effective?

[Rick]

Hello Nicolette:
Trade: If the infrastructure for trade does not exist, how have we been trading all these years? Individuals and businesses trade - not governments. I see the government side of the "free trade initiatives" as a way to make government relative again. As for globalisation, I see this as something different and we have always been a relatively open society. You will always have the mercantilist's who will seek government protection at the expense of the consumer. And of course the government "helps" them for the votes.
Culture: I am afraid that "culture" will never be saved by encouraging government to get involved. Many of us continually bemoan the failure of our government in almost everything they touch, yet you expect them to do a good job at an additional responsibilitiy like culture. It won't happen. I'm sorry to say. If it is worth saving, individuals have to save it. If they are not interested, well it will have to go. I find it hard to believe that all the cultural talent in this country cannot save itself. It is a cop-out to seek government support that has to be paid for by other Bahamians that might not have the slightest interest in what they are doing.

[crazzy]

---
the putative national energy policy...are these examples of putting our heads in the sand?
---
!!! There's a national energy policy? Where? I can't see it. My lights gone out and the shop run out of candles again.

airport redevelopment: you mean how they fixed the runway and left everything else the same.

---
All they need do is set the parameters that they have already done (documentation etc) and get out of the way.
---
Have you read the documentation?
Many things make no sense to young people and the old people quickly point out how behind the times and silly some things are by todays standards.

There aren't enough concerned Bahamians to go around.

---
We need a national library, just as we need a national collection of Bahamian art, literature, innovation, etc;
---
Once upon a time it seemed Doongalik Studio wanted to be all these things and they tried a few. Now-a-days it looks like they're always closed.

"What's more, every nation needs a cultural infrastructure for its citizens, and we don't have one."

Most people have no idea just how many millions of dollars multinational companies donate to the 'culture' of the countries they have offices in to get a tax break. We get pennies compared to other island nations.

"As for globalisation,..."
By our standards we're D+ (not so sure bout that +)
By U.S. standards that's like a D-.
By Canadian standards that's probably an F.
By some european standards it's most definitely a .... i dunno... H? a K by asian standards?
See John Stossel's 'Stupid in America' for a small glimpse of how our big brother to the North compares.

Globally, a lot of people are on average better educated than the average Bahamian. That needs to change!
I flunked math and english all through school until the 12th grade when I finally had my first real math teacher. Yet, I know many people online who can't remember getting lower than a D+ on anything, ever. We will be competing against a world of people who are, at their core, smarter than many of us. Too many of us. Especially the up and coming generation.

When starting a new business, it's a bad idea to base it on something where there'll be no competition. But it's a great idea to base it on something where lots of other people are doing it very very badly. All throughout the Bahamas we do many things very very badly.

All anyone has to do is come here and start a business doing the same thing as a bunch of other people and just be better at it.

I met 2 young women from Canada who have made extended trips to the Bahamas all their lives and consistently been employee of the month at every temporary job they've had here. How? They say "all our co-workers just suck so bad". And they're not even talking about government employees!

http://www.stepbahamas.org/download/currentinitiatives.pdf

http://rondam.blogspot.com/2006/10/top-ten-geek-business-myths.html