Ingrained in the hearts of every Bahamian is the desire to succeed; the desire to succeed at something, be it the career for which we have longed for since childhood, having a family, or possessing all the power and money in the world.
Succeeding is one of the most basic of human needs. How we achieve this is another matter. In all my years as a Bahamian, I have come to see that we are truly a dishonest and materialistic people. And we are becoming more entrenched in this model of living by the changing of the hour hand on our watches. We want everything. We want it fast. We want it at whatever the cost. Our insatiable appetites for things and recognition place many of us at the top of this ‘food’ chain- devouring our way to success – crushing both friend and foe. We are a lazy people who need lotteries to truly make it, and will do anything to
preserve the present system of governance that will ensure the illusion of freedom and maturity. To begin, I want to relate to you an event that happened to me.
Some three years ago as I was coming through customs from a Florida trip, I placed my bags on the Customs table for inspection, and prepared for assessment by a Customs Officer whom I had seen around on a few occasions. As he opened my bags, he reminded me of where he had seen me before. I handed him all of my receipts as he proceeded to inspect my luggage. My receipts totaled some $500 plus dollars and he told me that after exemption, my bill would be $80. He then said something that totally threw me for a spin. He said, “”Man, look, I don’t want to charge you for these items, so I tell you what, send $40 dollars back with the porter and call it even.” To which I replied, “”I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.” To which he responded, “‘No, you didn’t hear me, I said send $40 back with the porter and everything will be OK.”
He was utterly amazed when I told him that I had heard what he said, but that I couldn’t do it. I explained to him that it wasn’t his to give, and that whatever was owed to the Government should be paid (TO THE GOVERNMENT). We went on for a few moments exchanging our views on the matter, and then after looking at my receipts again, said that I owed nothing and told me that I could leave. But what was amazingly apparent to me was that this was possibly the very first time that someone had said to that Customs Officer, “No, I can’t do that.” Is it possible that most, if not all of the persons served who were offered this ‘way out’ actually paid the bribe? Unbelievable! But it opened my eyes to the glaring possibility that most of us have a serious struggle with honesty.
Were we always like this? I say yes. We have always had a culture of dishonesty. Just look at our history books. After the Arawaks, the most famous pirates used our perfect geography to aid them in their pirating. During this same period, we engineered and enjoyed the profits of wrecking. It is said that church services would be cut short as the call went out that a ship (or ships) sank. As passengers struggled for their lives, we ‘bettered’ our as we stole their goods.
Then there was rum running. During the Prohibition years, we collaborated with many a schemer to run rum into the United States. And of course now, drug dealing which has become the scourge of all scourges, virtually destroying our society as we know it. And of a more controversial nature, offshore banking, which caters to the delinquency of those who would wish to hide their profits from their respective governing bodies. And there is tourism, and the hotels which charge $4 for a can of Coke (and you may not get the whole can). Do we have a problem with dishonesty? I’d say no. We’ve had 300 years of practice. We’re now experts at it.
Perhaps what is more peculiar about this condition that we face is our efforts to preserve it. Probably the two best ‘preservatives’ that we know are our politics and our system of governance. Our governments will do anything to remain in place. Next to spiritual decay, this fact has tremendously contributed to the predicament in which we currently find ourselves. Politics will never allow a Customs Officer to be fired for obvious misuse of office. Politics will never allow the bribing Police Officer to be released from duty. Politics will never allow non-caring nurse to be reprimanded with certainty. I talk about Government workers not to pick on them, but to give a clear example of where part of the problem lies. This is not to exonerate the private sector, because it is also those in the private sector which will pay the bribe or opt for the ‘discount’ at the Customs desk. Anything for the voter. Anything for the vote. One has to practically assault the Minister of a Government Ministry before he is dealt with. And ‘dealt with’ will probably mean a transfer to another Ministry. If there is one thing that cripples the work ethic and the maturity of this Country, it is that. Until people are held accountable for their actions and punished accordingly, we will never grow as a country. And by the way, I don’t entirely blame the Government, I blame us voters who put them there in hopes that they would preserve our ‘way of life’ and our ‘freedoms’. It is against this very background that we call for a National Lottery, even though we know that it is against our religious beliefs – our consciences.
What do we do? Do we create a lottery that further encourages laziness and getting something for nothing? Or do we need more hardworking Bahamians who don’t have to gamble with their assets and their futures because they’ve invested wisely and honestly. Do we need to preserve jobs or to promote honest, hard work within our citizenry? Will we continue to allow the dishonest employee to go unpunished? Will we continue to praise the lawyer who gets the criminal free at any cost, then decides to run for political office on the platform that, He will Deal with the Crime Problem? When are we going to wake up and live truthfully? I always ask myself the question, ” What if each person in the Bahamas was honest in all of their dealings for only a day? We’d probably be able to clear the national debts of half the countries in the Caribbean. Are we going to do anything to break the cycles of laziness and dishonesty that have held us captive for so long? Will we continue to prostitute ourselves, sacrificing our values on the altar of success (or the altar of apparent success). Three-hundred-year cycles are not broken overnight, nor simply by human will, but we have to want change. We have to want what is right – always! But there is something else that we know – this process begins with a broken heart and a forgiving GOD. Let us not tempt GOD to allow a September 11th kind of tragedy to cause us to remember what it means to live truthfully.
Yours etc.
Marcellus Bassett
