Well done, Sir Geoffrey Johnstone; another Bahamian lays it on the line.There are at least two men in this country who have the gumption to stand up and tell Bahamians not what they want to hear, but what they need to know.
The latest unpalatable bit of advice is that it’s time to take on the world as as an equal; for The Bahamas to earn its own way, rather than seek or expect special status.
Sir Geoffrey said Friday that it’s time for this country to don the independent-nation mantle it has repeatedly cut for itself over the past 30 years.
The world is no longer full of do-gooders. And because of increased economic competition, it no longer tolerates the artificial protection that has allowed Bahamians to maintain the illusion that we enjoy and deserve a full seat at the world table. The walls are coming down, whether or not we like it.
The offshore tax haven that that illusion permitted is under growing fire from other nations, as the collapse of one little bank after another attests. Sir Geoffrey’s message, unwelcome as it may be, is that
it’s time for Bahamians to get off their bottoms (as a current American television travel commercial puts it).
Earlier this year it was Dr. Bernard Nottage who had the fortitude to stand up and take the logical approach to the intemperate but not unreasoned outburst of the American Ambassador over what he sees as our failure to crack down on the drug trade.
Dr. Nottage was the first to say publicly that Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship may have been impolitic but was actually quite restrained under the circumstances. Certainly no Bahamian liked what he had to say, but that doesn’t negate the essence of his message.
It may be easy to dismiss what these two men had to say, and saying it may not earn either of them a gold star from fellow Bahamians.
But their thoughtful advice really deserves our gratitude.
Unfortunately, too often the messenger gets shot and the message goes unheard.
Editorial, The Nassau Guardian
