Exactly what is a corrupt, depraved society?ﾠ A corrupt, depraved society is one in which the people, en masse, have lost their moral sense.ﾠ It is not one in which people sin.ﾠ It is one in which people have lost their bias against sin.ﾠ It is not one in which people commit adultery.ﾠ It is one in which people condone and accept adultery.ﾠ It is not one in which people commit immoral acts. It is one in which people accept and condone immorality.ﾠ It is a loss of moral values, moral knowledge and moral sense.ﾠ It is The Bahamas!
Former Zambian president, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, says corrupt leaders create a corrupt society. Clearly that is the problem in The Bahamas.
Politicians, because they occupy high positions in Bahamian society, are expected to have the highest levels of integrity and not corruption, remembering always that they are servants of the people. This concept is completely foreign to Bahamian politicians who have plundered the public purse and held down economic development in the nation for decades.
Leaders are supposed to be in the forefront in the fight against corruption by leading their people by example.ﾠ The moral standing of any society is determined by the integrity and honesty of the leadership.
Integrity and honesty are virtually non-existent in Bahamian political parties, all of which lack any real ideological standing. Integrity and honesty are difficult to find in the Bahamas business community as well.
Political leaders are supposed to be guided by certain virtues that secure the economic interests and political influence of groups divided along the lines of class, race, ethnicity, gender, religion and other socialﾠcriteria. Leaders acting only to benefit themselves or a narrow portion of society, which in The Bahamas is theﾠpredominant case, are considered corrupt.
No nation can achieve its development goals until it has ingrained integrity in its people. Corruption is a crime against an entire nation and virtually everyone involved in Bahamian politics, except for a select few, are guilty of blatant corruption.
No country can achieve either its vision as a genuine and open democratic state nor its developmental goals until it ingrains integrity in its people’s natural psyche, until tolerance for corruption is replaced by total rejection of the scourge.ﾠ In the Bahamas, acceptance of corruption is growing at an alarming rate. There is no movement whatsoever to seriously address the problem as the population seems quite content with having corrupt polticians lead them further down the path of national destruction.
Unless political parties ascribe to the basic conditions of honesty, truthfulness, a commitment to democratic governance, a clear vision and are committed to transparency, it will be impossible to fight corruption in The Bahamas, no matter which political party is in power.
Political parties, in The Bahamas, are themselves perpetuators of corruption by virtue of their tolerance for unacceptable conduct.ﾠ Both major parties accuse the other of corruption, yet neither party addresses the issue while in power, save for a cursory promise to “investigate” the matters at hand.ﾠ Those investigations, like the Sea Hauler investigation and the Inagua investigation, go nowhere.
By virtue of their passivity or tolerance of what is clearly unacceptable behaviour, such as corruption, abuse of office and mis-allocation of public resources, political parties in The Bahamas are themselves the major players in perpetuating corruption, disparity of income, predjudice, poverty and poor living conditions for the majority of Bahamians.
In a civil society, guided by the rule of law, the issue of corruption and responsibility of public officers and their organisations should indeed take centre stage, as the negative impact of corruption on society is clearly devastating.ﾠ The Bahamas must therefore refrain from identifying itself as a “civil society”, as the rule of law is either absent or perverted, and the social problems in the Bahamas are multiplying due to corruption in high places and poor governance.
The Bahamas is clearly in a state of moral and social decay as it is ravaged by crime, HIV/AIDS and corruption.
What is a corrupt society?ﾠ It is a society ruled by immoral, wicked men; criminals elected by the populace, supported by the populace, and shielded from punishment by their political allies. What is a corrupt society? The answer is… The Bahamas.
