There are times in life when we are constrained to communicate a truth that is unvarnished, blunt and to the point. Such a time is now as this country is obliged to face the fact that there are urgent problems that demand urgent attention. While this is so, Bahamians are today being forced to the sobering realization that there is no easy way out for them.
Regrettably, some of them take it for granted that foreign investors must come to The Bahamas. Others take it for granted that somehow they will make it, even if they have to pull some deal or the other.
Whether reference is to the myriad of challenges they face as they try to cope with the schooling and education of their children, or as they try to find well paying jobs, Bahamians are rediscovering an old truth that they must work hard in order to earn that penny that keeps body and soul together.
There is no easy way out for those who would wish to succeed.
This truism is lost on many Bahamians.
Here reference is to the man or woman who has grown accustomed to living on ‘easy street’. They grew up in a time when money flowed and where even the mediocre could demand top dollar.
That world is no more.
There is every indication that more and more employers are in a mind to reward those who perform and side line those who seem prepared to reap -as it were- where they have not sown. In instance and instance, reference is made to that now ubiquitous term ‘productivity’.
We believe that this is a step in the right direction.
These steps toward this new kind of society where productivity is rewarded will be resisted by many. Highest on this list would be those time-servers whose minds are mired and trapped in a colonial vise, where hierarchy and status are valued, lauded and appreciated far more than productivity and profits.
It should therefore not come as a surprise when it is discovered that in one government department after the other there is a mad dash for position, perks and power.
Similarly, it should not come as a surprise when the learning comes in confirming the deterioration or incipient collapse of this or that public enterprise. They fail because few people see any real reason why they should succeed beyond the minimum.
It is a sad fact of life in today’s Bahamas that there are Bahamians who still believe and behave as if they can get some thing for nothing, or at best, that they can get something for very little.
While we readily admit that there was once such a time when rewards were reaped by many who happened to be – as it were – in the right place at the right time, that day is gone.
What we have now is a situation where market forces are increasingly in the ascendant and where productivity does matter. Suddenly, or so it now seems, economic success is now predicated on performance.
In this regard, we are ever mindful of truth in the proposition that where there is no leadership, the people perish. And quite evidently, the people suffer when leadership is mired in mediocrity.
We see evidence of mediocrity in leadership in many of our churches, schools, unions, other civic organizations, inclusive of political parties and other governmental entities. We would venture the sweeping generalization that mediocrity is entrenched in all strata and circles in Bahamian society.
We do not wish to suggest -even for a moment- that this bleak picture is unrelieved. It is. There is absolutely no doubt that there are Bahamians who are in hot pursuit of excellence. And there is no doubting the fact that there is a sliver of excellence throughout this nation.
In the ultimate analysis, then, our people would do well to understand that no one owes them anything, that they must work hard, pay their fair share of taxes and see to it that this nation can compete and prosper in a world where productivity matters.
Editorial from The Bahama Journal
