The Tribune

By KIRKLAND PRATT

Some of the feedback I received on last week’s article on police antics really resonated with me. Someone commenting on the article produced hyperlinks to news stories exposing incidents of police brutality in South Africa accompanied by a comparative analysis as the writer seemingly sought to mitigate the mounting dissent over the abusive police culture that has recently dominated Bahamian news cycles.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25 (1) categorises South Africa as teetering on becoming a police state. How then is comparing police brutality in a police state any at all helpful to our own challenges here in the Bahamas? Wouldn’t it be more progressive to utilise a successful policing model in the likes of a New Zealand which has the fewest reports of police brutality in the world, according to “Corruption and the Blue Code of Silence” in Police Practice and Research 3.

The truth is, ignorance equals slavery and in an age where it has never been easier to gain knowledge, many in the Bahamas willingly remain ignorant, often ostracising those around us who have resigned ourselves for amplified standard. Several cultural mores and dynamics influence what we know to be a mediocre society. Consider our ponderous civil service of approximately 22,000 in a general population of about 355,000. Lest we forget, it is harder for a government to control a well-educated population with a strong private sector. Lack of reform lends itself to a diminished culture of social progress and as such governments are not challenged by the citizenry. Where a government is not challenged, mediocrity trumps – where mediocrity trumps, the intelligentsia and social-forward demographic are ostracised. More often than not, frustration prompts many of the aforementioned demographics to migrate to more progressive environments.

Snapshot: think of the person at your workplace who is both inefficient and popular – examine the way co-workers coddle the said employee much to the detriment of professional progress by saying, ‘that’s just him/her’. Another thought: Why is it that progressive and policy-driven bosses are generally disliked? Why our obsession with good enough as opposed to excellent?

As we turn 40, our leaders need to appreciate that true democracy cannot thrive when the government is the main employer of the working population. Moreover, successive governments have ignored their social responsibility to provide the citizenry with betterment and opportunity as opposed to handouts. This phenomenon is cyclic and increases the mediocrity to a new level as it coaxes persons to become reliant rather than self-sufficient.

I am weary that more often than not, mediocrity seems to suffice at this stage of our growth. Our essential services, communication models, education culture, political leadership family planning/education and health systems all need complete overhaul and an injection of excellence comparable to international standards. What has become my staple is to be pleasantly surprised by efficiency. Often, when I demand excellence in service, I am looked at as foreign or on a ‘different run’.

Moving forward, we may help ourselves by insisting on only the best and by resisting the temptation to settle. We may qualify this posturing by reminding ourselves of our uniqueness, our rich heritage and the many pioneers in the persons of Sir Randol Fawkes, Sir Milo Butler and Dame Doris Johnson to name a few, who took to the streets to protest for the freedom that we now enjoy. It will behoove us to remember the global village and strive to make our attitudes and standard export worthy.

Keep thinking though, you are good for it!