The Tribune

By NICOLE BURROWS

He has very little in the ‘pros’ column to prop himself and his government up on.

Nearly everything his administration has attempted has fallen flat.

So will he try to call an election sooner in the year, before any other catastrophes occur, or before there is one more negative thing to blame a Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Christie government for?

Will he allow more time for his administration to fix the problems that are outstanding and hope the outcome of their efforts are things to carry them to an election victory?

Even if he could raise rebuilding funds for Hurricane Matthew damage, it won’t be enough. Whatever amount it is it won’t be viewed as enough by the people affected by Matthew or by the insurers who have to pay out for homes and vehicles and businesses and health and death.

Even if Baha Mar could miraculously open early in the new year, as Christie has expressed a desire for, the excitement surrounding that has long faded as has the novelty of such a resort.

The PLP and Mr Christie are right now just biding their time. There is no way they could realistically think that any move they make which they deem a success will in fact be regarded as one.

The PLP cannot raise capital and it has lost its ability to raise buy-in from the Bahamian people. Christie has cried wolf one too many times. As a result, his people have now closed their ears and closed their minds. The only people who will still vote for Christie are those too stupid to understand a fantasy from reality, or those too ignorant to care about details.

Yet, he keeps trucking. I suppose that’s one of his more formidable traits there ... he just doesn’t know how to take a hint and therefore comes across to the unknowing and unaware as a prize fighter. He won’t ever go away, won’t pass up the limelight, so that gets mistaken for commitment. Just because someone stays around doesn’t mean they’re fully committed to the cause. They are often too embarrassed or afraid to do anything else. If they leave, in their minds, it seems like they’ve given up, which is not what someone like that wants anyone to believe when they ultimately want supporters - voters - to continue to cast votes in their favour.

When a person can’t walk away they’re ashamed that their only option is to leave, so to save face they stay. Or, they are too afraid to move forward with their lives away from the limelight. What will they do? They don’t know anything else. It’s all they’re qualified for. Their income and benefits are affected. Their intelligence is affected ... if they remove their own star power, how will they convince anyone to believe what they say after, because in the place where they come from moving on isn’t seen as success, it’s seen as a failure. Where the culture is such that if you don’t have or keep a job for decades it must mean something is wrong with you, leaving before you’re kicked out or have no other option is not impressive to say the very least.

By contrast, a successful person in a developed world is at the pinnacle of success and is most appealing when they give up their lifetime day job and cross over into work that doesn’t require or celebrate star power.

The bottom line is that Christie won’t quit before he’s kicked out of his post, because he doesn’t know how to and he’s being advised by foolish people who have ancient, unproven solutions to the problems for which Christie is tasked with providing solutions.

So do Bahamians really want anything different than a Christie type leader? Someone who will dance a shuffle, spin political and religious rhetoric, and talk about how many beautiful young women are within earshot?

If you’re my leader, you need to be less superficial than that in order to address the issues, not be distracted by skirts and tails, whether those skirts and tails are on women or men. This old time philosophy of winning favour and attention should be retired along with Christie, but if the status quo welcomes it as an acceptable norm then we’re not aiming to be any different from that same norm.

One of the ideas to assist with hurricane relief and repair is to raise capital by bond issuance. Who will buy into this other than the Bahamian people ... the very one’s without the capital they need for repair and relief? Our credit rating is in the pipes beneath the toilet and, as far as I’m concerned, beyond all possible repair.

The way Christie runs the government, including finances, is reflective of the problems we have as a country. Our productivity is low because our people are lazy, don’t like to learn and prefer to steal ... with or without mask and gun. Our credit is bad and no one is willing to loan us desperately needed funds because we spend more than we make - intentionally.

The government has a debt service ratio in excess of 90 per cent, and so do most of the people. As are the people, so is the government.

The best leadership, I always thought and still do think, is by example, but the PLP Christie government is sterile in leadership. Even their examples and simulations are failures. How can my leader tell me to save for a rainy day but overspend my country’s money? How could he tell me that I should be accountable for my actions, when he and his faux leader team are not accountable for theirs?

When it comes down to it, all that the people of the Bahamas are guilty of are both a direct cause and effect of the nature of their leadership.

It is useless to expect anything different. In order for there to be a difference that is favourable it will require a complete abandonment of the modus operandi that has brought us to this point.

The Bahamas’ problems are unsolvable. I’ve given up on pretending they are. The people are as they are because they follow leaders who do what they do. The people feed the worthless leaders cycle and the worthless leaders cycle feeds the people.

The Bahamas will be no better until they stop listening to career politicians about what is best for their country.

Career politicians have vested interest in their careers. When we find some leaders, some politicians, some women and men, who are willing and ready to stand up against the status quo, we will always be a failure. But Bahamians don’t want that job. There’s nothing glamorous about being righteous and upstanding, except people talking about how righteous you are, and there is no humility in that.

Our people are not a worthy people. They need a psychological overhaul to be what they need to be as a unit. No overhaul, no change. No change, no success. We will continue to repeat the past with all of its hideous mistakes until the day comes when we are consumed by a culture, a people who are more united and more cultured than us.

The only thing that will be left for us to do at that time is pray to whatever force one may believe in for mercy. A judgement awaits us and it’s not of the biblical variety.

Nevertheless, it will happen in spite of our desire for it not to. The best thing you can do for yourself or your family is to have a plan for your safety. When the turbulence begins, it will not discriminate against the righteous. We’ve seen this pattern over and again throughout history. Good never triumphs when there are more important lessons to learn from what is bad.

E-mail: nburrows@tribunemedia.net. Facebook and Twitter: @SoPolitiCole