It is widely recognized that the tenor of political activity in Barbados has evolved substantially in the last decade or so. There has been a general trend toward greater political consciousness among Barbadian citizens, and with this, more exacting demands of accountability and transparency from our political directorate. For over 10 years, I have been contributing to this evolution - some may say revolution - through various "holistic consciousness" building efforts and initiatives, including publications, dialogues, collaborations and other communications and education strategies. Guided by the holistically spiritual, people-centered concept of personal power I embrace and advocate, my political activism has mainly been of a syncretistic or bridge-building nature, highlighting connections and interrelations between clearly "political" power dynamics and other less obvious, but nonetheless important arenas or sites of power - such as religious doctrine and practice, education ideology and administration, the arts and entertainment, and domestic issues.
From the outset, the Elections Reflections (ER) initiative was dedicated to consolidating this holistic consciousness-raising focus. The initiative began with the publication of about twenty copies of a pocket-sized collection of poems ahead of Barbados' 1999 general elections. Unfortunately, the project fell into abeyance for some time, due in no small measure to the machinations of some individuals - including media personnel, who for reasons best known to themselves "torpedoed" it by refusing to publicize the booklet. To the best of my knowledge, the Starcom Network program Voice Your Vote which was first aired some time after I hand-delivered a copy of the ER booklet to Dennis Johnson (a prominent radio announcer with that company) has not had this problem.
In 2002, having learnt my lesson from that and other unfortunate experiences with members of Barbados' media (in March of that year Starcom Executive David Ellis launched an on-air broadside against the bona fides of Intelek International) I decided to revive ER on a more circumspect, independent footing. The initiative has now expanded to include an on-line interactive dimension which will facilitate an ongoing dialogue with Barbados' electorate. This is key to the success of ER since its focus has always been the empowerment of the voter. The following essay explains ER as it is constituted today. It deals with the kinds of concerns out of which ER was conceived and the type of response ER is. Readers should note that this essay was originally written in 2002 and therefore speaks of the 2003 general election in Barbados as though it was in the future. Comments by Attorney General Mia Motley regarding the death penalty are treated from the same chronological perspective. Ms. Mottley's efforts to remove barriers to the implementation of the death penalty in Barbados succeeded in July 2004.
The ConcernIn his November 18th 2001 victory speech as newly elected President of the Democratic Labour Party, Senator Clyde Mascoll declared to Barbados, "I say to you, take your seat in the theatre of politics in Barbados: the New Democratic Labour Party show is about to begin." I found Mr. Mascoll's choice of language - specifically, his use of imagery associated with "acting" and "theatrics" - rather alarming. The choice of such language suggests to me that though Mr. Mascoll may be well meaning (as he is widely perceived) he lacks the depth of seriousness or authenticity Barbadian political leaders need to possess and demonstrate. Even more worrying is the possibility that Mr. Mascoll's language does not merely reflect his own lack of political solidity and soundness, but that it is symptomatic of a serial shallowness and superficiality among Barbadian political "actors".
I felt a similar alarm last year (2001) when I heard Prime Minister Owen Arthur, on the television series First Among Equals speak of the need for politicians to protect and preserve their public image. Of course, some concern with public image and popular perceptions is natural and reasonable for those in public life, as indeed for all citizens. However, whether in public or private life, human history is littered with tragic tales of the perversion of human potential brought on by an individual's or society's failure to strike the elusive balance between a concern for how things look and a concern for how they actually are. A concern for the truth!
Whether in government or civil society, those who occupy or aspire to positions of leadership need to be soundly and roundly (holistically) grounded in reality. They need to demonstrate consistency and continuity of character. This is the essential self-hood sustaining "substance" upon which our leaders capacity to be persons of principle and articulate coherent, sustainable policies for Barbados depends. This is the source of authentic reasoning.
Relative to the matter of authentic reasoning, recent utterances by Attorney-General Mia Mottley in which she defended Barbados' official position on the death penalty prompts us to question the authenticity of her grasp of that issue. It has to be asked, how does Ms. Mottley reconcile her death penalty supporting views with the humanitarian, rehabilitation oriented penal reforms advocated by herself and her colleague and predecessor former Attorney-General David Simmons? The positions seem patently contradictory.
As the 2003 general elections draw closer political grandstanding, sympathy seduction schemes (something of which Opposition leader David Thompson was accused when he gave up the DLP Presidency) and similar "role playing" and posturing are likely to increase. Despite their noblest intentions, our political leaders have a tendency of exaggerating their own and their party's accomplishments, understating their shortcomings, and otherwise encouraging unrealistic expectations of themselves among Barbadians. The flipside of such puritanical, party patriotic "whitewashing", of course, is the "blackening" or demonizing of political opponents. However you look at it though, the end result of such exaggeration and understatement is a distortion of reality. Voters are treated to a "show" indeed! Authority is reduced to a kind of virtual reality. Authenticity is abandoned.
Again, politicians are not alone in this. Leaders in religion, education, business, the arts and other fields of public life stage similar "plays". Indeed, Barbadians of all walks of life are susceptible to such manipulative and otherwise misguided performances. Our predisposition to such performances begins at childhood with the lessons in self-understanding and interpersonal relationships that we learn - or not learn - in the intensive training grounds of our homes. It is in the home that we learn what Greek classical writers called hupokrisis, and the King James translators of the Bible called "hypocrisy". The Greek word is derived from a combination of two terms: hupo meaning "under" or "hidden" and krino designating a "choice" or "judgement". The term thus denotes "hidden motives" or a "hidden agenda".
Failure to strike a balance between a concern for how things look and a concern for how things actually are is the inevitable consequence of such concealment of motive. In extreme cases, this preoccupation with appearances leads to the loss of personal identity; it leads to self-alienation and its attendant sociopathic and other psychological ills.
The ResponseRecognition of the fundamental people-centred, family-focused, home-based character of the challenge hypocrisy poses to authentic leadership (and "followship") led Intelek International to launch this leadership enhancement initiative entitled Elections Reflections, on the eve of Barbados' 1999 general elections.
I conceptualized and published ER as a collection of poems (limited edition) to help voters organize and compose their thoughts as they prepared to cast their ballots in those general elections. The primary concern then as now, was to help voters give the depth and quality of thought to the exercise of their franchise that this privilege deserves.
Fundamentally, ER urges voters to recognize that their political representatives are in very real ways extensions of themselves. Authentic authority is therefore seen as a dynamic, functional phenomenon that transcends the holding of an office or conferring of a title. It is a continual or continuum,creole-like phenomenon, combining private or personal possession, with public or social practice, influence and efficacy. Fundamentally, it is a communications phenomenon which is characterized by the preservation or sustaining of truth through thought, word and deed.
Based on this "extension of the electorate" perspective, Intelek therefore impresses upon voters the need for them to be real or authentic, if they are to have the best possible chance of receiving authentic representation - as opposed to the illusory "ideology mongering", pretentious parroting and plagiaristic posturing that politicians often substitute for genuine representation. As the poem "X Marks the Spot" indicates, it takes a genuine person to know a genuine person.
Intelek therefore urges voters to be ever mindful of their own essential power and authority - the native, natural power of choice (election) of all human beings. This is the power the citizen concedes or "leases" to those who occupy "power offices" as politicians, preachers, teachers, business leaders and all other offices of service through leadership. The Intelek position is that such leaders act as conduits or conductors, but it is the people - from among whom the leaders arise and of whom they are a reflection - that generate the electricity. Fundamentally, Elections Reflections is dedicated to an exploration of the complementarities of private and public 'light and power', in pursuit of personal and societal peace.