December 2020 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Month: December 2020

Brexit Manifestation: Not So Good

Posted on December 31, 2020 in Economics, Ethos, Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Brexit is hereby ratified as of today; the new “rules of the road” go into effect tomorrow – January 1, 2021. (Brexit = British Exit from the European Union).

It will be a scary time, as the manifestation of Brexit is “Not So Good”.

Britain wanted their freedom to choose – done. See the historicity in the Appendix VIDEO below.

But there is no freedom from the consequences of that choice. See the manifestation of the Brexit Trade and Inter-European relations as defined in this New York Times article here:

Title: Brexit, finalized
More than four years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, new travel and trade rules will go into effect tomorrow, concluding a saga that has divided Britons and dominated British politics.

The two sides reached an agreement last week, after nearly a year of trade negotiations. Yesterday, Britain’s Parliament approved the deal. Tomorrow brings the end of free movement of people between Britain and the E.U.

I talked to Mark Landler, The Times’s London bureau chief, about what it all means and what comes next. (Our conversation has been edited for brevity.)

CLAIRE: How will the new relationship between Britain and the E.U. affect people’s everyday lives?
MARK: The purpose of the 1,200-page trade deal between Britain and the E.U. was to avoid very disruptive changes, such as tariffs and quotas. But there will be an array of other bureaucratic requirements that did not exist before Jan. 1.

People won’t see a sudden shift in the price of fresh fruit and vegetables in London supermarkets. But it’ll have an impact on Britons who, for example, want to bring their dog on vacation to the continent or who want to get a job somewhere in the E.U.

Trade. Travel. Anything else?
Britain withdrew from the Erasmus exchange program, which allowed British students to study in E.U. countries and vice versa. It’s one highly visible example of things that will change in the post-Brexit era.

Something else, which may take a little bit longer to play out, is this idea of separatism and independence. Scotland, for example, was against Brexit, and it could fuel a new push to break off from the rest of Britain.

What will this mean for Britain’s economy?
A lot of stuff still needs to be negotiated. A major driving force of the British economy is the services sector, including legal, financial, consulting and other services. Virtually none of that is covered yet in the trade agreement.

How did the pandemic affect the process?
Without it, the negotiations for the trade deal would have been the biggest story in the country. But Brexit was almost completely overshadowed by the coronavirus. Britain is preoccupied with this health crisis, which will muffle the immediate effects of Brexit. But over time those will become more visible. Which means that the debate over Brexit may not be finished in the country.

Will this deliver the “global Britain” that pro-Brexit campaigners hoped for?
One of the driving arguments in favor of Brexit was throwing off the shackles of the E.U., so that Britain would become this agile, dynamic, independent economy that could strike deals with everyone in the world. But rising protectionism and populism have made making free-trade agreements harder. The “global Britain” arguments looked more valid in May 2016 than in January 2021. In a way, the Brexit vision is four and a half years too late.

Source: Retrieved December 31, 2020 from: https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20201231&instance_id=25533&nl=the-morning&productCode=NN&regi_id=69450329&segment_id=48102&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2Fa44d74cb-100d-5436-887d-e9c6aa325dbf&user_id=de9db917120d820078919cfacc03d8b3

So according to this foregoing, Brexit was the UK’s quest for agility. 🙁

The words and feelings of a known African proverb is ringing so loud right now; (this was related in a previous Go Lean commentary from July 6, 2016):

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

The thing about being agile and nimble is that not everyone in society is fast. Some people are slow … and old, and disabled. Yes, society has a greater responsibility than just getting to a destination quickly, it must ensure that everyone gets “there” … eventually.

This sounds eerily familiar; this sounds like a violation of the Code of Hammurabi; we addressed this in another previous Go Lean commentary from March 22, 2017; see this except here:

[The] Code of Hammurabi was enacted within the Babylonian Empire, a Super Power in the ancient world. … Despite the passage of 3,800 years, there is a lesson to glean from this ancient legal precept for us today. Despite the irrelevance of so many of the 282 statutes, there in the preface of the codified Law is this statement:

“So that the strong should not harm the weak”

Despite how much advances we have made in the millennia since King Hammurabi of Babylon reigned, this concept seems to be void in so many societies; this concept …

… is not in the Caribbean.

… is not in the United States.

… is not in the New World.

There is an obvious “ignorance or negligence of this concept” in the New World. Consider the experience in the United States, where the American DNA seems to be based on a consistent pattern of the “strong abusing the weak” and the long civil rights struggle to overcome the abuse. This is American History and the American Experience. …

A detail analysis of the root causes of Brexit presented that there was a loud minority in the United Kingdom that objected to the freedom of movements of people, goods and capital in the integrated European Union. The British contingent wanted to Exit the regional responsibility of hospitality towards the poor, sick and huddled masses of the European continent. The Brexiters wanted Independence from their neighbors in fulfilling any Social Contract to their citizens.

This is an important consideration for Caribbean stakeholders as we are calling for the same interdependence that the EU enjoy. This desired interdependence is the needed inter-state cooperation that is the only hope for Caribbean member-states to finally reform and transform. Any such cooperation for Britain is now in jeopardy or unlikely. 18 Caribbean member-states are current or former territories of the British Commonwealth. So this Brexit discussion – unitary independence – is relevant for our consideration as it is turning out to be more hype than hope.

The roadmap presented in the 2013 book Go Lean … Caribbean introduces the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a technocratic federal government – modeled after the EU – to administer and optimize the economic, security, and governing engines of all 30 member Caribbean states – legacies from British, Dutch, French and Spanish imperial expressions. We need the hope of regional interdependence movement, not the hype of nationalistic independence. That previous July 6, 2016 commentary stated:

A philosophical attack on the EU is an attack on the Caribbean’s future. We must be aware … and be on guard.

In truth, the EU has prospered; it has been a win-win for all of its members. It has endured hardships (consider for example, the sovereign debt crisis in Greece) that under previous European regime’s would have resulted in wars; on two occasions, World Wars. Now so much of the rest of the world – especially Africa and the MiddleEast – wants what the EU has. This is why one of the greatest challenges for the EU as a whole and for each individual member-state is immigration. A basic requirement of the economic integration of the EU is the free movement of labor. So anytime, a refugee find their way inside EU borders, they can travel to any member-state. The only way to prevent this free movement is to exit the EU. This is the British decision.

The foregoing New York Times article reported that the UK has started to experience the dreaded economic stagnation that was feared by anti-Brexiters.

In addition, the issue of disunity remains; the Brexit vote showed that some elements in the United Kingdom are not so “united”. Just two years earlier, a referendum in Scotland to secede from the United Kingdom – and join the EU as a full member including the Eurozone Monetary Union – was narrowly defeated. There may still be a call to renew the quest for Scottish Independence, and maybe even spur a similar campaign for Northern Ireland, thereby eliminating the new Customs border between the Republic of Ireland and the UK country of Northern Ireland. << Photo 2 >>

The Go Lean roadmap prepared the Caribbean for Agents of Change; one of them is globalization, which produces 2 classes of people: producers and consumers. There is always a Comparative Analysis as to which locale is better suited to procure raw materials and then which locale is best to produce finished goods. Such a Comparative Analysis results in winners and losers from the consideration. The UK’s complaint about the EU was actually a complaint about globalization; the UK was losing out in the Globalization battles and becoming consumers more and more then producing less and less. Those who cling to nationalism tend to be among the losing classes from Globalization battles.

The lesson for the Caribbean Union, if we do not want to lose our own battles, is to be lucky in our Comparative Analysis. Luck is defined as the intersection of preparation and opportunity.

The Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has taught the Caribbean the important lesson that we are not prepared for the threats that come from one aspect of Globalization, the free and frequent movement of people across borders and continents. This pandemic started as a flare-up of a contagious respiratory disease in Wuhan, China; then in short order, the infections traversed the planet: to Europe and North America, then onto our Caribbean communities. We were not prepared and suffered accordingly, both medically and economically.

The Go Lean book trumpets that “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste”. In the Caribbean, we want our homeland to be a better place to live, work and play. So we must enable our infrastructure so that we can produce more and consume less. This is the quest of our regional economic empowerments. Then we need to better protect our communities with a robust Security Apparatus to defend across economic crimes, natural disasters and epidemics/pandemics.

This is the lesson we can learn here in the Caribbean homeland from the crisis in the UK and the EU, that we must be prepared for the challenges of globalization in order to get lucky. It just does not happen naturally; the opportunities for profit nor the protection from dangers.

In 2013, the Go Lean book scanned the landscape in the Caribbean and found a lot of deficiencies in the planning, preparations and infrastructure related to the societal engines for economics, security and governance. We too would only be losers in the battles of globalization. So the strategies, tactics and implementations were published that would mitigate and remediate these challenges. These are present in the 370-book, as described below.

In addition, there have been 6 years of continuous blogging on how to apply the strategies, tactics and implementations of the roadmap to better prepare the Caribbean against the pangs of distress from globalization. This theme – empowerments and protections in the battle of globalization – has been frequently detailed in many previous Go Lean blog-commentaries. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=18834	A Lesson in History: Free Trade Agreement of the Americas
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16341	The Caribbean is ready for a regional Post Office solution
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16208	In Defense of Trade – Bilateral Tariffs: No one wins
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16192	In Defense of Trade – China Realities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15875	Amazon: ‘What We Should Want To Be When We Grow Up’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11358	Retail Apocalypse – Preparing for the Inevitable
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7789	New Guards for Global Trade
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7601	New Guards for Caribbean Sovereign Debt
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7327	New Guards for Disease Control
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6867	How to address high consumer prices
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6341	New Guards for Tourism Stewardship
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6103	New Guards Against Deadly Threats
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5597	Dire Straits of Labor Unions (Collective Bargaining) during Globalization
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833	European Model: One currency, divergent economies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=242	Effects of Globalization: The Erosion of the Middle Class

The events related to UK, EU and Brexit are important for us in the Caribbean to consider … and learn from. In fact, we are in competition with the European world in terms of trade, and losing. We lose in the movement of people, products and capital as they all move out to these countries … with only a little coming back in.

As a region and a society we need to go farther than we have previously accomplished – not necessarily faster – so we need to go together. We need to get united and stay united. We need interdependence, not independence. This is the quest, a Big Hairy Audacious Goal, but still conceivable, believable and achievable.

Everyone in the Caribbean – citizens and institutions alike – are hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. This is how we can make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

About the Book
The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Who We Are
The movement behind the Go Lean book – a non-partisan, apolitical, religiously-neutral Community Development Foundation chartered for the purpose of empowering and re-booting economic engines – stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12):

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Appendix VIDEO – Brexit explained: Boris Johnson’s new trade deal with the EU – https://youtu.be/mFCKLBsmF_w

Channel 4 News
Posted December 30, 2020 – Brexit is finally over. The UK has finally agreed a trade deal with the European Union – which will start on 1 January, 2021.

But what’s in the deal? And what will change as a result?
(Subscribe: https://bit.ly/C4_News_Subscribe)

The Brexit saga has seen off two British prime ministers – Theresa May and David Cameron. But now Boris Johnson has reached a deal with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission.

After years of debate over the single market, the customs union, tariffs, and the border in Northern Ireland, the two sides have finally found a compromise.

The Brexit referendum in 2016 caused a huge division in UK politics, with MPs split between Leave and Remain. The issue has also divided the Conservative and Labour parties. Some wanted Brexit to be overturned and called for a second referendum. Others said the UK should have a “hard” Brexit, with a more divisive split from Europe.

You can watch our full series of Brexit explainers here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

——-

Watch more of our explainer series here – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…
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2020 Review: No Perfect Vision

Posted on December 28, 2020 in Economics, Ethos, Government, Planning, Social

Go Lean Commentary

The expression goes: “Hindsight is 2020 – Perfect Vision”.

The concept is simple: while looking forward is uncertain, looking back is perfect.

As this year 2020 comes to a close, we would like to acknowledge that this year did not unfold the way anyone expected or hoped. Our forecast was wrong. See this excerpt from a previous blog-commentary of June 7, 2019:

Blog # 900 – 2020: Where Vision is Perfected
Do “you” have 20/20 vision?

… Unfortunately, for the 30 member-states of the Caribbean, the answer is an undisputed “No”. We have the greatest address on the planet and yet our societal engines (economics, security and governance) are so dysfunctional that our people are “beating down the doors” to get out. In a recent blog-commentary [(June 4, 2019)] from the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean, this historic fact was enunciated:

“The Caribbean region has exported more of its people than any other region of the world since the abolition of slavery in 1834. While the largest Caribbean immigrant sources to the U.S. are Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Haiti, U.S. citizen migrants also come from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”

The same as vision can be corrected with glasses and lenses, community vision or planning can also be perfected with reboots and turn-around activities. Our current vision is bad, we need correction. We cannot see (nor seem to care about) all of our citizens that are fleeing the homeland and looking for refuge elsewhere. Yes, we need to correct our vision; we need to get back to 20/20.

2020 is not just a reference to vision; it is also the next year on our calendar. This intersection allows us to use the actuality of 2020 to perfect our vision for Caribbean planning. …

The Go Lean movement, introducing the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), is bent on planning or presenting a new Vision for the year 2020. 2020 is a milestone in a lot of ways: new decade, new generation, even a new census (from an American perspective).

The “Perfected Vision” we had hoped for did not materialize. In fact the number 2020 has turned out to be one of the most unsavory numbers; think 13 or 666.

There are other numbers that are en vogue as well, think 330,000 and 5 million. That number 330,000 refers to the number of Americans dead as a result of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. This is the number just for the US! While other countries have had losses, the American death toll best describes the absurdity of the devastation of this horrible year. (America being the last remaining Super Power).

There are people that question that death count. (The long train of denial is part of the story of 2020). The number of people denying the actualities of 2020 could be higher too, as the 45th President Donald Trump, despite obvious egregious speech and actions (policies) garnered even more votes than in 2016: 5 million more.

Imagine the depraved indifference. You just buried a loved one, limited to only 10 people at the graveside ceremony, and people question the validity of the death. This is the effects of a lie; lying tears down, not build up.

The actuality of “Lies and Lying” seems to be the theme of this 2020 year. The year opened with the biggest news headlines being related to the Impeachment Trial of President Donald Trump in the US Senate. Underlying to this case was the lies and deceitful behavior of the POTUS in dealing with the government leaders of the Eastern European country of Ukraine. Mr. Trump wanted the Ukrainian president to announce an investigation into Hunter Biden, the son of the expected Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, in the November 3, 2020 General Election.

That lie set the stage for the whole year; (Joe Biden was the eventual winner of the Decision 2020 and won with more than 7 million votes over Mr. Trump).

Next came the threat of the Wuhan-China birthed Coronavirus. Rather than facing the challenge head-on by containing it – as executed by other presidents with other epidemics, think SARS and Ebola – this was presented by President Trump as a hoax, so everyone lost their vigilance … until it was too late.

More threats and challenges emerged in which truth needed to be the leading weapon, but instead lies and denial was the dominant characteristic. See this theme as developed in this news article/editorial review here:

VIDEO – The biggest Pinocchios of 2020 – https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/the-biggest-pinocchios-of-2020-fact-checker/2020/12/18/93200b2e-24a6-4fbb-be9c-f00a72a72973_video.html

The Fact Checker tackles some of the most Pinocchio worthy claims of 2020. (The Washington Post)

—————

Title: The biggest Pinocchios of 2020

It’s time for our annual roundup of the biggest Pinocchios of the year.

Donald Trump

Ever since President Trump burst on the political scene in 2015, we have noted that we faced a challenge in not letting him dominate this list of the biggest falsehoods. The president is a serial exaggerator without parallel in U.S. politics. He not only consistently makes false claims, but also repeats them, in some cases hundreds of times, even though they have been proved wrong.

In 2019, Trump took seven of the 13 spots. He earned six spots in 2018 and 2017, five in 2016 and three in 2015. Even so, we cheated a bit because in some cases Trump’s false claims on a particular subject were so numerous and varied that we created all-around categories.

The explosion of false and misleading statements from Trump during his presidency is well documented in our database. We have struggled to keep up with his torrent of falsehoods during the final weeks of the campaign, when he barnstormed the country making 600 to 700 false or misleading claims a week. The next update will show he crossed the 25,000 mark by mid-October.

So in this remarkable year, we have given up trying to keep Trump to about half of the list. In 2020, Trump will earn seven of 10 spots, with three all-around categories — his false claims about the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. election and the violence that erupted after the death of George Floyd in police custody. President-elect Joe Biden earns two spots, while the last slot goes to a GOP hopeful in a Senate race.

Nevertheless, this may be Trump’s last appearance on this annual list. As of Jan. 21, we will set a high bar for fact-checking his statements. He will be a defeated ex-president, and we tend to focus on claims made by people in power. In other words, we hope to ignore him and concentrate on people who really matter in national policy debates.

In compiling this list, we mostly focused on claims that earned Four Pinocchios during the year. To keep it simple, in some cases, we have shortened or paraphrased the quotes in the headlines. To read the full column, click on the link embedded in the quote. The all-around categories have links within the summaries.

We generally do not list the Pinocchios of the Year in any particular order, but the collection of coronavirus and election claims are especially consequential. The president’s statements affected both the health of U.S. citizens and American democracy and will undoubtedly influence how historians assess his performance as president.

Coronavirus falsehoods
A global pandemic would be a challenge for any U.S. president. But through his constant lies about the crisis, Trump managed to consistently make the situation worse for the United States. He minimized the danger at first, dismissing the novel coronavirus as less serious than the seasonal flu and something that would go away on its own. He touted bogus cures and quick fixes. He oversold achievements, such as falsely claiming that he led the world in a China ban and that U.S. testing for the virus was on track. He blamed others, falsely saying, for instance, that President Barack Obama bungled the swine flu pandemic and left behind an “empty cupboard” of ventilators. He invented a fairy tale about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “dancing” in the streets of Chinatown and attacked Anthony S. Fauci, the renowned director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with bogus complaints. He also repeatedly lowballed the death count, falsely claiming he saved millions of lives. He often wrongly said 85 percent of mask-wearers catch the virus — insisting it was true even after he was corrected. And this is only scratching the surface of his falsehoods.

Election lies
Throughout 2020, Trump seeded the ground for challenging the presidential election results with bogus claims of election fraud. More than 200 times, he warned about the alleged dangers of mail-in voting. (His own administration highlighted how his false claims on voting-by-mail were almost identical to the Russian propaganda being spread online to destabilize U.S. politics.) In his campaign rallies, Trump sprinkled his speeches with tall tales about election malfeasance. So when Biden decisively defeated him in the 2020 election, the president and his allies engaged in a scorched-earth effort to challenge the vote count in key swing states. His claims were repeatedly tossed out of court by judges and denied by election officials, but Trump has kept repeating the false claims, even after the electoral college affirmed Biden’s win. Trump still refuses to concede. These lies may have long-term consequences, undermining Americans’ faith that votes will be correctly counted.

Bogus violence claims
The killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis by police led to a national reckoning on race. But Trump saw the incident as a way to gain an electoral edge, so he repeatedly hyped claims about “professional anarchists, violent mobs, or, arsonists, looters, criminals, rider rioters, antifa and others.” antifa is a moniker, not a single group with a clear organizational structure or leader, and no cases could be found in which someone who self-identifies as antifa led violent acts at protests across the country. The White House tweeted (and later deleted) a 58-second video that employed out-of-context social clips to lob unproven accusations and create a misleading impression of what has happened during the Floyd protests. Trump himself tweeted an outrageous conspiracy theory about a Buffalo man injured by police. He also falsely claimed that Obama never tried to tackle the problem of police brutality during his presidency. And he repeatedly — and falsely — said that Biden supported efforts to defund police.

“No president has done more for Blacks since Lincoln”
Trump is not a modest man. More than 30 times, he declared he has done more for Black people than any other president — or, he might generously concede, since Abraham Lincoln. Historians scoffed at his claim, saying that Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, is clearly the recent president who had the most lasting impact on the lives of Black Americans. Many other presidents were also ranked higher than Trump.

“Joe Scarborough got away with murder”
Some dozen times, Trump insinuated that MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough might have murdered a congressional aide. This was an old claim, debunked by The Washington Post in 2017. But Trump often smears those who challenge him. He has a long-running feud with the “Morning Joe” husband-and-wife team of Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Still, even after four years of Trump, it remains astounding to see the president make a thinly veiled murder accusation devoid of evidence.

“I will always protect people with preexisting conditions”
Trump understands little about health-care policy. But he does understand that the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with preexisting health conditions are highly popular. So in every speech, he includes this line, even though it is directly contradicted by the policies his administration has pursued, including asking the Supreme Court to strike down the entire ACA, thus ending the guarantee for patients with preexisting conditions. Few claims better illustrate the gap between Trump’s words and actions.

“Trump is the most pro-gay president in American history”
Technically Trump did not say this, but he retweeted a video — proclaiming “My great honor!!!” — that was narrated by Richard Grenell, a longtime spinmeister and booster of the president. The video makes the provocative claim that Trump — whose administration is often criticized by LGBTQ rights advocates as anti-gay — is actually the most “pro-gay” president in U.S. history. The core of the video is actually a lengthy attack on Biden as anti-LGBTQ. The video is a stew of misleading timelines, out-of-context quotes and claims easily debunked — which was typical of Trump campaign material.

Joe Biden

“I was arrested trying to see Nelson Mandela”
In one of the strangest tall tales, Biden three times asserted that he had the “great honor” of being arrested with the U.N. ambassador on the streets of Soweto trying to get to see Nelson Mandela “on Robbens Island.” Never mind that Soweto, a township near Johannesburg, is nearly 900 miles from Robben — not Robbens — Island, which is off the coast of Cape Town. No one knew what Biden was talking about, including Andrew Young, the former ambassador. Eventually Biden explained he was separated from Black colleagues at the airport. That’s not an arrest.

“Trump has a plan to deplete Social Security”
There cannot be an election without Democrats making bogus claims about an alleged GOP attack on Social Security. The Biden campaign followed this technique when it asserted that Trump had a “plan” to eliminate the payroll tax that funds Social Security. Trump certainly made confusing comments before he reiterated that any diversion for a payroll tax holiday would come out of general funds. But that did not stop Democrats from ginning up a letter from the chief actuary of Social Security to estimate the impact of a plan that did not exist — which the Biden campaign weaponized into attack ads and the candidate repeated on the campaign trail.

Other Parties

“I created a foundation 10 years ago that helped inner-city kids”
Bryant “Corky” Messner, a first-time candidate who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), during his campaign touted an organization, the Messner Foundation, which he said selects low-income students every year to receive college scholarships. But tax records examined by The Fact Checker showed that in the first 10 years of the foundation’s existence, only one student received a scholarship from Messner’s foundation — and even more money was given to an elite private school that Messner’s sons were attending at the time. Yet for years Messner and the foundation have suggested that many students had been the recipients of funds.

Source: Posted December 18, 2020; retrieved December 20, 2020 from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/18/biggest-pinocchios-2020/

It has been a year filled with darkness; the only remedy is light, or enlightening knowledge. Even the Bible says:

You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. The Bible – John 8:32 New Living Translation

So truth is connected to freedom and freedom to truth. The President of the United States is considered the Leader of the Free World, but that title has been dubious for 2020, as so much of what has gone wrong this year has Mr. Trump’s fingerprints on it. Consider these, the major 2020 events of the year:

Natural Disaster rages on – We must abate Climate Change – Thanks for nothing Mr. Trump
Coronavirus – Facts and Fictions – Exposing hate and denials
Solar Energy reconciliation – Finally, but long past the right time to implement Green Energy solutions
Chef Jose Andres – bailing out America, too, by feeding the hungry
European Role Model, not so admirable – we must Grow Up ourselves and Be Better
Labor Realities in a Pandemic: Essential or Sacrificial – Not everyone suffers the same
Hamilton comes to Streaming; Streaming takes over the world
Remembering 100 Years of Voting for American Women – Lessons for us in the Caribbean
Naomi Osaka – Shining Example of Light
Banking on the Bank – The Inter-American Development Bank
Election Reality – Hasta La Vista Mr. Trump

In addition, the movement behind the Go Lean book always publishes a Teaching Series every month. The subject matters of those series have propelled the “Caribbean” discussion forward in terms of how to reform and transform our society. Consider these topics for the applicable months of 2020:

January	Forging Change – How? An Art & a Science – 4-part series
February	Brain Drain Actuality – The Good, Bad & the Ugly – 5-part series
March	Big Hairy Audacious Goal – Yes, we can – 7-part series
April	Keep the Change – Some Pandemic changes are good for transforming the world – 5-part series
May	Good Leadership – Essential for Progress – Here is how – 6-part series
June	Rise from the Ashes – COVID-19 is the last to devastate us; time to rebuild – 7-part series
July	Black Image and Black Lives Matter – This means the Caribbean too – 6-part series
August	Pandemic Playbook – Fail to plan; plan to fail – 7-part series
September	Toxic Environments – A compelling reason for the Exile “Push” – 7-part series
October	Decision 2020 – Impact of the Caribbean Diaspora – 5-part series
November	Decision 2020 – After the Vote Analysis – 5-part series
December	Long Train of Abuses – a 6-part series

We lost a lot during 2020 – see the “Review” in the Appendix VIDEO below. For the Caribbean, we lost people to death and to the Diaspora. So we have no choice; we must reform and transform. This is still the goal, this is the Way Forward.

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.

If this premise is true, then the needed changes for Caribbean survival should be forthcoming, as 2020 has been all crises all the time.

Let’s get busy …

… the end of the pandemic is in sight – with the release of vaccines – the emergency will subside, but we must not ignore the urgent-emergent need to protect our Caribbean future.

Yes, we can …

When is the time to act? Now! It is always now! Now is the time to reboot and turn-around the societal engines of economics, security and governance. People are listening now. They are ready, willing and able to Be the Change that our society needs. They are ready, willing and able to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————-

Appendix VIDEO – “CBS This Morning” looks back on a historic year with a roundup of all the news that mattered in 2020 – https://youtu.be/0etgUEHz6zM

CBS This Morning
Posted December 21, 2020 – 2020 will be a year we’ll always remember, and one that has forever changed our country. The coronavirus claimed the lives of more than 300,000 Americans, businesses closed, and tens of millions of people filed for unemployment. We also elected a new president, and witnessed the growing demand to end racial injustice. “CBS This Morning” looks back at the pivotal moments and people that shaped this year.

Watch “CBS This Morning” HERE: http://bit.ly/1T88yAR

Download the CBS News app on iOS HERE: https://apple.co/1tRNnUy

Download the CBS News app on Android HERE: https://bit.ly/1IcphuX

Like “CBS This Morning” on Facebook HERE: http://on.fb.me/1LhtdvI

Follow “CBS This Morning” on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Xj5W3p

Follow “CBS This Morning” on Instagram HERE: http://bit.ly/1Q7NGnY

Get new episodes of shows you love across devices the next day, stream local news live, and watch full seasons of CBS fan favorites anytime, anywhere with CBS All Access. Try it free!

http://bit.ly/1OQA29B

Each weekday morning, “CBS This Morning” co-hosts Gayle King, Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil deliver two hours of original reporting, breaking news and top-level newsmaker interviews in an engaging and informative format that challenges the norm in network morning news programs. The broadcast has earned a prestigious Peabody Award, a Polk Award, four News & Documentary Emmys, three Daytime Emmys and the 2017 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast. The broadcast was also honored with an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award as part of CBS News division-wide coverage of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Check local listings for “CBS This Morning” broadcast times.

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Long Train of Abuses: Puerto Rico – “Take the Heat” or “Get out of the Kitchen” – Encore

Posted on December 14, 2020 in Economics, Ethos, Government, Strategy

Face it Puerto Rico, you have not been handling the heat!

The phrase if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen means— if an activity is too difficult or the pressure of a situation is too great for someone to handle, then perhaps it would be best to stop doing it and/or leave. – Source

Perhaps now this Caribbean island will be honest, with itself, and make the necessary adjustments:

Get Out!

The American eco-system is just not working for Puerto Rico (PR). They are enduring a Long Train of Abuses; they are nearly a Failed-State. They have the option to reboot; perhaps consider the actuality of statehood; becoming the 51 State of United States of America.

But PR is reluctant for that heat-pressure also! 🙁

There are so many lessons to learn and apply from other societies faced with the same dilemma. Consider Ireland and the Philippines:

Ireland – The Irish had a Long Train of Abuses to endure in their homeland – the United Kingdom with England, Wales and Scotland – especially during the 19th Century. Then in the 20th Century the abuse was expected to continue. After losing 49,000 citizens in World War I (1914-1918), fighting and sacrificing on behalf of a country that irrefutably did not love them back, the Republic of Ireland was formed and took their leave. During World War II, Ireland remained neutral and alienated from the conflict or loses.
Source: Retrieved December 14, 2020 from: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties
Philippines – As a Spanish colony, Universal Suffrage eluded this homeland. Voting Rights were only extended to citizens that spoke Spanish. Then in 1898, the USA defeated Spain and occupied the archipelago. Now Voting Rights were only extended to citizens that spoke English or Spanish. Universal Suffrage only came to this oppressed, repressed and suppressed land when they secured autonomy and independence … from the USA. For the majority Tagalog-speaking people, they were second-class citizens no more.
Source: Retrieved December 14, 2020 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines#Colonial_rule

What a Long Train of Abuses these communities had to endure.

Remember the bad colonial orthodoxy that was discussed previously; we have to War Against Orthodoxy to make progress as an organized society. When defects are embedded in the law (constitution), the only remedy is to change the law, otherwise the Long Train of Abuses continues. This is the harsh reality with Puerto Rico, with these identified-qualified defects:

No Vote, No Voice – Peanut Gallery – PR has no vote in the US Congress.
Interstate Compacts – No Seat at the Table – To partner with any State, Congress has to approve, without them.
Jones Act – A mainland protectionist law that limits trade for PR; it adds 15% to costs of goods imported.
Forced to Bankruptcy – Third World countries’ debt forgiveness is common but this is not available for PR.
Ease of Exit – Their US Citizenship means that everyone can-should-do leave.
Bigger Numbers Emigrated than Remained on Island – Good Voting Block in the mainland; Puerto Ricans are more powerful there than at home.

When the flaws are built into the foundation, the end result of any defective processing will just be defective output:

Garbage In Garbage Out

This subject of the Long Train of Abuses is the Teaching Series for this month of December 2020. Every month we present issues that are germane to Caribbean life and culture and how to address them. For this month, we are looking at the Long Train of Abuses that the US Territory Puerto Rico have had to endure – failingly, since they experience such an alarming abandonment rate. This is the final entry, 6-of-6. This one asserts that the foundation for Puerto Rico these past 100 years is not designed for success; the only option is failure or more failure. The dysfunction in PR’s societal will not improve under the current structure; they must make a change – they cannot take the heat, they must “get out of the kitchen”. The other entries in the full catalog for this series are as follows:

Long Train of Abuses: Enough Already – Colonialism Be Gone!
Long Train of Abuses: Overseas Masters – Cannot See Overseas
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Leadership in Politics – Reconciling Trump
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Character in Society – Human Rights
Long Train of Abuses: Dutch Hypocrisy – Liberal Amsterdam vs Conservative Antilles
Long Train of Abuses: Puerto Rico – “Take the Heat” or “Get out of the Kitchen”

The status quo for Puerto Rico is unsustainable; they must make a change. But which option should they pursue? Statehood like Alaska and Hawaii did or independence like the Philippines did (from America) or Ireland did from the UK?

We had deliberated these arguments before in a previous blog-commentary from April 3, 2019. it is only apropos to Encore that previous submission. See here/now:

————-

Go Lean Commentary – Way Forward – Puerto Rico: Learns its status with America

You love America.
But does “she” love you back?

This is the reality of unrequited love. The people of the island of Puerto Rico love America – they give blood, sweat and tears. But America does not always love the island back. This has always been evident and obvious, but now even more so after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017 and the US Federal Government lackluster response. Puerto Ricans, on the island and in the Diaspora, must accept that they are treated as the “ugly step-child”.

Today, we learn that the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, is now vocalizing that there is a fast approaching limit for gratitude towards Puerto Rico. See that story here:

VIDEO – Puerto Rico’s governor sending warning to Trump – https://news.yahoo.com/puerto-ricos-governor-sending-warning-175145864.html

CNN – Posted March 28, 2019 – “If the bully gets close, I’ll punch the bully in the mouth,” Rosselló said when asked about a tense meeting Wednesday between members of the Trump administration and Puerto Rican officials. “It would be a mistake to confuse courtesy with [lack of] courage.”

———–

Title: Puerto Rico’s governor warns Trump: ‘If the bully gets close, I’ll punch the bully in the mouth’
By: David Knowles
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is through playing nice with President Trump.

After months of soft-pedaling his criticism of the president as Puerto Rico struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria in 2017, Rosselló voiced his frustration with the White House in a Thursday interview with CNN.

“If the bully gets close, I’ll punch the bully in the mouth,” Rosselló said when asked about a tense meeting Wednesday between members of the Trump administration and Puerto Rican officials. “It would be a mistake to confuse courtesy with [lack of] courage.”

The Washington meeting — which was attended by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro and members of Rosselló’s government — was requested after reports that Trump was considering halting further disaster relief to the beleaguered U.S. territory.

In a Wednesday meeting with Senate Republicans, Trump said the amount of aid Puerto Rico had so far received “is way out of proportion to what Texas and Florida and others have gotten,” according to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who attended the meeting.

Though it has already slashed benefits, Puerto Rico faces a $600 million shortfall to administer food stamps. So far the U.S. government has spent more than $6 billion on disaster relief to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which was blamed for killing more than 3,000 people. In June, Texas received $5 billion in federal aid for housing and infrastructure repairs stemming from Hurricane Harvey, which left 103 people dead.

Rosselló, who avoided criticizing Trump in a 2018 interview with Yahoo News, lashed out at the president over his latest reported comments.

“He treats us as second-class citizens, that’s for sure,” Rosselló told CNN. “And my consideration is I just want the opportunity to explain to him why the data and information he’s getting is wrong. I don’t think getting into a kicking and screaming match with the president does any good. I don’t think anyone can beat the president in a kicking and screaming match. What I am aiming to do is make sure reason prevails, that empathy prevails, that equality prevails and that we can have a discussion.”

Trump, whose administration’s response to Maria was criticized as inadequate, has long been seen as reluctant to offer aid to Puerto Rico. In October the president again signaled his disapproval of giving aid that might be used to help alleviate the financial distress the island was experiencing even before Maria hit.

Source: Posted March 28, 2019; retrieved March 29, 2019 from: https://news.yahoo.com/puerto-ricos-governor-warns-trump-if-the-bully-gets-close-ill-punch-the-bully-in-the-mouth-162447705.html?.tsrc=notification-brknews

There is no love for Puerto Rico … within their American eco-system.

This theme aligns with previous commentaries from the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean; see a sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15012	In Life or Death: No Love for Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14101	‘We Are The World’ Style Campaign to Help Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13391	After Maria, Failed-State Indicators: Destruction and Defection for PR
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11647	Righting a Wrong: Puerto Rico’s Bankruptcy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7963	‘Like a Good Neighbor’ – Being there for Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6260	Puerto Rico Bondholders Coalition Launches Ad Campaign
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=599	Ailing Puerto Rico open to radical economic fixes

As related in this previous blog-commentary, Puerto Rico devotes more human capital – and sacrifice – to US military endeavors than any other state or territories per capita.

Never kill yourself for people who are willing to watch you die.

Way Forward
This consideration brings to mind, an overall discussion of the Way Forward for this country – Puerto Rico – and all Caribbean countries. Our current disposition is dire, a crisis, near-Failed-State status. Yet, the movement behind the Go Lean book posits that a “crisis is a terrible thing to waste”. Here for April 2019, we present a full series of commentaries related to the Way Forward for these 30 Caribbean member-states. The full series is presented as follows:

Way Forward: Puerto Rico learns its “status” with America.
Way Forward: Virgin Islands – America’s youngest colony
Way Forward: ‘Solutions White Paper’ – An Inadequate Plan for the Bahamas

In this series – incomplete as of this date, many other national plans will follow – reference is made to the need for a more comprehensive roadmap for elevating the societal engines of Caribbean communities. Of all the plans out there, this – roadmap presented in Go Lean…Caribbean – is the only one that double-downs on the prospect of regional interdependence.

No man is an island; no island is an island.

Considering entry 1 of 3 of this series for April, what should be the Way Forward for Puerto Rico?

There are 3 options that have been detailed by this Go Lean movement. Here, again, with references to updated information:

Statehood – see Appendix A. If approved, an Interstate Compact allows for regional integration.
Independence – previous advocates for this option have gone militant.
(The Philippines is a former US Territory; they sought their independence from the USA in 1946; they now have full autonomy for self-determination).
Status Quo, but with Interstate Compact for regional integration.

Whatever the selection by the people of Puerto Rico – it should be their choice alone – the Go Lean movement still presents the strategies, tactics and implementations to make this island a better homeland to live, work and play. But, it is hardwork …

Actually, it is overdue work. It is the same “Growing Up“, “Managing Your Affairs“, “Taking Care of Business” that was always needed for this island nation.

Others (countries) have done “it” well – we can learn from them; i.e. consider the Iceland experience.

Some have done “it” bad – we must learn from that too; i.e. consider Republic of Venezuela.

With the proper guidance, blood, sweat and tears, it is conceivable, believable and achievable for this island to actualize and be recognized as one of the greatest addresses on the planet – not just some “ugly step-child”. 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

————–

Appendix A – Florida lawmaker introduces bill to make Puerto Rico 51st State

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A Florida congressman and Puerto Rico’s non-voting representative in Congress have introduced a bill that seeks to make the U.S. territory the 51st state.

The Puerto Rico Admission Act of 2019, which is sponsored by Rep. Darren Soto, D-Florida, and Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, would give the island statehood within 90 days of passage.

Our historic legislation will finally end over 120 years of colonialism and provide full rights and representation to over 3.2 million Americans.”

The legislation is partly in response to the Trump administration’s handling of Hurricane Maria relief efforts. According to reports, President Trump complained to Senate Republicans about the amount of disaster aid designated for Puerto Rico. He also asked why the island was given more money than some states affected by hurricanes.

“We have seen time and time again that colonial status is simply not working. Look no further than the abysmal Hurricane Maria recovery efforts and the draconian PROMESA law to prove this point all too well,” Soto added. “The Puerto Rican people have spoken. It’s time for Congress to finally make Puerto Rico a state!”

“From the day I was sworn in as Puerto Rico’s sole representative in Congress, and filed the Puerto Rico Admission Act, I stated very clearly that I would work different strategies, across all platforms to achieve the full equality for Puerto Rico, which can only be achieved through statehood, For more than a century the people of Puerto Rico have been U.S. citizens, but has been denied the right to vote for the President and members of Congress, leaving us without representation in the federal government, which enact the laws that rule the land. Democracy and equality for American citizens is an issue of justice and civil rights. Us, as American citizens, want to have the same benefits and duties, as all American citizens have in the states,” she continued.

Governor Ricardo Rossello was also in attendance and called on members of Congress to support the bill and “join in our quest to achieve equal treatment for the over 3 million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico.”

Source: Posted March 30, 2019; retrieved April 2, 2019 from: https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/florida-lawmaker-introduces-bill-to-make-puerto-rico-51st-state/1888575456

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Long Train of Abuses: Dutch Hypocrisy – Liberal Amsterdam vs Conservative Antilles

Posted on December 12, 2020 in Ethos, Locations, Social

Go Lean Commentary

There continues to be a Long Train of Abuses in the Caribbean countries. There are 30 member-states – all with European legacies – some independent countries and some dependent territories, but the assessment is the same:

We have many societal defects; we do not always treat our neighbors as neighborly as we should; at times we have been toxic and hostile towards certain minority groups and we have chased many people away, causing them to flee for refuge abroad.

We need to reform and transform Human Rights protections in our homeland. If only we can be more like the countries our emigrants seek refuge in! Destinations like the US, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union. If only we can be more liberal – live and let live – compared to our conservative or intolerant nature. Why the difference?

The European Union (EU), in its short history, has been very good for regulating Human Rights through out the EU member-states and the whole world for that matter. In fact, after the actuality of World War I and World War II being fought within Europe and by opposing European factions, the EU was recognized as the new dampening force that held the 27 member-states together in peaceful harmony. For this grandiose accomplishment, they were awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. The 2013 book Go Lean … Caribbean relates (Page 130):

Nobel Peace Prize
The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the EU “for over six decades having contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe” by unanimous decision of the committee in Norway.

That page in the book goes on to relate another benefit of the EU, the day-to-day enforcement of Human Rights:

Human Rights Declaration
Values like human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, and the rule of law and respect for human rights have been embedded in the EU treaties right from the start.

There are Caribbean territories that are actually members of the European Union … kinda. That would be the French Antillean islands (Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Bartholomew and St. Martin) and the Netherlands Antilles (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten). The Netherlands Antilles have gone through some upheavals, with integration and secession events. At this moment, the 6 islands have the status of either constituent states within the Kingdom of the Netherlands or direct parts of the Netherlands proper, governed by the capitol in Amsterdam as “special municipalities”. At this juncture the Netherlands Antilles have this status in the EU, according to Wikipedia:

Status in the European Union
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a member of the European Union. However, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten have the status of overseas countries and territories (OCTs) and are not part of the EU. Nevertheless, only one type of citizenship exists within the Kingdom (Dutch), and all Dutch citizens are EU citizens (including those in the OCTs).

All of this history helps to explain why there is a difference in the European Netherlands versus the Caribbean ( Antillean) Netherlands. Why the difference?

For one, religiosity is a driving force for the Community Ethos of Caribbean society. “Community Ethos”, that is defined as a noun, as:

the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period.
the character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc.

This is a continuation of the monthly Teaching Series from the movement behind the Go Lean book on the Long Train of Abuses that have molded our people and our society. We do indeed have societal defects that were embedded in our colonial past but didn’t evolve as our Host Colonizers (i.e. The Netherlands, Holland or Amsterdam) evolved. We are stuck in time …

We are partying like its 1869 …

Remember the bad religious orthodoxy that was discussed in the previous entries in this blog series; how these “hatreds” were embedded in national edicts (Law-and-Order) over the centuries: Slavery, Colonialism , Patriarchy / Gender Rights, White Supremacy, Buggery / LGBT Rights, Child Abuse.

This monthly Go Lean Teaching Series always presents issues that are germane to Caribbean life and culture and how to address them. For this month of December 2020, we are looking at the Long Train of Abuses that have pushed our people away from the homeland. This is entry 5-of-6; which illustrates that embedded intolerance in Caribbean society has had the bad consequences of chasing good people away from the Antillean Netherlands to go to the European Netherlands. This is the “Dutch” all around; yet the clear assessment of toxicity and dysfunction in the tropical islands is a clear contrast to the progressive liberalism in the European homeland. We feature a Long Train of Abuses that we have to endure, while Amsterdam features a laissez-faire attitude that has been more inviting and appealing.

The full catalog of the series this month is as follows:

Long Train of Abuses: Enough Already – Colonialism Be Gone!
Long Train of Abuses: Overseas Masters – Cannot See Overseas
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Leadership in Politics – Reconciling Trump
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Character in Society – Human Rights
Long Train of Abuses: Dutch Hypocrisy – Liberal Amsterdam vs Conservative Antilles
Long Train of Abuses: Puerto Rico – “Take the Heat” or “Get out of the Kitchen”

The Netherlands Antilles is in crisis; they continue to suffer from a Long Train of Abuses … they cannot hold on to their young people or any of their highly educated citizens – Brain Drain. People are fleeing to … the European Netherlands – rated as one of the best places to live, work and play.

See this previous Go Lean commentary on Aruba, the biggest Dutch Caribbean community. Consider this excerpt:

The State of Aruba’s Economy – February 19, 2015
The largest of the Dutch Caribbean is Aruba.

Aruba called for secession from the Netherlands Antilles from as early as the 1930s, becoming a separate state within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1986. After many other organizational developments, by 2010, Aruba is dispositioned as one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along with the Netherlands (European homeland), Curaçao and Sint Maarten.

What is the status of Aruba today?

How has it fared as an autonomous state?

The Go Lean book posits that Aruba is in crisis; (along with the rest of the Caribbean). This is also the assessment by the International Monetary Fund, as related in this news article:

By: The Caribbean Journal staff

Aruba’s economy is “recovering gradually” from a “severe double-dip recession,” according to the International Monetary Fund, which recently concluded its 2015 Article IV Mission to the Dutch Caribbean island.

The recession was [exacerbated] by a pair of factors: the global financial crisis and the shutdown of the oil refinery in Aruba. …

Aruba fails to keep its young people at home. In fact, the anecdotal experience (one story after another) is that young people abandon this island as soon as they finish high school; many never to return again, except for occasional visits. (Aruban natives – plus all Netherland Antilles states – have Dutch citizenship, sharing the same Dutch passport as the Kingdom of the Netherlands).
…
As for the Dutch Caribbean territories, even though they are no longer considered colonies, but rather constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, they are effectively just welfare states dependent on Amsterdam; and a feeder for low-cost labor in Holland. They are inconsequential within the Dutch sphere of influence. There are parasites not protégés!

We must do better!

On the other hand, there is Amsterdam, the capital and principal city for the Kingdom of the Netherlands; see Appendices.

Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands with a population of 872,680^[12] within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban area^[5] and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area.^[9] Found within the province of North Holland,^[13][14] Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the “Venice of the North“, attributed by the large number of canals which form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Amsterdam was founded at the Amstel, that was dammed to control flooding, and the city’s name derives from the Amstel dam.^[15] Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, and became the leading centre for finance and trade.^[16] In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded and many new neighbourhoods and suburbs were planned and built.

Amsterdam’s main attractions include its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, the Concertgebouw, the Anne Frank House, the Scheepvaartmuseum, the Amsterdam Museum, the Heineken Experience, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, Natura Artis Magistra, Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam, NEMO, the red-light district and many cannabis coffee shops. It drew more than 5 million international visitors in 2014.^[17] The city is also well known for its nightlife and festival activity; with several of its nightclubs (Melkweg, Paradiso) among the world’s most famous. Primarily known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow houses with gabled façades; well-preserved legacies of the city’s 17th-century Golden Age. These characteristics are arguably responsible for attracting millions of Amsterdam’s visitors annually. Cycling is key to the city’s character, and there are numerous bike paths.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is considered the oldest “modern” securities market stock exchange in the world. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) study group. The city is also the cultural capital of the Netherlands.^[18] Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters in the city, including: the Philips conglomerate, AkzoNobel, Booking.com, TomTom, and ING.^[19] Moreover, many of the world’s largest companies are based in Amsterdam or have established their European headquarters in the city, such as leading technology companies Uber, Netflix and Tesla.^[20] In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)^[21] and 12th globally on quality of living for environment and infrastructure by Mercer.^[22] The city was ranked 4th place globally as top tech hub in the Savills Tech Cities 2019 report (2nd in Europe),^[23] and 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009.^[24] The Port of Amsterdam is the fifth largest in Europe.^[25] The KLM hub and Amsterdam’s main airport: Schiphol, is the Netherlands’ busiest airport as well as the third busiest in Europe and 11th busiest airport in the world.^[26] The Dutch capital is considered one of the most multicultural cities in the world, with at least 177 nationalities represented.^[27]

…

Diversity and immigration
Amsterdam experienced an influx of religions and cultures after the Second World War. With 180 different nationalities,^[138] Amsterdam is home to one of the widest varieties of nationalities of any city in the world.^[139] The proportion of the population of immigrant origin in the city proper is about 50%^[140] and 88% of the population are Dutch citizens.^[141]

Amsterdam has been one of the municipalities in the Netherlands which provided immigrants with extensive and free Dutch-language courses, which have benefited many immigrants.^[142]

Economy – Tourism
Amsterdam is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, receiving more than 5.34 million international visitors annually, this is excluding the 16 million day-trippers visiting the city every year.^[171] The number of visitors has been growing steadily over the past decade. This can be attributed to an increasing number of European visitors. Two-thirds of the hotels are located in the city’s centre.^[172] Hotels with 4 or 5 stars contribute 42% of the total beds available and 41% of the overnight stays in Amsterdam. The room occupation rate was 85% in 2017, up from 78% in 2006.^[173][174] The majority of tourists (74%) originate from Europe. The largest group of non-European visitors come from the United States, accounting for 14% of the total.^[174] Certain years have a theme in Amsterdam to attract extra tourists.
…
Source: Retrieved December 12, 2020 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam

Why such a sharp difference between the actuality of Aruba and that of Amsterdam?

Aruba appears in crisis; Amsterdam is thriving – one of the best cities in the world.
People cannot wait to get out of one, while people are striving (lining up, begging & petitioning) to get in to the other.

So exactly what is the difference? Heart.

The Go Lean book associates the “heart” with Community Ethos, defined above. The fact is that no one, individual or community can forge change without first changing the hear of community ethos. This was vividly explained in the same Page 10 of the Go Lean book. See this excerpt:

Change is not easy …

Just ask anyone attempting to quit smoking. Not only are there physiological challenges, but psychological ones as well, to the extent that it can be stated with no uncertainty that “change begins in the head”. In psycho-therapy the approach to forge change for an individual is defined as “starting in the head (thoughts, visions), penetrating the heart (feelings, motivations) and then finally manifesting in the hands (actions). This same body analogy is what is purported in this book for how the Caribbean is to embrace change – following this systematic flow:

Head Plans, models and constitutions

Heart Community Ethos

Hands Actions, Reboots, and Turn-arounds

What is the community ethos of Amsterdam … that allows them to strive despite internal and external challenges?

Liberalism – a political and moral philosophy based on liberty, consent of the governed and equality before the law.^[1][2][3] Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support free markets, free trade, limited government, individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), capitalism, democracy, secularism, gender equality, racial equality, internationalism, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]}

Liberalism in the Netherlands started as an anti-monarchical effort spearheaded by the Dutch statesman Thorbecke, who almost single-handedly wrote the 1848 Constitution of the Netherlands that turned the country into a constitutional monarchy.

In contemporary politics, there are both left and right-wing parties that refer to themselves as “liberal“, with the former more often espousing social liberalism and the latter more often espousing classical liberalism. A common characteristic of these parties that they are nominally irreligious, in contrast to the traditionally dominant and still popular Christian democracy.^[1]

That is it!

Liberalism or “live and let live”. (Note: This commentary is not advocating for free-for-all sex or drugs).

Amsterdam is known for its liberal views toward social issues (recreational drugs, prostitution, same-sex marriage and euthanasia) while the Caribbean member-states are known for its dogmatic, judgmental and intolerant society. Yet we wonder why people are fleeing one place and seeking refuge in the other. There is no need to wonder.

Notice that one of the attributes of Amsterdam liberalism is their tendency towards being irreligious. That refers to:

The absence, indifference to, or rejection of religion.^[1]

Considering the full theme of this blog-commentary series, we see that religious indifference is the challenge. It was religious expansion – Christianity Christendom – that motivated the exploration, conquest and colonization of the New World, and apparently that initial indoctrination never subsided. That Christian Community Ethos that was embedded then was dogmatic, judgmental and intolerant, thusly uninviting, where as the irreligious attribute was/is indifference.

So we ask these questions to those of you in the Netherlands Antilles, and by extension, to all of the Caribbean:

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Do you want to be successful and progressive and prosperous like Amsterdam?
Do you want to compete with Amsterdam to provide those with a choice the option to prosper here where they are planted?
Or do you want to continue with the status quo and continue to watch the decline in your society?

To even approach the position of answering these questions, our Caribbean member-states must be prepared to work together – in a more perfect union – to foster a better homeland. We must serve and protect. Human Rights should only be the floor; we must be prepared to build upon a strong foundation and reach great heights. Reform and transform …

We have addressed this theme before.

This Go Lean movement has previously detailed many related issues and advocacies for reforming and transforming the Caribbean member-states; consider this sample of previous blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=20573	Remembering and Remediating Our History – The Need to Reform
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=20567	Transforming our Toxic Environments to Make the Caribbean Great
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=20561	Embracing ‘Diversity & Inclusion’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=20292	Advocating for Empathy – How? Conscientizing on VIDEO
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=20072	Rise from the Ashes – We now know Liberalism is Better than Fascism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19833	The Need to Reform – Hypocrisy cancels out Law-and-Order
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19572	Master Class – How to reform and transform the Economy & Society
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19051	Forging Change – By Building Momentum
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11224	‘Loose Lips Sink Ships’ – Fanatical Theologians Undermine Progress
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10513	Transforming ‘Money’ Countrywide – A Model for the new Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7991	Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695	Reforming, Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past

If we know where the destination is and we have the urgent need to get there, why wait and waste time proceeding there?

The European Netherlands have always been ahead of us in the Caribbean, but eventually everyone else catches up. Consider the example of universal suffrage: One Man / One Woman / One Vote.

The US reached that destination in 1920 (with racial caveats that weren’t corrected until the Voting Rights Act of 1964):

The British granted that right in 1918.
Many Caribbean member-states waited and wasted valuable time, capital and people and didn’t reach the same destination until 1961.
When did the Netherlands grant this right? 1919; yet they did not allow the same right to their Caribbean colonies until 1949.

Surely, we do not still wonder why the Caribbean territories of the Netherlands – and other colonial legacies – linger influx when it comes to progress and development compared to their First World counterparts?

The Long Train of Abuses ... continues to ride.

Why wait and endure more unnecessary misery? The answer is a progressive liberalism that the European colonial host already enjoy – live and let live; think Amsterdam. This goal is within view; we should reach out and grab it. The Bible provides the guidance to:

⁹ Strip off the old personality^b with its practices, ¹⁰ and clothe yourselves with the new personality^c , which through* accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it.- Colossians 3:9, 10 NWT

We know what the “garment of truth” looks like.

We hereby urge all stakeholders – in the Caribbean and the Diaspora or decision-makers in the Host Countries – to lean-in to this Way Forward for societal progress in the Caribbean; this is the quest of the Go Lean roadmap. This is our plan to make our regional homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

————————–

Appendix A VIDEO – What’s the deal with Amsterdam’s “liberal culture”? – https://vimeo.com/189429665

What’s the deal with Amsterdam’s “liberal culture”? from Eric Maddox on Vimeo.

Posted October 29, 2016 – In September 2016 students in Amsterdam and Beirut shared a Virtual Dinner together, discussed politics, the refugee crisis, Amsterdam’s reputation as a live-and-let-live city, and the delicate coexistence of different groups and ideologies in Lebanon. At the end of the discussion each group asked their partners on the other end of the virtual table a question to take to the streets of their communities an pose to everyday people.

This film presents the results of the Amsterdam team’s effort to address the question given to them from Lebanon. It is the 3rd of the three short films (2 from Lebanon and one from Amsterdam) completed by our teams in both countries. The project was sponsored by The Embassy of The Netherlands in Lebanon, and completed in collaboration with Unite Lebanon Youth Project.

This film focusses on Amsterdam. Our co-participants in The Netherlands walked around the city asking people of all backgrounds, a question that had been given to us by our co-participants in Lebanon:

“What does Amsterdam’s liberal culture mean to you?”

The Virtual Dinner Guest Project is a production of Open Roads Media, an Amsterdam based nonprofit with a global focus on putting the media narrative in the hands of the people and transforming conflict through direct engagement and creative collaboration that educates a global audience:

openroadsmedia.org/

You can also follow our progress and our snapshots, for this and previous projects, on social media:

Facebook: Open Roads Media
Twitter: @VirtualDinner
Instagram: Virtual Dinner

————————–

Appendix B VIDEO – Amsterdam, the Liberal City – https://youtu.be/R5mFxBkMorQ

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See related VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Ufm1GP77bL4

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Long Train of Abuses: Religious Character in Society – Human Rights

Posted on December 10, 2020 in Ethos, Locations, Planning, Social

Go Lean Commentary

This is a continuation of the monthly Teaching Series from the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean on the Long Train of Abuses that have molded our people and our society. We have a lot of defects that is obvious for all to see, within the region or from an external global view. After 525 years, our societal character is cemented; we have the greatest address on the planet and an abundance of hospitality, but we have many societal flaws that dominate.

People can see it and/or feel it without actually being here.

Did you know?

“Customers can hear a smile through the phone.” – Contact Center Experts

This is true because it is hard to fake sincerity; despite the senses, proof of a good/bad heart comes through. The actuality of a good/bad heart has been evident through out Caribbean history. The moral sense of right-wrong, good-bad and right-wrong for the Caribbean has been based on the Judeo-Christian standard. As related in the last blog-commentary in this series, the premise was established that Caribbean society was molded with a Christian expansion motivation; make that Christendom.

How do we know it is Christendom, instead of Christianity?

By the character fruitage of our society. That same Judeo-Christian standard, the Bible, clearly defines how to assess:

… love one another; just as I have loved you. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”— John 13:34, 35 NWT

We have failed, far too often, to show love to our neighbors.

Many times, we have even fostered a Climate of Hate, especially for people different from the majority of the population in power. Thusly, many people in our society have had to endure a Long Train of Abuses. This is what was related in a previous blog-commentary from June 14, 2016:

Climate of Hate
Our Caribbean society, far too often, promotes a “climate of hate”. Consider these three examples:

Haitian Immigrants– Many Caribbean countries express vitriol towards Haitian migrants.

LGBT– Still clinging to the archaic “Buggery” laws, many countries persecute gays in their society as degenerates.

Equality-seeking Women– Just last week, a referendum failed in the Bahamas 3 to 1.

The Caribbean member-states, collectively and individually, need to curb its “climate of hate” and to pay more than the usual attention to the lessons from …

This discussion is important because our failures to exhibit a Christian character – or any religious influence – has led to a lot of societal defects – Human Rights abuses – and eventual societal abandonment. See here, as related in a different previous commentary from July 2, 2015 entitled “Buggery in Jamaica – ‘Say It Ain’t So’!”:

… this defect – LGBT Intolerance – was listed among the blatant Human Rights abuses in the region.

This is an important consideration for the planners of Caribbean empowerment. The Caribbean, a region where unfortunately, we have NOT … tried to be as tolerant as may be required, expected and just plain moral.

We must do better!

The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that Caribbean society’s prosperity has been hindered with a high abandonment rate – reported at 70% for educated classes region-wide, but an even higher 85% in Jamaica [some countries]. The primary mission of the Go Lean book is to “battle” against the “push-and-pull” factors that draw so many of our Caribbean citizens away from their homelands to go to more progressive countries.

The Go Lean book campaigns to lower the “push” factors!

The purpose of the Go Lean book is to fix the Caribbean; to be better. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to pursue the quest to elevate the Caribbean region through empowerments in economics, security and governance. It is the assertion that Caribbean citizens can stay home and effect change in their homelands more effectively than going to some foreign countries to find opportunities for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The book therefore asserts that the region can turn-around from failing assessments by applying best-practices, and forging new societal institutions to impact the Greater Good for all the Caribbean.

Rather than promote “peace and love” or even Human Rights, the Christian communities have exacerbated a Climate of Hate.

A Long Train of Abuses, ouch!

Research shows that the men most likely to abuse their wives are evangelical Christians who attend church sporadically. Church leaders in Australia say they abhor abuse of any kind. But advocates say the church is not just failing to sufficiently address domestic violence, it is both enabling and concealing it.

Remember the bad religious orthodoxy that was discussed in the last entry in this blog series; how these ‘hatreds’ were embedded in national edicts (Law-and-Order) over the centuries, decades and years: Slavery, Colonialism , Patriarchy / Gender Rights, White Supremacy, Buggery / LGBT Rights, Child Abuse.

Long Train of Abuses: Enough Already – Colonialism Be Gone!
Long Train of Abuses: Overseas Masters – Cannot See Overseas
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Leadership in Government – Reconciling Trump
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Character in Society – Human Rights
Long Train of Abuses: Dutch Hypocrisy – Liberal Amsterdam vs Conservative Antilles
Long Train of Abuses: Puerto Rico – “Take the Heat” or “Get out of the Kitchen”

All the defects identified and qualified here are reflective of Human Rights abuses.

Human Rights deficiencies despite the Christian premise. Wow! This is because it is not Christianity at work in the Caribbean; it is Christendom. So we need greater protections than just a copy of the Bible in everyone’s “night stand”. We need to reboot and end this Long Train of Abuses, now!

How?

The Go Lean book, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), an apolitical, religiously-neutral, economic-focused technocracy. The Go Lean book presents an action plan to better foster the Greater Good – “the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong” (Page 37). In addition, the book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics and implementations to execute so as to transform the Caribbean’s stance on Human Rights. In one specific advocacy (Page 220), there are action items for the heavy-lifting work that needs to be done. See here for summaries, excerpts and highlights from this Chapter entitled “10 Ways to Protect Human Rights“:

1	Lean-in for Caribbean Integration This regional re-boot will allow for the unification of the region into one market, thereby creating a single economy of 30 member-states, 42 million people and a GDP of over $800 Billion. The CU will assume the primary coordination for the region’s economy and the requisite security to protect the resultant economic engines. While the CU is an economic initiative, there is a mission to monitor/mitigate Fail State Indices, and Human Rights violations constitute a Failed State Indicator.
2	Watchful World A CU mission is to monitor the image of the Caribbean to the rest of the world. Not only will the world be watching the activities in the region, but the “story” being told will be directed to depict a positive behind-the-scenes view, that the region is the best place to live-work-play.
3	Caribbean [Persons] with Disabilities
4	Women & Youth The CU will allow for empowerment and protections of women & children, orphans & widows, in compliance with Judeo-Christian precepts, Human Rights requirements, & natural instincts. These efforts will include the special needs for young girls, adult women and senior women.
5	LGBT Toleration It is no longer acceptable to deny natural rights or Human Rights to those with alternate sexual orientation. In fact, qualifications for current EU grants depend on compliance of this requirement, (not granting rights for same-sex marriage), allowing this class to live free of discrimination, hazing, bullying and abuse. These rules are codified under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This provides a right to respect for one’s “private and family life, his home and his correspondence” ^[248]. The CU federal oversight is mandatory as these clauses clash with pro-Christian values.
6	Reconciliations
7	Future Focus
8	Justice Focus
9	Tourist Omnipresence
10	Long-Form Journalism

Human Rights versus Christian Character?

It seems like such a “joke” that this advocacy is even necessary – but the need is great. Where is the Christian love? What a reproach to God that such behavior have brought a Climate of Hate in the name of God. Actually, this apostasy is exactly what the Bible prophesied for these times – the Last Days. See here:

You will be chased out of the synagogues. And the time will come when people will kill you and think they are doing God a favor. – John 16:2 Contemporary English Version

The Long Train of Abuses is predictable, but not good.

Other societies have done better; they have done the heavy-lifting for everyone – majority and minority – to prosper where planted in their homeland. We can, and must do it too; or watch our citizens – and those that love them – flee to those better lands. These better lands has formulated Human Rights standards and conventions and expect all “Men/Women of Goodwill” to comply.

One such convention is CEDAW or the “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women”. See the full details in Appendix A below. (Also see Appendix B VIDEO as it relates the subject of gender-based violence being endured in the Caribbean region and around the world during this COVID-19 pandemic). Notice that one of the few countries that have not ratified CEDAW is the “Holy See” or the Vatican.

Holy See
The jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, known as the pope, which includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome with universal ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the worldwide Catholic Church, as well as a sovereign entity of international law, governing the Vatican City. – Wikipedia

The Holy See being tolerant of a Long Train of Abuses is indicative of Christendom and not Christianity.

The Caribbean member-states must foster a better homeland that protects all of its residents and promotes prosperity, despite whatever the Churches are doing or not doing. What’s more, we must hold religious organizations accountable for their actions and violations of Human Rights standards and modern justice requirements.

This Go Lean movement has previously detailed many related issues and advocacies for Human Rights mandates in our region; consider this sample of previous blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=20561	How to mitigate Human Rights Abuses? Build on ‘Diversity & Inclusion’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=20559	Toxic Environment – Homophobia: Hate not Fear
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=20557	Toxic Environment – It Infects Everything – Think “Cross” burnings
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19002	Remembering Auschwitz – Still Relevant considering modern atrocities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15580	Caribbean Unity? Religion’s Role: False Friend
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14482	International Women’s Day – Protecting Rural Women
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11224	‘Loose Lips Sink Ships’ – Fanatical Theologians Undermine Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10216	Waging a Successful War on Orthodoxy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9766	Rwanda’s Catholic bishops apologize for genocide
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6718	A Lesson in History Before the Civil War: Compromising Human Rights
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695	Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4971	A Lesson in Church History – Royal Charters: Truth & Consequence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=341	US slams Caribbean human rights practices

Human Rights, the concept and the practice has been fleeting here in the Caribbean, not just among the governmental leaders but the citizenry as well. Leaders have not protected Human Rights for all and the citizenry have not demanded it … among the majorities – vocal outcries may be limited to minority groups only.

Enough already! It is time to think of the Greater Good for all people not just the most populous; from one aspect or another, anyone and everyone may be considered a minority.

There needs to be a force for moral good for all, but that has not come from the religious influences in the region, so it must come from the State (or Federal Government) instead, despite a formal Separation of Church and State.

This is not just a Christian indictment. We saw the same issue in India with the Hindu population (also a Caribbean minority):

Transforming Hindus versus Women – What it means for us?
“Women of menstruating age were forbidden to pray at the temple until the [Indian] Supreme Court lifted the ban in September [2018]. The ban was informal for many years but became law in 1972.

Some devotees have filed a petition saying the court decision revoking the ban was an affront to the celibate deity Ayyappa. …”

The concept is simple for “States“, while they must allow for Freedom of Religion, they cannot allow religious intimidation of their citizens. No More!

This is an issue of Orthodoxy and it is not only a concern in India. Even here in the Caribbean we have to make progress. Clearly we understand the oppression, suppression and repression experienced in India prohibiting women to pray in the Temple, and so there is the acceptance that it is right for that State to act against continued abuse. There has always been a need for States to legislate morality in society over the years.

Based on the foregoing, Hindus suffer the same abuse record as Christianity and Islam towards women. Bad religious orthodoxies seem to always exist when matters of faith are involved, so the State must regulate the behavior of Churches to ensure no violation of basic Human Rights.

We must do better; we must pursue the Greater Good … always.

We hereby urge all stakeholders – the faithful and the faithless – to lean-in to this Way Forward – a formal separation of Church and State – for societal progress; this is the quest of the Go Lean roadmap. This is our plan to make our regional homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————–

Appendix A – Title: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted on 3 September 1981 and has been ratified by 189 states.^[1] Over fifty countries that have ratified the Convention have done so subject to certain declarations, reservations, and objections, including 38 countries who rejected the enforcement article 29, which addresses means of settlement for disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention.^[2] Australia’s declaration noted the limitations on central government power resulting from its federal constitutional system. The United States and Palau have signed, but not ratified the treaty. The Holy See, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, and Tonga are not signatories to CEDAW. …

See the full details at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_the_Elimination_of_All_Forms_of_Discrimination_Against_Women ; retrieved December 9, 2020.

—————–

Appendix B VIDEO – St. Lucia: #CaribbeanYouthAgainstCovid19 and #YouthAgainstCovid19 – Jasmyn Joseph – https://youtu.be/FsDU7P1o_RM

UNFPA Caribbean
Due to #COVID19, the health and safety of women and girls has been compromised. Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by this pandemic. In this last episode of the #youthagainstcovid19 campaign Jasmyn Joseph talks about the ways this pandemic has been affecting women and girls around the world and the actions we as a community can take to promote #genderequality during covid-19.

Share this video, so other youth can get informed and take action against gender inequality during covid19!

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Long Train of Abuses: Religious Leadership in Government – Reconciling Trump

Posted on December 9, 2020 in Ethos, Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Show me your friends and I will tell you who your are. – Old Adage

This is a sad imagery if we are talking about bullies and delinquents in the neighborhood; it is sadder still if we are talking about the religious leaders in the community.

Ouch! This is not the form of worship that is to be expected from Christianity. Face it, there is a sharp difference between Christianity and Christendom. The Bible gave the clear standard; consider these scriptures:

²²On the other hand, the fruitage+ of the spirit is love, joy,+ peace,+ patience, kindness, goodness,+ faith, ²³mildness, self-control.+ Against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22,23 NWT

*********

²⁷ The form of worship* that is clean+ and undefiled+ from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans*+ and widows+ in their tribulation,+ and to keep oneself without spot+ from the world.+ – James 1:27 NWT

The actuality of life in the Caribbean is that our Christian-religious leaders do not have this track record. To the contrast, the religious orthodoxy is “sometimes good and acceptable”, then many times bad and unbecoming. Yes, we have to take the “bitter with the sweet”! Is this the way Christianity is supposed to be? Is this right and tolerable for our modern society?

No! Yet, this is not a theoretical discussion; this is observing-and-reporting on the happenstances of our Caribbean society. The actuality reflects the Long Train of Abuses we have had to endure here in the Caribbean, over the centuries, decades and years. Remember the bad religious orthodoxy and how these precepts were embedded in national Law-and-Order edicts:

Conquest – The New World was explored and exploited with the expansion of Christianity in mind.
Slavery – The initial approval for slavery was granted by the Roman Catholic Pope as an allowance for savages (from Africa) to be exposed to Christianity.
Colonialism – Conquest of the New World to allow for the spread of Christianity and forge their flavor of God-fearing societies from the “cradle to the grave”. This was blatant hypocrisy.
Patriarchy – Natural Law adherents, backed by twisted scriptural views, preached that only men mattered in society.
White Supremacy – False teachings that the Black Race was cursed and that all Bible prophets only look Europeans.
Buggery – LGBT Rights were frowned on because of Biblical prohibitions on Sodom & Gomorrah.
Childhood Violence – Twisted application of “spare the rod, spoil the child” scriptural mandates.

This is the continuation of the monthly Teaching Series from the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean. The book presents issues that are germane to Caribbean life and culture and how to address them: problems and solutions. For this month of December 2020, we are looking at the Long Train of Abuses that could-would-should move our people to change, to reform and transform. This is entry 3-of-6; this one asserts that the embedded religiosity with Caribbean leaders-governance is a source of the toxicity and dysfunction in our society. Yes, their dysfunction is that bad.

The religious leaders are partly responsible for our Long Train of Abuses. This consideration is one of the assertions in this Teaching Series for this month of December 2020. See the full catalog of the series this month:

Long Train of Abuses: Enough Already – Colonialism Be Gone!
Long Train of Abuses: Overseas Masters – Cannot See Overseas
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Leadership in Government – Reconciling Trump
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Character in Society – Human Rights
Long Train of Abuses: Dutch Hypocrisy – Liberal Amsterdam vs Conservative Antilles
Long Train of Abuses: Puerto Rico – “Take the Heat” or “Get out of the Kitchen”

It is irrefutable, that the religiosity in the governance of the Caribbean has contributed to the Long Train of Abuses.

This is not just a Caribbean phenomenon. No, this commentary asserts that the Christian religious leaders in the US gave unconditional support for the 45th US President Donald Trump even though he provided a bad stewardship: for his country (USA), the Caribbean and the rest of the world. See the portrayal in the Appendix VIDEO below.

If Trump was so bad, why is it that the religious leaders continued to support him unconditionally?

Birds of a feather, flock together! 🙁

Now is the time to reconcile this actuality. Consider this excerpt from the news article – published during the build-up for the 2020 General Election of November, 2020 – in the Appendix below. This excerpt is prominent:

“… polls show Trump continues to hold a wide lead over Democrat Joe Biden among religious voters, a bad sign for the president is that some of his support is slipping, including among white evangelicals who, like the faculty at Christian colleges, have a college education.”

So the religious leaders hold sway over under-educated populations. Interesting?! The more education an individual gets, the less prone that individual is to the dark influences of the religious leaders.

What a statement!

This commentary is not a theological review nor is it chartered for spiritual guidance, but “if the shoe fits …”

… we simply must assert the Bible’s condemnation of the influences of false religious leaders in society. See these scriptures:

¹But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. ²For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, ⁴traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! – 2 Timothy 3: 1-5 Berean Study Bible

*********

³For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the wholesome* teaching,+ but according to their own desires, they will surround themselves with teachers to have their ears tickled.* ⁴ They will turn away from listening to the truth and give attention to false stories. – 2 Timothy 4: 3-4 NWT

Clearly, there is no refuting the clear difference between Christianity and Christendom.

Through out the Caribbean – except for the American territories – there is the practice of Seconding Government employees to religious organizations. (US Territories, despite a clear separation of Church and State, can provide some non-evangelical community development services-funding via Faith-based organizations). See this definition of seconding and secondment here:

A secondment is the opportunity to work temporarily in a different firm or department to the one you are already working in.

In an internal secondment, the employee moves to a different part of the same organisation.

In an external secondment, the employee temporarily works at a different organisation.

This was/is a frequent strategy in Caribbean administrations. Consider these 2 examples here, from Jamaica & the Bahamas:

Remembering Father Hugh Braham Sherlock OJ, OBE, DD (1905-1998)

Father Hugh Sherlock

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of Boys’ Town. It was in September 1940 that the Government of Jamaica and the YMCA collaborated on the need for a social intervention that would serve the needs of underprivileged youth in West Kingston and Trench Town.

The Methodist Church responded positively to the request for the secondment of 35-year-old minister, Hugh Sherlock, to spearhead this intervention. It was in these circumstances that the Kingston Boys’ Club was started in the hall of the Jones Town Baptist Church, which two years later moved to its own home in Trench Town and changed its name to Boys’ Town.

…

—————

Bahamas Feeding Network thanks Government for Assistance to Households struggling to put food on tables

Philip Smith

For 14 years, Philip Smith has been feeding the hungry, first with loaves of bread he baked in his small apartment. For the last seven years as executive director of Bahamas Feeding Network, he has headed an unprecedented volunteer effort that has provided more than one million hot meals to those who most desperately need help. But never has he seen the extent of hunger explode as it has in the last seven months since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and widespread unemployment.

“Hunger, especially in households with young children and among the elderly, was a major problem before, but in many ways, it was a quiet problem. Now with the coronavirus pandemic, the stark reality of hunger is staring us in the face and we are extremely grateful to the government of The Bahamas for their intervention which has made it possible to feed more than 55,000 households or 220,000 individuals,” he said. “For organizations like the Bahamas Feeding Network and all of us who are currently working within the framework of the National Food Security Task Force, we need to pause, take a deep breath and thank the administration for recognizing the depth and breadth of the extent of hunger, and funding its relief to the best of the government’s ability.”

…

The government is spending about $1 million a week to combat hunger and this week announced it would extend the work of the task force, originally scheduled to end this month, to December 31.

So it is quite common for Caribbean governments to deliver on their Social Contract by means of Faith-based organizations. So many times the roles and responsibilities of governance are delivered by means of religious stakeholders. So just how common is this practice?

A lot …

Too much …

Taking the “bitter with the sweet”, means that there will be some toxicity – the bad religious orthodoxy or Long Train of Abuses – embedded with the Faith-based deliveries. This is no longer acceptable. It is time now to end this Long Train of Abuses …

The Go Lean book, serving as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), an apolitical, religiously-neutral, economic-focused technocracy. The CU is not chartered to be a religious organization; there is no theocratic calling, but rather the motivation is solely for the Greater Good of civic society, defined as:

“It is the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong” – Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

Enough already! It is time to think civic, and not religious. (Plus, there are many different religious faiths in our society).

We have addressed this theme – remediating the damage of the bad religious orthodoxy – in previous blog-commentaries; consider this sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=20237	Slavery in History: Good Lessons from the Bible
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19217	Brain Drain – ‘Live and Let Live’: Introducing “non-preachy” Localism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16944	Accepting Black Women ‘As Is’ Despite Bad Bible Interpretation
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16534	European Reckoning – Christianity’s Indictment for Human Rights Abuse
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16172	Bad Christian History: 918 Deaths in Jonestown, Guyana
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15580	Caribbean Unity? Religion’s Role: False Friend
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10216	Waging a Successful War on Orthodoxy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9766	Rwanda’s Catholic bishops apologize for Christian genocide
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695	Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Christian Past

Do you remember the expression “the Fourth Estate”, referring to the Press or the different expressions of Journalism?

Who or What is the First, Second and Third Estates?

The Fourth Estate (or fourth power)… most commonly refers to the news media, especially print journalism or “the press”. The term makes implicit reference to the earlier division of the three Estates of the Realm: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. – Wikipedia.

The First Estate is the clergy. (This is the focus of this commentary; the next submission in this blog series will address commoners or lay people).

The regionally accepted standard for leadership has simply been to just take the “bitter with the sweet”.

The religious stakeholders (leaders) have traditionally exerted their influence on society. Now comes the change; taking the “bitter with the sweet” is no longer acceptable. We must do better. We must pursue the Greater Good … always.

Taking the “bitter with the sweet” has led to a continuation of the Long Train of Abuses.

So this is now the urging to our Caribbean member-states:

Stop it … now! No longer accept the “bitter with the sweet”.

We hereby urge all leadership stakeholders – political and civic – to lean-in to this Way Forward – a formal separation of Church and State where religions organization are treated simply as civic NGO’s – for societal progress, this Go Lean roadmap. This is our plan to make our regional homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————-

Appendix A – Title: Christian College Faculty Aren’t Lining Up for Trump

Sub-title: Reflecting new polling that indicates college-educated white evangelicals are moving away from supporting Trump, many on Christian campuses are struggling to back him.

By: Kery Murakami

On Sunday evening, President Donald Trump took a break from tweeting to talk to a key segment of his supporters, people of faith, to tell them God will help the nation survive the coronavirus pandemic.

“We know that God hears our prayer,” Trump said in a broadcast on his campaign’s Facebook page. “We have no doubt about it. He’s always with us and he’ll help us overcome this challenge.”

He then switched to his re-election. “This is the most important election of our lives, and whether it’s evangelical, whether it’s Christian evangelical — call it whatever you want — people of religion — this is the most important election of our lives and we have to get out and we have to vote.”

As he spoke, another aspect of his pitch to religious voters, Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, was poised to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Opponents of abortion are excited that she will lead the court toward striking down Roe v. Wade.

And Monday morning, Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, told reporters in a call that Barrett’s confirmation hearings couldn’t be coming at a better time to mobilize religious voters. “This happening is a well-timed grassroots opportunity,” he said.

But while recent polls show Trump continues to hold a wide lead over Democrat Joe Biden among religious voters, a bad sign for the president is that some of his support is slipping, including among white evangelicals who, like the faculty at Christian colleges, have a college education.

At the nation’s Christian colleges, a number of professors described in interviews this week their struggle to reconcile their support for a president moving toward ending abortion with their discomfort, and even spiritual revulsion, over him.

Among those noticing the struggle is Shirley Hoogstra, president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.

“President Trump has taken actions on issues like abortion and religious freedom that are important to Christians,” she said in an interview. “But President Trump’s actions distress many who have deeper faith practices. I think the president’s behavior has made it a hard choice.”

At the same time, she said, some religious voters are troubled by actions by the Democratic candidates, including a bill introduced by vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris to weaken a prohibition on laws burdening the exercising of religion.

Wheaton College — a Christian college in Illinois, which is described as sort as the Harvard of evangelical colleges — appears to be a place where Barrett’s nomination should be causing many to embrace Trump.

The university requires students and faculty each year to reaffirm a statement of faith, based on a biblical doctrine consonant with evangelical Christianity. Students and faculty are also expected to affirm that they agree with a community covenant, which, among other things, condemns “the taking of innocent life.”

David Iglesias, an associate professor of politics and law at Wheaton and director of the college’s Center for Faith, Politics and Economics, was clearly struggling whether his faith would allow him to vote for Trump.

“In my faith, everything is subservient to Scripture,” he said and brought up the biblical account of David’s adultery with Queen Bathsheba.

“The prophet did not give him a pass,” he said. “The Scripture is pretty clear that when our leaders do the wrong thing, we shouldn’t excuse them. Character counts. What you do matters.”

And, he said, “we know our Scripture here.”

Just in the past few months, he said, Trump has “failed to criticize the Proud Boys. What did he say? ‘Stand by’?”

“His behavior during the debate — he wouldn’t let Joe Biden speak. I’ve never seen a worse debate. It was pathetic. He’s said disparaging things about Muslim Americans,” Iglesias said.

“And there’s his recent treatment of veterans,” he said referring to a report in The Atlantic in September that Trump privately referred to service members killed in combat as “suckers” and “losers.” (Trump denied insulting veterans.)

Iglesias served in the U.S. Navy for 30 years.

On Christian campuses, “there’s going to be some soul searching in supporting someone you disagree with on 90 percent of the issues,” he said. “But who agrees with you on the one you that you hold dear, and that’s right to life.”

Supporting Trump shouldn’t be in doubt, either, at Union University, a Christian college in Tennessee, a state that Trump is expected to win easily.

“I really don’t know,” said Hunter Baker, the university’s dean of arts and sciences, when asked whom the college’s faculty is supporting. “People are keeping it close to their vest.”

But, he said, Trump will likely get less support on the campus than in the rest of western Tennessee.

He laughed when he was asked about Trump.

“What troubles me about Trump? Oh my gosh, how long do you have?” he said.

“He’s more polarizing than anyone I can remember,” he said. “Ideally we’d have someone who would reduce that polarizing. There’s no question he exacerbates it, and he almost seeks it out.”

Troubling Polling for Trump
In what could be a bad sign for Trump, polls are showing that recent controversies, from his failure to condemn white supremacists, even amid national protests over the killing of George Floyd, to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, could be turning off key religious voters.

A Pew Research Center poll, released Tuesday, found that support of Trump by white Roman Catholics, white Protestants who are not evangelical and white evangelical Protestants has slipped since Sept. 30.

Just a little more than a month ago, 59 percent of white Protestants backed Trump. But in the latest Pew poll, conducted between Sept. 30 and Oct. 5, only 52 percent backed him. Among white evangelical Protestants, support for Trump dropped during that time from 83 percent to 78 percent.

More telling is data assembled by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute at Inside Higher Ed’s request. Previous national polls have shown a political divide nationally based on education. Those without college degrees have been much more likely than those who graduated from college to support Trump.

Previously, polls had not shown that distinction among white evangelicals. But since this summer, “we do see a significant gap emerge,” said Natalie Jackson, PRRI’s director of research.

A PRRI poll in October 2016, for instance, showed that 61 percent of white evangelicals without a four-year degree had a favorable view of Trump, then a candidate for president — virtually the same as the 62 percent of white evangelicals with a college degree holding a favorable view of Trump.

Polls in 2017, 2018 and 2019 — in which 64 percent of white evangelicals without a college degree and 62 percent of those with a degree viewed Trump favorably — showed no difference.

A poll by the group between July and September, however, found that 65 percent of white evangelicals who hadn’t graduated from college continued to have a favorable view of Trump. But among white evangelicals with a degree, support for the president had dropped precipitously to 52 percent.

In addition, Federal Elections Commission data examined by Inside Higher Ed found 196 people who listed as their employer one of the 140 U.S. colleges that are members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. Of those, 81 contributed to Trump and 115 to Biden.

The study was not definitive because of the potential for spelling errors in the FEC database, or contributors or donors not listing their employer. But even including the 14-to-1 advantage Trump holds among employees of conservative Liberty University, which is not part of the Christian colleges group, Trump doesn’t appear to be outraising Biden among the faculty as expected.

“Those trends are catastrophic for Trump,” said Micah Watson, director of the politics, philosophy and economics program at Calvin University, a Christian college in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“If that current data remains constant through Election Day (and people are actually voting now, too), then I don’t see a way he is competitive,” he said.

“It may well be that Trump is in as bad a shape as it appears,” said Baker, of Union University. But Baker, who is supporting Trump, said he is skeptical of polling, given that it was inaccurate in the 2016 elections.

To Dan Caldwell, distinguished professor of political science at Pepperdine University, a Christian college, that college-educated evangelicals might be turning away from Trump is not surprising.

“At long last, they’re opening their eyes to his behavior,” said Caldwell, who is supporting Biden. “I think people have become more skeptical that he believes in racial equality after his support of white nationalists.”

Caldwell, a Navy veteran, was also insulted by Trump’s comments about members of the military.

“I’m doing everything I can to keep him from getting elected,” said Caldwell, who is part of a group of more than 700 retired generals and admirals, former cabinet officials, and foreign policy experts called National Security Leaders for Biden, which has placed op-eds in local newspapers like the Pensacola Times.

That academics even at Christian colleges are troubled by Trump also isn’t surprising to Baker. “The more education you have, the more you value a certain type of discourse. And Trump violates that. He’s rude, and he doesn’t care how anybody feels.

“Christian college professors are still college professors,” he said.

Abortion a Key
But despite the polling, a positive sign for Trump is that even some of those like Baker, who struggle with supporting the president, are ultimately deciding to back him.

Like many faith leaders, Baker was troubled when Trump politicized the National Prayer Breakfast in February, where, according to the Associated Press, he held up two newspaper headlines about his acquittal by the Senate after impeachment then attacked Republican senator Mitt Romney, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic.

“You haven’t experienced a conversion that brings with it a drive toward continuing repentance and personal holiness,” Baker wrote in an open letter to Trump.

Baker continued, “Please don’t shame us by attending events like the National Prayer Breakfast and turning a meeting based on faith into another avenue for political combat and vindication of your grievances.

“Here’s a Bible verse that might appeal to you and help with that. It’s Romans 12:20, which reads, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Maybe you should try that,” he wrote.

But despite all that, he is supporting Trump, he said, because of the issue of abortion.

“I view that cause as fundamentally about justice. In the way some people view the civil rights movement, I prioritize that more than every other issue,” he said.

A Call to Repent
Another sign of the soul searching among evangelicals came last week, when the National Association of Evangelicals released a statement, which in part calls on evangelicals to repent in ways that seem to run counter to Trump’s positions. The Christian college association endorsed the statement.

“Despite the example of Jesus and the teaching of Scripture, many of us have not adequately opposed the unjust systems that fail people of color, women, children and the unborn. We have not always fulfilled God’s commands to protect the immigrant, refugee and poor. We have not always treated those who hold different opinions — both inside and outside of our faith — with dignity,” the statement said.

Despite the conservative image of Christian colleges, Hoogstra said there are different viewpoints, noting many colleges have student groups focused on climate change and immigration.

In preparation for Hoogstra’s interview with Inside Higher Ed, the Christian college association surveyed the chief student development officers at their member campuses.

Those at the 54 campuses that responded estimated that 54 percent of their students are Republican and 41 percent are Democrats. Forty-one percent of the campuses have a Republican student club, while 32 percent have a Democratic student group. And 81 percent of the campuses said that they invite speakers from both political parties.

Richard Mouw, who served as president of Fuller Seminary before retiring in 2013, also sees a generational change among evangelical students. He recalled Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern being booed by students at the seminary during a speech in 1972.

Two years ago, he said, Wheaton College held a series of sermons against racism, where civil rights activists spoke. “All the students got up and gave them a standing ovation,” he recalled.

As some evangelicals struggle with reconciling their faith with politics, Mouw is helping organize a group called Pro-Life Evangelists for Biden, which is urging opponents of abortion to take a broader view.

Many women get abortions because they do not have enough money to care for another child, he said in an interview. Biden’s policies to raise the minimum wage, provide affordable health care and free childcare work to minimize abortions, he said.

Among those who agree is Daniel Lee, academic dean for the seminary’s Center for Asian American Theology and Ministry. “It’s about life. It’s not just about abortion. A lot of people don’t just think about the one issue, but the broader issue of social justice. About Muslims, refugees and how you treat the marginalized,” he said.

“If you don’t vote against Trump, you’re missing what the Gospel is all about, what our faith is all about,” said Lee, who was among 1,600 faith leaders who endorsed Biden through Vote Common Good, a Christian political group supporting the Democratic candidate.

“Love your neighbor,” he said. “It’s so basic.”

Source: Posted October 16, 2020; Retrieved December 8, 2020 from: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/16/christian-professors-try-reconcile-abortion-views-disdain-trump

—————–

Appendix B VIDEO – Why Evangelicals Are Still Voting For Donald Trump – https://youtu.be/-YAbuONPfVc

VICE News
Posted Aug 26, 2020 – Not as many Evangelical Christians are turning against Trump as you might think.

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Long Train of Abuses: Overseas Masters – Cannot See Overseas

Posted on December 7, 2020 in Ethos, Government, Locations, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

What is the weather right now in Amsterdam, London, Paris and/or Washington DC?

Do you know? Does it even matter?

Chances are, the people in those cities also do not think of the specificities of our weather in the Caribbean. They might think it is warm in the winter and hot in the summer, but they may not understand the flooding-drought cycles, the humidity or the pervasive threat of tropical cyclones: Hurricanes.

They do not know … and may not care.

This is the alarming dangers of having Overseas Masters; they may not appreciate the need or landscape for local efficiencies in our daily stewardship. They may not care about the details and thusly, may not even allow the audience for us to enunciate the challenges of our problems or the solutions. They may even veto regulations and measures on our end that are best practices because they might violate some political “day-dream” on their end.

The concern may be trivial … or it may be life-or-death. This issue is just another scenario where there is a Long Train of Abuse for colonial pawns … compared to their imperial-host counterparts.

Here is an example of trivial:

Imagine this scenario …

… a Group Purchasing Agreement for Coast Guard boats is vetoed because a different manufacturer offers a better discount on their boats and snow removal equipment all bundled together.

This is our reality in the Caribbean. The need for us to deploy the best local governing strategy, tactic and implementation have never been greater, yet our hands may be tied for our own self-determination.

Now for an example approaching life-or-death. See this story below from Martinique in the French Caribbean. This is the grave matter of environmental poisoning, with a chemical not allowed in Metropolitan France but tolerated in the French Antilles. Grasp the summary from this excerpt:

“… the issue is how overseas territories get treated; there’s contempt, distance, condescension, lack of respect.”

Say it ain’t so!

See the full news article here, as published by the BBC:

Title: The Caribbean islands poisoned by a carcinogenic pesticide
By: Tim Whewell, BBC News, Martinique

“First we were enslaved. Then we were poisoned.” That’s how many on Martinique see the history of their French Caribbean island that, to tourists, means sun, rum, and palm-fringed beaches. Slavery was abolished in 1848. But today the islanders are victims again – of a toxic pesticide called chlordecone that’s poisoned the soil and water and been linked to unusually high rates of prostate cancer.

“They never told us it was dangerous,” Ambroise Bertin says. “So people were working, because they wanted the money. We didn’t have any instructions about what was, and wasn’t, good. That’s why a lot of people are poisoned.” He’s talking about chlordecone, a chemical in the form of a white powder that plantation workers were told to put under banana trees, to protect them from insects.

Ambroise did that job for many years. Later, he got prostate cancer, a disease that is commoner on Martinique and its sister French island of Guadeloupe than anywhere else in the world. And scientists blame chlordecone, a persistent organic pollutant related to DDT. It was authorised for use in the French West Indies long after its harmful effects became widely known.

“They used to tell us: don’t eat or drink anything while you’re putting it down,” Ambroise, now 70, remembers. But that’s the only clue he and other workers in Martinique’s banana plantations in the 1970s, 80s and early 90s had about the possible danger. Few if any were told to wear gloves or masks. Now, many have suffered cancer and other illnesses.

Chlordecone is an endocrine disrupter, meaning it can affect hormonal systems.

One of the world’s leading experts on the chemical, Prof Luc Multigner, of Rennes University in France, says epidemiological studies have shown increased risk of premature births and increased risk of adverse brain development in children at the exposure levels people in Martinique and Guadeloupe face through contaminated food consumption.

He also says: “There is enough toxicological and experimental data to conclude that chlordecone is carcinogenic.”

Following a detailed study Prof Multigner and colleagues conducted on Guadeloupe in 2010, he estimates chlordecone is responsible for about 5-10% of prostate cancer cases in the French West Indies, amounting to between 50 to 100 new cases per year, out of a population of 800,000.

Listen now online to Martinique: The poisoning of paradise

You can also download the Crossing Continents podcast

Chlordecone stays in the soil for decades, possibly for centuries. So more than 20 years after the chemical ceased to be used, much of the land on Martinique cannot be used for growing vegetables, even though bananas and other fruit on trees are safe.

Rivers and coastal waters are also contaminated, which means many fishermen cannot work. And 92% of Martinicans have traces of chlordecone in their blood.

“You try to have a healthy kind of life. So maybe you will limit the effects of the poison. But you are not sure,” says historian Valy Edmond-Mariette, aged 31. “My friends and I were asking ourselves: do we really want children? Because if we give them breast milk, maybe they will have chlordecone in their blood. And I think nobody should be asking themselves this kind of question, because it’s awful.”

Production of chlordecone was stopped in the United States – where it was marketed as Kepone – as far back as 1975, after workers at a factory producing it in Virginia complained of uncontrollable shaking, blurred vision and sexual problems. In 1979, the World Health Organization classed the pesticide as potentially carcinogenic.

But in 1981 the French authorities authorised chlordecone for use in banana plantations in the French West Indies – and even though it was finally banned in 1990, growers lobbied for – and got – permission to carry on using stocks until 1993.

That’s why – for many Martinicans – chlordecone stirs up painful historical memories. “A lot of people talk about chlordecone like a new kind of slavery,” says Valy, whose own ancestors were enslaved. For two centuries, until 1848, Martinique was a colony that depended on the production of sugar by enslaved people. And in the late 20th Century, some of the big banana growers who used chlordecone were the direct descendants of those slave-owning sugar exporters, part of a small white minority known as the békés.

“Those are still the same group of people who have uncontested domination of the land,” says Guilaine Sabine, activist in a grassroots organisation called Zero Chlordecone Zero Poison. As well as campaigning for free blood tests for everyone on the island, members of the group have taken part in a new wave of protests over the last year aiming to draw attention to businesses that activists say have profited from the production and use of toxic pesticides. The demonstrations have been small, and some protesters have been convicted of violence against the police. But they reflect wider anger over the slow pace of France’s response to the chlordecone catastrophe.

It was only in 2018 – after more than 10 years of campaigning by French Caribbean politicians – that President Emmanuel Macron accepted the state’s responsibility for what he called “an environmental scandal”. He said France had suffered “collective blindness” over the issue. A law to create a compensation fund for agricultural workers has now been passed. But payouts haven’t started yet.

Martinique is an integral part of France, but one of the island’s MPs, Serge Letchimy, says it would never have taken the state so many years to react if there had been pollution on the same scale in Brittany, for example, or elsewhere in European France. “The issue is how overseas territories get treated. There’s contempt, distance, condescension, lack of respect.”

Prof Multigner says the original documents of the official body that authorised use of the pesticide in 1981 have disappeared for unknown reasons, hampering attempts to investigate how the decision was taken.

But the state’s representative on Martinique, Prefect Stanislas Cazelles, insists there was no discrimination against the islanders.

“The Republic is on the side of the oppressed, of the weakest here, just as in the European part of France,” he says.

The state is working to find ways to decontaminate the land – some scientists think chlordecone can potentially be biodegraded quite quickly – and ensure there is no trace of the pesticide in the food chain. And the prefect hopes the independent commission that will judge compensation claims will generally rule in favour of former farm workers who say they are victims of the pesticide.

Ambroise, who worked with chlordecone for so many years, had an operation to remove his cancer in 2015. But he still suffers from thyroid disease and other problems that may be connected to chlordecone’s known effects on the hormonal system.

Meanwhile the historian, Valy, had blood cancer when she was just 25. Her doctor does not think it was due to chlordecone. But Valy says no-one can be sure.

Worrying about the effects of the pesticide, she says, can be exhausting. “But in the end, you can’t control everything. You have to admit that to some extent, you’re poisoned, so you just deal with it.” 😐

Source: Posted November 20, 2020; Retrieved December 6, 2020 from: https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-54992051?fbclid=IwAR06kJWJa0snsL2On46rTiCpNKfxOFEhyF_G3uiyXKUk9Lpsp9hVMZjl60Q

This is not theoretical; this is the Long Train of Abuses we have had to endure here in the Caribbean.

This is the continuation of the monthly Teaching Series from the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean. The book presents issues that are germane to Caribbean life and culture and how to address them: problems and solutions. For this month of December 2020, we are looking at the Long Train of Abuses that could-would-should move our people to change, to reform and transform. This is entry 2-of-6; this one asserts that a system of Overseas Masters is inherently flawed as a strategy for governance in a local community – “they” cannot see overseas.

Too many things can go wrong.
Too many things have gone wrong.

These “gone wrong’ considerations are among the lessons for this Teaching Series this month. See the full catalog of the series this month:

Long Train of Abuses: Enough Already – Colonialism Be Gone!
Long Train of Abuses: Overseas Masters – Cannot See Overseas
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Leadership in Government – Reconciling Trump
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Character in Society – Human Rights
Long Train of Abuses: Dutch Hypocrisy – Liberal Amsterdam vs Conservative Antilles
Long Train of Abuses: Puerto Rico – “Take the Heat” or “Get out of the Kitchen”

This submission looks specifically at an example in the French Antilles. But the foregoing example of French mis-management is just another case of “For Export Only”-labeled products. For stakeholders in the host country, their overseas territory is far enough to be considered for “exports”. This is why the Caribbean region must no longer endure these Long Train of Abuses.

The Go Lean book, serving as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), asserts that Caribbean stakeholders must instantiate the technocratic security and governing apparatus to deliver in the Caribbean for the people of the Caribbean; for us by us. Our motivation is economic as well. Imagine our “trade” prospects.

In the foregoing news story, the threat on locally-grown produce was exposed because of the contaminating agents still in the soil in Martinique. Imagine a neighboring Caribbean island – i.e. Dominica – consuming fresh produce from Martinique. This is why any effort for a Caribbean Single Market must be coupled with a Security-Public-Safety apparatus as well.

Enough already! We do not want to be just an Export or Foreign Market. No, we want to be considered neighbors; we must protect each other.

We have addressed this theme before. Consider this sample of previous blog-commentaries that highlighted the roles and responsibilities to foster regional trade and regional harmony:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19570	European Role Model: Not when ‘Push’ comes to ‘Shove’ Under normal conditions, the EU boast Free Movement of people and universal protections of civil rights in every jurisdiction. But, now something has broken that European tranquility, the COVID-19 pandemic.The end-result may be closed borders, banned exports of critical supplies and withholding of humanitarian aid. That is “me first” nationalism, instead of the best-practice of interdependence.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=18834	A Lesson in History: Free Trade Agreement of the Americas Free Trade would allow for all 30 member-states to have a tariff-free trading environment. We need to consider this at least to fulfill our Food Security needs.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17282	Way Forward – For Independence: Territory Realities A roadmap for a “bigger organization” tied to the geographical neighborhood, as opposed to the colonial legacy with “overseas masters” up to 8,000 miles away.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15567	Caribbean Unity? Need French Antilles There must be a regional integration that will integrate the entire region. Yes, this effort posits that any integration without the French territories is like building a skyscraper on a shaky foundation. What a skyscraper really needs is: Bedrock, Baby! The Caribbean Union needs all French territories.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10554	Welcoming the French in Formal Integration Efforts The islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy want to do more with their tropical neighbors; they want to confederate, collaborate and convene on different issues related to community development and nation-building. The rest of the Caribbean should embrace this invitation.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10043	Caribbean Integration Plan for Greater Prosperity Greater prosperity can be had in the Caribbean only by embracing regional integration. A new model of interdependence and regional integration is far better than the status quo. Like the African proverb says:”If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.

“For export only” …

… just this label seems to be the catalyst for investigating the possibility of abuse. See this related story in this VIDEO here:

VIDEO – For Export Only – Pesticides (1981) – https://youtu.be/CPFLPGL_Lrg

Concord Media
Posted August 6, 2015 – Available to buy at: http://www.concordmedia.org.uk/produc… or buy or rent and watch now on: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/forexporto…

The export of pesticides banned in the West, to third world countries, and the disastrous effects of this policy.

Made in 1981 this film reflects the cultural attitudes of the country and language of the time it was made. The issues raised are timeless. The film quality may not be to modern standards.

Distributed by Concord Media
Website: http://concordmedia.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ConcordMedia
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ConcordMedia59
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/concordmedia/vod_pages

In general, it is no longer acceptable for “imperial countries” to still own colonies – the inherent threats were manifested in World War I and World War II. In the post WWII reconciliations, it was frown upon to perpetuate colonial ecosystems. To navigate around such a Eliminate Colonies mandate, the Republic of France simply declared their Caribbean territories as a member-sub-state of France, an Overseas Department.

These initiatives proved to just be empty gestures …

So now, while “on paper” these 4 Caribbean islands (and French Guiana too) are supposed to be part of First World France, it is irrefutable that France treats them simply as Third World territories. For example, as depicted in the foregoing news story of shipping and tolerating dangerous chemicals that had previously been banned in Metropolitan France. 🙁

This is a continuation of the Long Train of Abuses.

So this is our urging for all Caribbean member-states of French heritage; (plus British, Dutch and American):

Get out … now!

We hereby urge all stakeholders to lean-in to an alternative, a better Way Forward, this Go Lean roadmap. This is our plan to make our regional homeland a better place to live, work and play.

Yes, we can. Yes, we must! 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Long Train of Abuses: Enough Already … from Colonialism

Posted on December 5, 2020 in Ethos, Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

For anyone in an abusive relationship, here is what your family, friends … and the world expects of you:

Get Out!

It is easier said than done – see the tongue-in-cheek song in the Appendix VIDEO below – but getting out is the quest, the goal and the end destination. This applies to all victims: individuals … and countries.

In fact, this was the actuality of the 1776 Declaration of Independence for the original 13 colonies that became the United States of America. Here is a powerful excerpt from that text, as recorded on Page 10 in the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean:

… Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these [former] colonies [of European imperialism]; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.

This was modus operandi for the Americans to establish New Guards. This was also the assertion of the Go Lean book. The 30 member-states of the Caribbean region has also endured a long train of abuses from its historicity, actuality and colonial heritage.

It’s enough already!

The same as it was the right time for the 13 original American Colonies to usurp their status quo, demand independence and appoint New Guards, it is past time for the Caribbean to take this stand. In 2013, the Go Lean book presented this:

Declaration of Interdependence
We, the people of Caribbean democracies find it necessary to accede and form a confederated Union, the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, with our geographic neighbors of common interest.

In addition, that Declaration “submitted facts”, detailing the shift in governance that must occur in the region. (Page 12):

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

Every month, the movement behind the Go Lean book presents a Teaching Series to address issues germane to Caribbean life and culture. For this month of December 2020, we are looking at the Long Train of Abuses that could-would-should move our people to change, to reform and transform. This is entry 1-of-6, the first one; it introduces the thesis that “enough already”; we are past the time when we should have made these changes. Consider here, the full catalog of the series this month:

Long Train of Abuses: Enough Already – Colonialism Be Gone!
Long Train of Abuses: Overseas Masters – Cannot See Overseas
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Leadership in Government – Reconciling Trump
Long Train of Abuses: Religious Character in Society – Human Rights
Long Train of Abuses: Dutch Hypocrisy – Liberal Amsterdam vs Conservative Antilles
Long Train of Abuses: Puerto Rico – “Take the Heat” or “Get out of the Kitchen”

The Go Lean book, serving as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), asserts that Caribbean stakeholders must do the heavy-lifting to mitigate the societal defects, of which there are many. Our focus for Forging Change must consider both Top-Down and Bottoms-Up approaches. The purpose of the Go Lean roadmap is to optimize the economic, security and governing engines of Caribbean society, so there is a lot to consider.

There is not just One Stumbling Block that we must overcome; there are many. The purpose of this month’s Teaching Series is to focus on those Stumbling Blocks that have been aged for centuries here in our region. This is why we say, it is past time to reform and transform.

Enough already …

We must learn, as depicted in the opening of this commentary, that the structures of colonialism were not designed for our best interests, but rather the best interests of our colonizing host empires. So if we still maintain the same colonial structure that was instituted centuries ago, we are already behind in the race for the needed protection and prosperity in modern life.

Yes, we must finally Get Out of the abusive relationships that we have endured for such long times.

To the 18 (of 30) member-states that have a heritage of British colonialism – just 1 of the 5 – we have repeatedly warned to remove all vestiges of the Westminster ecosystem. It does not work! See this theme as it was presented in these previous blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=21138	Brexit Manifestation: Not So Good for Britain or Colonies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16317	When Queen ‘Elizabeth’ Dies … what’s next?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13993	First Steps – Following the ‘Dignified and Efficient’ British Model
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13579	Colonialism’s Bloody History Revisited – ‘Thor’ Movie
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12447	State of the Union: Deficient ‘Westminster System’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11420	‘Black British’ and still ‘Less Than’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9485	10 Things We Want from the UK and 10 Things We Do Not Want

Life imitating art …

… the Netflix TV Series “The Crown Season 4” featured the storyline of British Prime Minister (PM) Margaret Thatcher’s rise and fall.

Three episodes from the fourth season — “Favourites,” “Fagan” and “48:1” — strongly imply that [Queen] Elizabeth objected to Thatcher’s harsh government spending cuts and refusal to impose economic sanctions on South Africa’s apartheid regime. The show depicts the queen politely but firmly confronting the prime minister over these matters during private meetings and “audiences” at Buckingham Palace.

The drama from this TV Show dramatizes that PM Thatcher had a clear conflict of interest regarding South Africa, in that “her son was an investor in projects promoted and supported by the Apartheid South African government“. When the UK government (and many other international governments) were called on to impose economic sanctions against South Africa, the UK PM was the sole hold-out. See the series; consume it at your leisure. The performances are awe-inspiring; see this summary of one key character’s performances in this VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Best of Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher | The Crown – https://youtu.be/gZgqQsFvyMM

Netflix UK & Ireland
Posted Nov 25, 2020 – Best known for her sensational performances in The X Files, The Fall and Sex Education, Gillian Anderson plays Britain’s first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, in The Crown Season 4. Here are her best moments from the series. That voice though…

➡️SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: http://bit.ly/29kBByr

About Netflix:
Netflix is the world’s leading streaming entertainment service with over 195 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without adverts or commitments.

Find Netflix UK on:
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Or visit the Netflix WEBSITE: http://nflx.it/29BcWb5

Best of Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher | The Crown https://youtube.com/NetflixUK

In the 1980s, Elizabeth clashes with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher while Prince Charles enters a tumultuous marriage with Lady Diana Spencer.

This foregoing show is set in London. This city is the cradle of the British brand of democracy around the world, with the seat of government for Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth II, the Head of State of the UK and the Head of the Commonwealth of Nations. So we in the Caribbean – whose population reflect a majority Black-and-Brown demographic, just like South Africa – need to add this historicity to the “Long Train of Abuses” in our orthodoxy. Thatcher’s refusal to endorse the tougher program of economic sanctions against Apartheid, as originally laid out by other Commonwealth leaders, is a direct “slap in the face” to our race of people.

Colonialism has been the source of many of our toxic environments. Enough already!

We can do bad all by ourselves; we do not need a toxic hegemony to impede our societal progress. We should never “love people that do not love us back”; nor sacrifice for people that will not sacrifice for us.

This is why we say: Enough already!

At one point, South Africa said “Enough Already”, as they shed their colonial shackles; they migrated to a Republic with a more representative constitution.

This is our urging for all Caribbean member-states of British heritage. But don’t get it twisted …

… the same issue is applicable for the other colonial legacies: American, Dutch, French and Spanish. While we cannot change the past, we do not have to be chained to it. This goal, as depicted in the Go Lean book, is to learn from the past, value our culture, but adapt our society for the challenges of the future. See this excerpt from the first page of the book:

Though a lot of the options the CU advocates were available to Caribbean member-states in the past, the reasons and rationales as to why they were not pursued is now of no consequence. We cannot ignore the past, as it defines who we are, but we do not wish to be shackled to the past either, for then, we miss the future. So we must learn from the past, our experiences and that of other states in similar situations, mount our feet solidly to the ground and then lean-in, to reach for new heights; forward, upward and onward.

Lean-in or adapt? A better way to state the action is to “reform and transform”.

This is how we change our world, after a long train of abuses, by feeling-saying-doing: “No; Stop; and Get Out”.

We hereby urge all stakeholders to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap; this is our plan to make our regional homeland a better place to live, work and play.

Yes, we can … 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xxii. Whereas the heritage of our lands share the distinction of cultural tutelage from European and American imperialists that forged their tongues upon our consciousness, it is imperative to form a society that is neutral and tolerant of the mother tongue influences of our people to foster efficient and effective communications among our citizens.

xxiii. Whereas many countries in our region are dependent Overseas Territory of imperial powers, the systems of governance can be instituted on a regional and local basis, rather than requiring oversight or accountability from distant masters far removed from their subjects of administration. The Federation must facilitate success in autonomous rule by sharing tools, systems and teamwork within the geographical region.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————

Appendix VIDEO – 50 Years to Leave Your Lover – https://youtu.be/K4xoHjNjxus

Simon & Garfunkel
Posted August 25, 2015 – “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” by Simon & Garfunkel from The Concert in Central Park

Lyrics:
“The problem is all inside your head”
She said to me
“The answer is easy if you
Take it logically
I’d like to help you in your struggle
To be free
There must be fifty ways
To leave your lover”

She said, “It’s really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning
Won’t be lost or misconstrued
But I’ll repeat myself
At the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways
To leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover”

You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee

And get yourself free

Ooh, slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just listen to me
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free

She said, “It grieves me so
To see you in such pain
I wish there was something I could do
To make you smile again”
I said, “I appreciate that
And would you please explain
About the fifty ways?”
She said, “Why don’t we both
Just sleep on it tonight
And I believe in the morning
You’ll begin to see the light”
And then she kissed me
And I realized she probably was right
There must be fifty ways
To leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover

You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free
Slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just listen to me
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free

#SimonAndGarfunkel #50WaystoLeaveYourLover #TheConcertInCentralPark

Music in this video

Song: 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (Live at Central Park, New York, NY – September 19, 1981)
Artist: Simon & Garfunkel
Writers: Paul Simon
Licensed to YouTube by: SME (on behalf of Columbia); CMRRA, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, UMPG Publishing, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., LatinAutorPerf, UMPI, LatinAutor – UMPG, and 9 Music Rights Societies

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