Milestone – Go Lean…Caribbean

Tag: Milestone

Blog # 1000 – MasterClass: Economics and Society

Posted on April 21, 2020 in Economics, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Here’s an urgent inquiry to the 30 member-states that comprise the political Caribbean:

What do you need right now?

With the “pangs of distress” of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic devastating the world today, it may be obvious what the communities’ needs are:

Universal Testing
Treatment Protocols for anyone affected
A Flu-Shot / Vaccine
Rebooting of the Economy

This is right for the Caribbean member-states … and the whole world actually. This last item – Rebooting of the Economy – was an acute need even before this pandemic. This was truly what was needed; and what is needed now even more urgently.

The publishers behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean – with no foresight of 2020’s Coronavirus threat – detailed the sad state of affairs for the Caribbean economy and societal life in general. The book stated in its opening words (Page 3):

There is something wrong in the Caribbean. It is the greatest address in the world for its 4 language groups, but instead of the world “beating a path” to these doors, the people of the Caribbean have “beat down their doors” to get out. …

Many people love their homelands and yet still begrudgingly leave; this is due mainly to the lack of economic opportunities. The Caribbean has tried, strenuously, over the decades, to diversify their economy …

So how now …? How do we reboot the Caribbean economy now, even though we needed to do it all the while in the past? The answer is found in a previous blog-commentary that was published early in the history of this movement (April 21, 2014), at the start of the practice of publishing these commentaries:

‘Only at the precipice, do they change’
We’re on the brink of destruction and you’re right. But it’s only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve. This is our moment. Don’t take it from us. We are close to an answer.

April 21, 2014 – exactly 6 years to the day – was only the 2^nd month of this publishing practice; that was the 51^st blog in our history. Today, we are publishing this one, the 1000^th. This 1000^th submission is truly a monumental milestone; and ideal for these monumental times.

The reality of the Coronavirus-COVID-19 here in April 2020 means that we are truly “at the brink of destruction”; this is the State of our Caribbean Union; we must now “find the will to change”, to reform and transform our society.

How do we go about this change? What is the answer?

Now, is the time for a class, a MasterClass … a MasterClass on Economics in Society.

Huh?! What?! Why?!

This MasterClass was taught by this Nobel Laureate Economist Paul Krugman – see his profile in Appendix A below – and see the Topic Highlights of the MasterClass here:

See this introduction to this MasterClass in this VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Paul Krugman Teaches Economics and Society | Official Trailer | MasterClass – https://youtu.be/JRhvnlQHKc0

MasterClass
Paul Krugman’s work is defined by his belief in the power of economic thought to open minds and change history.

Learn more about Paul Krugman Teaches Economics and Society: https://www.masterclass.com/pk

In his economics class, Paul says that “economics covers 70% of life.” Not the passions and deep meanings, but everything that keeps clothes on our backs, food on our plates, and the trains running on time. The economic lens can help tell us how income inequality happens, it can predict how tariffs on Chinese steel will play out, and it can steer us toward more effective policies to get us out of a recession.

Over the course of his 40+ year career, Paul Krugman has become one of the most influential economists of our time. He is a New York Times columnist, lecturer, best-selling author, and won a Nobel for his theories on international trade and economies of scale. Through it all, he’s made it his mission to translate complex and abstract economic concepts into plain English.

Paul Krugman’s MasterClass on economics and society will teach you the core economic concepts that drive our world, how those concepts impact current issues, and how to develop strategies to become a better informed and empowered citizen. His online economics course includes case studies of his works, his process for writing a column, his resources for reliable news and data, and more. Through 22 video lessons and a customized workbook tailored to each chapter Paul teaches you:

The principles of economic thought

How to think beyond bias, slogans, and partisanship

The basics of international trade • Debunking myths about taxes

What’s wrong with the health care market and how to fix it

How the Fed works and its role in recessions and crises

What happened in the ‘08 crash

The impact of China’s rise on the US job market

How to be an informed and skeptical reader of economics

His process for writing a column

More from MasterClass:

David Axelrod and Karl Rove Teach Campaign Strategy and Messaging: https://www.masterclass.com/dakr

Bob Woodward Teaches Investigative Journalism: https://www.masterclass.com/bw

Dr. Jane Goodall Teaches Conservation https://www.masterclass.com/jg

About MasterClass:
MasterClass makes it possible for anyone to learn from the best. Get inspired with classes from 75+ world-renowned instructors on cooking, photography, writing, performance, and much more. Watch video lessons anytime, anywhere on mobile, desktop, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.

Subscribe: https://mstr.cl/30SH1wj

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/masterclasso…

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/masterclass

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/masterclass #MasterClass #PaulKrugman #economics

Category: Education

Seriously, we urge all Caribbean stakeholders to consume this MasterClass. See the thorough review of the MasterClass in Appendix B below. (Connect to the actual link for the paid class here: https://www.masterclass.com/pk)

One definition of insanity is to do the same things again and again expecting a different result.

The movement behind the Go Lean book has consistently messaged against the Zombie Economic Ideas operating in the Caribbean region. It is inconceivable how one Caribbean member-state after another repeat the same economic mistakes – suicide actually. Let’s revisit some examples here-now, and see how this theme had been highlighted in these previous Go Lean blog-commentaries; see this sample list here:

Prevalence of fossil fuels despite abundance of alternative energy sources
Former slaves doubling-down on the same failed governing structures that their former slave masters championed.
Giving incentives to cruise line operators to undermine stay-over tourism.
Charging excessive aviation taxes to deter airline traffic into the region – making cruises more feasible.
Getting in debt in a foreign currency. Getting new debt to pay-off old date? Why repeat?
Charging fees – rent – for doing nothing which curtails entrepreneurship and direct foreign investments.
Monopolizing domestic banking business with foreign banks.
Repeating the same Economic Policy Disasters in History – Learning nothing.

A MasterClass on Zombie Economic Ideas …

Yeah! Bring it on.

This is the latest milestone, a nice round figure of 1000. But this is also a nice juncture to look back at the previous milestones. See these previous Go Lean blog-commentary milestones here (in reverse chronological order):

Date	Description
June 7, 2019	Blog # 900 – 2020: Where Vision is Perfected
September 14, 2018	Blog # 800 – An Inconvenient Truth – Caribbean Version
May 17, 2017	Blog # 700 – We Need to Talk!
March 4, 2017	Blog # 600 – State of Caribbean Union: Hope and Change
November 2, 2016	Blog # 500 – Vision and Values for a ‘New’ Caribbean
February 20, 2016	Blog # 400 – A Vision of Freeport (Bahamas 2nd City) as a Self-Governing Entity
May 18, 2015	Blog # 300 – Legacies: Cause and Effect
November 28, 2014	Blog # 200 – Ignorance is no excuse – Milestone in Enlightenment
August 26, 2014	Blog # 150 – Why So Long? Can’t We Just…
June 15, 2014	Blog # 100 – College World Series Time

The movement behind the Go Lean book has consistently monitored and messaged about the need to reform and transform the Caribbean societal engines. This need is heightened all the more so during this current fight against the Coronavirus threat.

The ordinary times are no more; these are extraordinary times.

We have no excuse now not to change, adapt, transform, improve, optimize, thrive … finally. Let’s get started. Let’s lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap to make our regional 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 – 13):

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 – Nobel Laureate Economist Paul Krugman

Paul Robin Krugman (born February 28, 1953)^[3] is an American economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for The New York Times.^[4] In 2008, Krugman was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to New Trade Theory and New Economic Geography.^[5] The Prize Committee cited Krugman’s work explaining the patterns of international trade and the geographic distribution of economic activity, by examining the effects of economies of scale and of consumer preferences for diverse goods and services.^[6]

Krugman was previously a professor of economics at MIT, and later at Princeton University. He retired from Princeton in June 2015, and holds the title of professor emeritus there. He also holds the title of Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics.^[7] Krugman was President of the Eastern Economic Association in 2010,^[8] and is among the most influential economists in the world.^[9] He is known in academia for his work on international economics (including trade theory and international finance),^[10][11] economic geography, liquidity traps, and currency crises.

Krugman is the author or editor of 27 books, including scholarly works, textbooks, and books for a more general audience, and has published over 200 scholarly articles in professional journals and edited volumes.^[12] He has also written several hundred columns on economic and political issues for The New York Times, Fortune and Slate. A 2011 survey of economics professors named him their favorite living economist under the age of 60.^[13] As a commentator, Krugman has written on a wide range of economic issues including income distribution, taxation, macroeconomics, and international economics. Krugman considers himself a modern liberal, referring to his books, his blog on The New York Times, and his 2007 book The Conscience of a Liberal.^[14] His popular commentary has attracted widespread attention and comments, both positive and negative.^[15] According to the Open Syllabus Project, Krugman is the second most frequently cited author on college syllabi for economics courses.^[16]
…
Source: Retrieved April 19, 2020 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Krugman

———————

Appendix B VIDEO – Paul Krugman Masterclass Review – Is It Worth the money? – https://youtu.be/efel_G9C_XI

LouisPee
Posted Dec 19, 2018 – Grab Paul Krugman’s economics Masterclass here: http://bit.ly/2Qt4tyf

Today we complete a review of Paul Krugman’s Masterclass course on economics and society. We discuss each component of the Masterclass from the workbook to the lesson plan and go into the curriculum as though you purchased it. We then consider if it’s worth it for you based on your interest and existing knowledge in economics and society.

If you’re a fan of Paul Krugman’s writings from the New York Times, or blog. You may want to support him by getting his [official] Masterclass here: http://bit.ly/2Qt4tyf

I personally purchased the all-access Masterclass which gives me access to all the present and future classes. http://bit.ly/MasterclassAll

#PaulKrugman #Masterclass #Review #Economics #Society #NYTimes #Krugman #Economy #Crash #PropertyMarket

Category: Education

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Debt, Disaster, Milestone, Model, Transform

Blog # 900 – 2020: Where Vision is Perfected

Posted on June 7, 2019 in Ethos, Planning, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Do “you” have 20/20 vision?

20/20 vision is a term used to express normal visual acuity (the clarity or sharpness of vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet. If you have 20/20 vision, you can see clearly at 20 feet what should normally be seen at that distance. If you have 20/100 vision, it means that you must be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 100 feet.

So do “you”?

I am not talking to you the reader, rather “you” the community; (with a focus on the Caribbean). Do we have clarity and sharpness in the execution of our societal deliveries? 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 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 …

… we need to see clearly. See this quest as messaged by a Caribbean musical artist in the VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Jimmy Cliff – I Can See Clearly Now (Video Version) – https://youtu.be/MrHxhQPOO2c

JimmyCliffVEVO
Published on May 3, 2014 – Watch the official music video for “I Can See Clearly Now” performed by Jimmy Cliff Music video by Jimmy Cliff performing I Can See Clearly Now. (C) 1993 Sony BMG Music Entertainment #JimmyCliff #ICanSeeClearlyNow #Vevo #Reggae #OfficialMusicVideo

Category: Music

Writers: Johnny Nash

Licensed to YouTube by: SME; PEDL, LatinAutor, LatinAutor – Warner Chappell, ASCAP, IMPEL, UBEM, Warner Chappell, Wixen Music Publishing, and 11 Music Rights Societies

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. Perfecting our vision to 20/20 would mean executing better on the 3 C’s – conceiving, communicating and compelling – the plans, strategies, tactics and implementations.

We are already pursuing these activities! While we are planning for the new year – 2020 – we have already published this Go Lean book and distributed it widely in the Caribbean region for the quest of forging change-correction in the Caribbean vision. We have also promoted the book aggressively by publishing related blog-commentaries. While the book was published in November 2013, the commentaries started in February 2014. Now we are up to a new milestone:

This submission is blog-commentary # 900.

These prior entries are all categorized and tagged for different subject areas. A “Vision 2020” presentation is all associated with Planning activities. Of these 900 blogs, the number tagged with a Planning category is (as of this publication date): 125

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).

Many others are thinking New Vision for 2020.

Do a quick search for “2020 Vision Plan “on Google, and you will get some amazing results; see this sample here (retrieved June 6, 2019):

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/plans/vision-2020-cwp/vision-2030-cwp.page	NYC Comprehensive Waterfront Plan: Vision 2020 – NYC.gov The NYC Comprehensive Waterfront Plan aims at making New York City’s 520 miles of waterfront accessible, active, and resilient. This plan provides a vision for the city’s waterfront for the next decade and beyond. The plan will be released by the end of 2020.
https://www.njit.edu/2020vision/plan-success/	2020 Vision: A Plan for Success New Jersey Institute of Technology strategic plan studies the college’s potential to achieve important goals for students, learning, & research.
https://www.charlottecentercity.org/center-city-initiatives-2/plans/2020-vision-plan/	Center City 2020 Vision Plan – Charlotte Center City Partners Center City 2020 Vision Plan Charlotte’s Center City has undergone dramatic growth and change over the past decade. From the development of new cultural ..
http://www.buffalo.edu/ub2020.html	UB 2020: University at Buffalo’s strategic plan UB 2020 is UB’s far-reaching vision for our continued growth as a world-class public research university.
https://www.sandiegounified.org/vision-2020-and-mission-statement	Vision 2020 & Mission Statement – San Diego Unified School District A community-based school reform plan that engages all parents, staff, students and community members. It will result in a high level of confidence in public schools to develop a world-class school system for all of students. It culminates with graduation of the Class of 2020.
https://www.who.int/blindness/partnerships/vision2020/en/	VISION 2020 for World Health Organization VISION 2020 is a global initiative that aims to eliminate avoidable blindness as a public health issue by the year 2020. VISION 2020 is a partnership that provides guidance, technical and resource support to countries that have formally adopted its agenda.

Reform and transform …

… seems to be a consistent theme among these preceding samples.

For this effort to reform and transform the Caribbean, we are in good company, for the act of planning is a noble pursuit; it is both an art and a science. See how the Go Lean book presented these 21 Advocacies under the category of Planning for a new Caribbean (Page 124):

10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region
10 Ways to Improve Trade
10 Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce
10 Ways to Model the EU
10 Ways to Make the Caribbean Better
10 Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed
10 Ways to Better Manage Image
10 Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices
10 Lessons Learned from the W.I. Federation
10 Lessons Learned from 2008
10 Lessons from New York City
10 Lessons from Omaha
10 Lessons from East Germany
10 Lessons from Detroit
10 Lessons from Indian Reservations
10 Lessons from the American West
10 Lessons from Egypt
10 Lessons from the Bible
10 Lessons from the US Constitution
10 Lessons from Canada’s History
10 Ways to Measure Progress

This is what planning is all about: learning from the past and preparing for the future; perfecting the vision. The Go Lean book opens the Planning section with the Biblical quotation from Proverbs 29:18:

“Where there is no vision, the people perish…”.

This theme – perfecting the planning process – aligns with many previous Go Lean commentaries; see a sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17358	Marshall Plan 4-Part Series – Ideal for Caribbean Application
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17135	Way Forward 6-Part Series – Hope for Change in the Homeland
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13952	Welcoming a Caribbean Intelligentsia for Planning the Plan
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10043	Integration Plan for Greater Caribbean Prosperity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1470	COB Master Plan 2025 – Reach for the Lamp-Post

“Reach for the stars” – Old Saying reflecting a grandiose vision-plan.

Surely, planning is something that keeps us striving to be better. We want to do more for 2020.

But we do not have to wait until the Year 2020. We can do more now! We urge everyone to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap … now.

Vision is where it begins. This depicts a journey, which is appropriate for our consideration, because the destination of our roadmap is simple: 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.

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of [bad] communities … [and to] implement the good examples learned from [good] developments/
communities … .

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

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Blog # 800 – An Inconvenient Truth – Caribbean Version

Posted on September 14, 2018 in Ethos, Implementation, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

There was a film released in 2006 entitled An Inconvenient Truth. This capped the campaign by former US Vice-President Al Gore (1993-2001) to educate citizens about global warming; this was a comprehensive slide show that he estimated to have given more than a thousand times. This film was part documentary and part prophecy. When asked of the need for a sequel, Co-Producer Laurie David responded:

“God, do we need one, everything in that movie has come to pass. At the time we did the movie, there was Hurricane Katrina; now we have extreme weather events every other week. The update has to be incredible and shocking.”^[149]

Incredible and shocking is also our Inconvenient Truth for the Caribbean. The prophecy highlighted in that 2006 documentary manifested in the Caribbean in the years since. There was a sequel to that original film, the 2017 An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. The tagline for the movie was:

Fight like your world depends on it.

See a Trailer of the sequel in Appendix B below.

Here is where we are in the Caribbean – our world depends on our fighting to assuage the great threats to our society. These are defined in the book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation and protection of Caribbean society – for all member-states.

In the book, the threats are described as Agents of Change (Page 57), none more challenging than Climate Change for us:

Climate Change – This issue is a major concern for the whole world, but particularly impactful on the Caribbean. There is some debate as to the causes of Climate Change, but no question as to its outcome: temperatures are rising, droughts prevail, and most devastating, hurricanes are more threatening. The CU roadmap must address the causes of Climate Change and most assuredly its consequences. The CU federal government must therefore advocate systems and schemes for a lower carbon footprint. Notwithstanding, the CU must implement recovery measures to respond, react and rebuild from the ever-more-devastating hurricanes.
Technology – Internet & Communications Technologies (ICT) is dynamically shifting the world. There are also industrial changes taking place, as in more efficient manufacturing methods, automation/robotics, and transportation options … in response to Climate Change, i.e. Green Energy options.
Aging Diaspora – Those that expatriated in the 1950’s and 1960’s now comprise an aging Diaspora – with the desire to return to the “town of their boyhood”. With inadequacies to prepare and respond to natural disasters, the repatriations may not happen.
Globalization – We are competing against a “flat” world. Any one country can provide a competitive delivery of the needs and wants of any other society, no matter where they are located physically.

*************

Inconvenient Truth 1

What is inconvenient is that we do not have a partner in the United States of America. We must raise the mantle ourselves and fight for our own cause. President Trump has wiped out all Global Climate Change initiatives by the US federal government. So this government is headed by someone that does not even believe the scientific certainty of Climate Change.

This actuality was boldly lamented in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11):

i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.

Inconvenient Truth 2

Natural Disaster preparation and response is reflective of our priorities. Hurricane Maria exposed the deficiency among the American stakeholders. Puerto Rico got no love from Washington; even in death the misery was understated, under-valued and undercounted. Despite this bad report, President Trump continues to defend his administration actions, despite irrefutable evidence to the contrary; see article in Appendix A.

Our other colonial legacies were equally unprepared:

French – Lack of cooperation with Dominica – post Maria
Anglophone – Barbuda become a ‘Ghost Town’ after Hurricane Irma

The Go Lean book asserts that the full region of 30 member-states must come together – ourselves – to optimize the societal engines of economics, security and governance. We have delivered a “day late and a dollar short” on so many mitigations – consider our Catastrophic Risk Insurance Funds.

Inconvenient Truth 3

Rising Sea Levels may cover the coral islands.

The geology of the Caribbean has resulted inn 2 kinds of islands: Volcanic versus Coral (Reef). The volcanic islands tend to be mountainous, while coral islands tend to be flat. Climate Change have a real devastating effects on coral islands. Already the Pacific island-nation of Kiribati is facing extinction from high sea-level rise. This same fate awaits many Caribbean member-states. This is why many Caribbean states are members of the formal SIDS (Small Islands Development States).

Inconvenient Truth 4

Seaweed is not so innocent. The beautiful beaches are no longer “so beautiful” without strenuous re-engineering, This is a direct result of Climate Change – https://stluciatimes.com/2018/03/04/fisheries-department-supports-sargassum-cleanup/

Inconvenient Truth 5

Our Diaspora is not returning. The original implied contract was for Caribbean citizens to emigrate abroad then come back home for retirement. Due to societal defects, many of the Diaspora are not returning; even to support their elderly parents; rather, they have been bringing their elderly to the foreign destinations. There is also a Climate Change angle, winters in northern locations – think: Canada – is milder due to global warming.

Inconvenient Truth 6

We are doubling-down on economic failure.

The primary economic engine in the Caribbean region is based on tourism. There is the need to diversify; yet the member-states have been doubling-down on the failing business models in tourism rather than investing in better models. Consider the example of resort-casino gambling.

Inconvenient Truth 7

We are doubling-down on our societal defects and hate.

Our people leave their Caribbean homes for “Push” and “Pull” reasons. “Pull” refers to the lure that life is better abroad, but “push” refers to the societal defects that drive people away to seek refuge. The Caribbean region does not embrace the “live and let live” ethos, so minority groups have experienced a Climate of Hate.

This is inconvenient and sad!

***********

These Inconvenient Truths are consistent for the movement behind the Go Lean book. The original book, and subsequent blog-commentaries, detailed the assessment in current Caribbean society, and then advocated for a new Caribbean – with new community ethos, strategies, tactics and implementations.

This submission is a new milestone; this is blog-commentary # 800.

These prior entries posit that the Caribbean status quo is truly in crisis. Alas, this crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Let’s reform and transform now! Yes, we can!

This is the quest of the Go Lean movement, to forge a Single Market and a technocratic government for the 30 Caribbean member-states. But the Go Lean book asserts that this effort is too big a task for just for Caribbean member-state alone, so the book urges all 30 member-states to convene, confederate and collaborate in order to effect change. 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 and create 2.2 million new jobs. (The issue of jobs alone is paramount to any Hope and Change movement in the region).
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 book stresses that reforming and transforming Caribbean communities must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 – 14):

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.

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.

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.

The Go Lean book accepts that the Caribbean region – all 30 member-states – is currently at a Failing disposition. But we can do better and be better. First, we must acknowledged our Inconvenient Truths.

And then work or fight towards reforming and transforming our society. Our world depends on it!

This is hard, heavy-lifting, but this roadmap is conceivable, believable and achievable. Let’s get started. Let’s make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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

—————–

Appendix A – Trump questions Puerto Rico death toll, prompting San Juan mayor to call him ‘delusional’ and ‘paranoid’

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Thursday questioned a report putting the death toll from last year’s catastrophic hurricane in Puerto Rico at nearly 3,000. He also called the new estimate an effort by Democrats to discredit him.

San Juan’s mayor described the president’s claim as “delusional” and even prominent Republicans such as House Speaker Paul Ryan distanced themselves from Trump’s tweets about Puerto Rico.

“This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!”

Trump’s comments, which come as his administration prepares for Hurricane Florence to hit the East Coast, led both Democratic and Republican lawmakers to weigh in countering his claim. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last year, it devastated homes and infrastructure and left large swaths of the territory without power for months.

Ryan, pressed by reporters on Trump’s tweet, said he disagreed with the president but would not comment on whether he thought Trump should apologize.

Ryan said he had “no reason to dispute” the findings of a study commissioned by Puerto Rico’s government that put its death toll at nearly 3,000 people.

“Those are just the facts of what happens when a horrible hurricane hits an isolated place like an island,” Ryan said when asked about Trump’s tweet.

Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who has been outspoken on the government’s response to the storm, lamented in a tweet that the deaths had become political. He repeated the study’s findings that 3,000 more people died on the island after the hurricane than during comparable periods.

“Both Fed & local gov made mistakes,” Rubio wrote. “We all need to stop the blame game & focus on recovery, helping those still hurting & fixing the mistakes.”

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican and early Trump supporter, said he disagreed with the president.

“I’ve been to Puerto Rico 7 times & saw devastation firsthand,” Scott, now a candidate for Senate, posted on Twitter. “The loss of any life is tragic; the extent of lives lost as a result of Maria is heart wrenching. I’ll continue to help PR.”

Ron DeSantis, a former Republican congressman running for governor in Florida, also disputed Trump’s assertion. “He doesn’t believe any loss of life has been inflated,” spokesman Stephen Lawson said in an emailed statement.

As his team braces for Hurricane Florence, Trump has praised his administration’s responses to deadly storms – including in Puerto Rico.

San Juan mayor Cruz responded, …

“Simply put: delusional, paranoid, and unhinged from any sense of reality.”

“Trump is so vain he thinks this is about him. NO IT IS NOT,” Cruz wrote on Twitter.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said he “strongly denounced” what he described as questioning the impact of the storm for political purposes.

“The victims and the people of Puerto Rico do not deserve to have their pain questioned,” he said in a statement. “It is not time to deny what happened, it is time to make sure that it does not happen again.”

Democrats on Capitol Hill blasted Trump.

“Only Donald Trump could see the tragedy in Puerto Rico and conclude that he is the victim,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. “May God bless the souls of the nearly 3,000 Americans that died in Puerto Rico and may he take pity on your soul Mr. President.”

Without mentioning Trump by name, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, slammed the “cavalier” tweeting about the number of deaths in Puerto Rico.

“You have lost compassion for people who are diverse,” she said.

Trump’s Thursday morning tweets focused on a George Washington University study released last month that examined the toll from Hurricane Maria. From September 2017 to February 2018, 2,975 people died, according to that study, which was commissioned by Puerto Rico’s government.

Late Thursday, deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley pushed back on criticism of the Trump’s response to Maria in a statement, saying the administration provided “unprecedented support to Puerto Rico.” Gidley said Cruz and the “liberal media” have tried to “exploit the devastation by pushing out a constant stream of misinformation and false accusations.”

In addition to force of the hurricane itself, many people in Puerto Rico died because disease and infection due to the lack of electricity and drinkable water on the island. The storm destroyed homes and and crippled roads, bridges, and hospitals.

George Washington University said Thursday it stands by the methodology used in the report and said the work was conducted with “complete independence and freedom from any kind of interference.”

“We are confident that the number – 2,975 – is the most accurate and unbiased estimate of excess mortality to date,” the school said in a statement.

Trump also took heat after he visited Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the Sept. 20, 2017, storm. The president tossed paper towels to Puerto Rican residents at a local relief center, angering storm victims and others who saw his actions as insensitive.

After his tweets Thursday, Democrats accused Trump of minimizing the death toll for callous political reasons.

Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for governor in Florida, slammed Trump’s tweet.

“No death is partisan and our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico deserved better from @realDonaldTrump before, during, and after the hurricane.”

The House Democratic Caucus tweeted that Trump “won’t acknowledge the thousands of Americans who died on his watch,” and added, “Even worse, Republicans have no interest in holding this administration accountable and ensuring that Congress is prepared to respond to these disasters.”

A report released this summer by the Federal Emergency Management Agency identified deficiencies in the administration’s response, including that the agency was not adequately staffed heading into the hurricane season. In the months leading up to Maria’s approach, FEMA had 10,683 people on hand, about 86 percent of the agency’s target, the report found.

The report found that the island itself was not prepared for such a storm, which contributed to widespread loss of power and communications – hampering the response.

A Government Accountability Office report last week confirmed many of those findings, and also noted that 54 percent of the FEMA workers deployed last year were serving in a role they were not qualified to perform. Staffing shortfalls complicated many aspects of the response, including the effort to move people into temporary housing in the mainland, the GAO found.

“The 2017 hurricanes and wildfires highlighted some longstanding issues and revealed other emerging response and recovery challenges,” the report said.

Source: USA Today newspaper – Posted September 13, 2018; retrieved September 14, 2018 from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/13/donald-trump-without-evidence-questions-puerto-rico-death-toll/1288118002/

—————–

Appendix B VIDEO – An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power (2017) – Official Trailer – https://youtu.be/huX1bmfdkyA

Published on Mar 28, 2017 – Watch the new trailer for An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, the sequel to An Inconvenient Truth. In theatres July 28, 2017. #BeInconvenient

Climate Changes, Truth Does Not.

A decade after AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH brought Climate Change into the heart of popular culture, comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy. Cameras follow him behind the scenes – in moments both private and public, funny and poignant — as he pursues the inspirational idea that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of Climate Change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.

Official Movie Site: http://www.inconvenientsequel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnInconvenie…

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aitruthfilm

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aninconveni…

Category: Film & Animation

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Blog # 700 – We Need to Talk!

Posted on January 5, 2018 in Ethos, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Hello, to those of you who live in and/or love the Caribbean, we have to make this urgent plea:

We need to talk …

This is a familiar advocacy from the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free. The book declares that the Caribbean is in crisis, and opens with this sad disposition (Page 3):

There is something wrong in the Caribbean. It is the greatest address in the world for its 4 language groups, but instead of the world “beating a path” to these doors, the people of the Caribbean have “beat down their doors” to get out. For some Caribbean countries, their population has declined or been flat for the last 3 decades. This is only possible if despite new births and the absence of war, people are fleeing. This scenario, human flight, is a constant threat to prosperity for all the Caribbean despite their colonial legacies. Our youth, the next generation, may not be inspired to participate in the future workings of their country; they may measure success only by their exodus from their Caribbean homeland.

Today is January 5, 2018, as the rest of North America dips into a deep freeze – Winter Storm Grayson – the expectation should have been that the Caribbean would be a refuge. But sadly, we have to conclude that “all is not well in the sunny Caribbean“.

No, our dire situation depicts our wonderful Caribbean cultures flirting with failure, abandonment and extinction. Consider these highlights of island communities that have had to contend with failure and extinction:

Sad Puerto Rico, despite American power and prosperity, this US Territory is between a “rock and a hard-place” after Hurricane Maria this past season. More and more residents are now fleeing the island on a daily basis, justifiably so.
There are no guarantees that communities, countries and nations will survive. Just this past year, the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda evacuated Barbuda – it is a twin-island nation no more.
The Pacific island nation of Kiribati has engaged a plan to evacuate the whole country and relocate to a foreign land – in a few generations Kiribati citizenship will cease to exist.
A few years ago, a volcano eruption in Montserrat led to the near-evacuation – a ghost-town – of the whole island.

Once again, no guarantees exist for the future. We reap what we sow.

In order to secure a future, communities must do the heavy-lifting to reform and transform their societal engines. So to you Caribbean people, the entreaty is:

We need to talk …

We need to consider some solutions that can bring us from the precipice of extinction to forge a new future. We need to talk about the workable strategies, tactics and implementations to reach this goal.

There had been some plans in the past, that failed to launch viable solutions:

There was the West Indies Federation among the Anglophone Caribbean. It failed after 4 years. (At one point there was talk of integrating the British Caribbean possessions into Canada as overseas territories, much like Hawaii is to the United States).
There was the renewed attempt for integration with the formal Caribbean Community organization, but its failures are so evident that now there is even talk of the EU funding a study to consider CariCom’s dissolution.

No, we need to talk about a newer, better plan, a roadmap to finally elevate Caribbean communities, all Caribbean communities – all 30 member-states in the geographic region. This is the thrust of the Go Lean book …

The Go Lean book therefore serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society; this is a Way Forward 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 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, with one stewardship among all Caribbean member-states despite the colonial heritage of American, British, Dutch, French or Spanish.

The book 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 – 13):

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.

So the Caribbean needs to talk … about our current assessments and how we can move forward. The “talk” we need to have is really collaborative problem-solving. Just how do we conduct this “talk”?

A new book by radio-journalist Celeste Headlee gives us some suggestions. See the Book Review here and an accompanying Ted Talk VIDEO that follows:

Book Title: “WE NEED TO TALK” by Celeste Headlee
Sub-title: How to Have Conversations That Matter

In this urgent and insightful book, public radio journalist Celeste Headlee shows us how to bridge what divides us–by having real conversations. (BASED ON THE TED TALK WITH OVER 10 MILLION VIEWS)

NPR’s Best Books of 2017

“We Need to Talk is an important read for a conversationally-challenged, disconnected age. Headlee is a talented, honest storyteller, and her advice has helped me become a better spouse, friend, and mother.” (Jessica Lahey, author of New York Times bestseller The Gift of Failure)

Today most of us communicate from behind electronic screens, and studies show that Americans feel less connected and more divided than ever before. The blame for some of this disconnect can be attributed to our political landscape, but the erosion of our conversational skills as a society lies with us as individuals.

And the only way forward, says Headlee, is to start talking to each other. In We Need to Talk, she outlines the strategies that have made her a better conversationalist—and offers simple tools that can improve anyone’s communication. For example:

BE THERE OR GO ELSEWHERE. Human beings are incapable of multitasking, and this is especially true of tasks that involve language. Think you can type up a few emails while on a business call, or hold a conversation with your child while texting your spouse? Think again.

CHECK YOUR BIAS. The belief that your intelligence protects you from erroneous assumptions can end up making you more vulnerable to them. We all have blind spots that affect the way we view others. Check your bias before you judge someone else.

HIDE YOUR PHONE. Don’t just put down your phone, put it away. New research suggests that the mere presence of a cell phone can negatively impact the quality of a conversation.

Whether you’re struggling to communicate with your kid’s teacher at school, an employee at work, or the people you love the most — Headlee offers smart strategies that can help us all have conversations that matter.

Source: Retrieved January 4, 2018 from: https://www.amazon.com/We-Need-Talk-Conversations-Matter/dp/0062669001/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515111400&sr=1-1&keywords=we+need+to+talk

Biography
Celeste Headlee is the host of the daily news show On Second Thought on Georgia Public Broadcasting. She has spent more than a decade with National Public Radio and has been a host for Public Radio International since 2008. Celeste has appeared on CNN, the BBC, PBS, and MSNBC. She’s also a classically trained soprano who doesn’t get enough time to sing anymore. She has one son and one rescue dog, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. <<< Photo 2 >>>
Source: Retrieved January 4, 2018 from: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062669001/we-need-to-talk

———–

VIDEO – 10 ways to have a better conversation | Celeste Headlee – https://youtu.be/R1vskiVDwl4

TED
Published on Mar 8, 2016 – When your job hinges on how well you talk to people, you learn a lot about how to have conversations — and that most of us don’t converse very well. Celeste Headlee has worked as a radio host for decades, and she knows the ingredients of a great conversation: Honesty, brevity, clarity and a healthy amount of listening. In this insightful talk, she shares 10 useful rules for having better conversations. “Go out, talk to people, listen to people,” she says. “And, most importantly, be prepared to be amazed.”
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.

Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate

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Like TED on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED

Subscribe to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksD…

Category:

People & Blogs License: Standard YouTube License

This foregoing Book Review describes this global deficiency of talking-and-listening from an American perspective. But the need for collaborative problem-solving is really location agnostic. This is because America has problems; the Caribbean has problems; the whole world has problems. We need to come together and work towards assuaging our problems, yet the only way forward, says Headlee, is to start talking to each other.

The Go Lean book provides a Way Forward, 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.

This is Blog # 700, a major milestone within this Go Lean movement for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. Over the years, the concept of a Way Forward for the universal Caribbean has been explored in other previous Go Lean blog-commentaries; see sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12416	Conscientizing – Talking about Solutions – on the Radio
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12274	State of the Union – Spanish Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11812	State of the Union – Hope and Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11544	State of the Union – Need for Collective Bargaining
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10554	State of the Union – French Caribbean Seeking Integration
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4551	State of the Union – US Territories
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4263	State of the Union – Aruba and Dutch Territories
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3956	Art and Science of Collaboration

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean – the people in all the islands and coastal states and those in the Diaspora – to lean-in for this collaborative effort, the integrated Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

We can do this. We can all talk … and collaborate and conceive solutions to our regional problems. We can make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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

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The Wait Ended – This Day Last Year – ENCORE

Posted on July 27, 2017 in Implementation, Social

Time flies … when you’re having fun – Old Adage

This has been the case in the last 12 months. On this day – July 27 – in 2016, the facility to download the book Go Lean … Caribbean finally became available.

Hip Hip Hooray!

We have not stood still since then. We have re-published the main Go Lean website into all 4 Caribbean languages – Dutch, English, French and Spanish – and published 180 more blog-commentaries.

Here below is an Encore of that original blog-commentary that announced the functionality to download the e-Book.

——————

Go Lean Commentary

“Now I tired waiting”.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean is now available to download as an e-Book … for free.

Get the e-Book here NOW!

What is the big deal?

Well, this book purports to be the answer … for what ails the Caribbean.

The book asserts that the Caribbean is in crisis; that the region of 42 million people in the 30 member-states is dysfunctional … to the point of flirting with Failed-State status. It is that serious!

The book posits that one identifying symptom is the high societal abandonment rate. The countries of the Caribbean region are experiencing a brain drain where 70 percent – on the average – of the tertiary-educated have fled for foreign shores.

70% …
… this is no way to nation-build.

These alarming abandonment rates have been communicated to the governments and leaders of the region and yet still, the problem persists. They have not taken action to curb the problem.

Comes now the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This 370-page publication presents the solutions for all the region, all the 4 language groups (Dutch, English, French and Spanish) by describing 144 different missions to elevate the economic, security and governing engines of the region. This is a serious answer to a serious crisis.

This book is published by a community development foundation made up of mostly Caribbean Diaspora. These ones have grown tired of waiting.

“Now I tired waiting”?
I’ve come to fix the …

This familiar refrain in the Caribbean has been repeated time and again, even sang in melody and rhyme. See/listen here, the classic Calypso song from the legendary Mighty Sparrow (and the lyrics in the Appendix below):

VIDEO – Mighty Sparrow – Mr. Walker – https://youtu.be/i5d9WzncTew

Published on Oct 22, 2012 – This song describes a frustrated man who was promised to marry a “not so beautiful” woman, but who was more prosperous economically than himself. This is presented here as a metaphor, of the frustration of waiting for change and finally taking positive action to effect the change oneself.
Album : Party Classics. 1986
All ownership belong to the copyright holder. There is no assumption of infringement here.

The Caribbean Diaspora – living abroad in the US, Canada and Western Europe – were always taught to believe that the Caribbean is the greatest address on the planet, and yet it was essential that they leave to forge an existence elsewhere. They have endured in these foreign lands, but they are still only alien residents. It is not home!

If only there were some solutions for their homeland?

Solutions for the Caribbean are the prime directives of the Go Lean/CU roadmap; just consider these:

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.

The quest of the Go Lean/CU roadmap is direct: to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. The book presents how this quest is conceivable, believable and achievable. It posits that the foundation is now in place, and we only need some technocratic deliveries to move the Caribbean member-states from the current status quo to the new destination: a better homeland. This presents a solution where our youth will no longer have to leave, and our older generations can relish a return back home.

“Now I tired waiting”, I come to fix … “the situation”. We now present you the “fix”!

🙂

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

———–

Appendix – Lyrics: Mighty Sparrow – Mr. Walker

She ugly yes, but she wearing them expensive dress
The People say she ugly, but she father full a money
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Good morning Mister Walker
I come to see your daughter
Oh, Mister Walker!
I come to see your daughter
Sweet Rosemarie, she promise she gone marry me
And now I tired waiting!
I come to fix the wedding

After the wedding day, I don’t care what nobody say
Everytime I take a good look at she face I see a bankbook
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Good morning Mister Walker
I come to see your daughter
Hmm, Mister Walker!
I come to see your daughter
Sweet Rosemarie, she promise she gone marry me
And now I tired waiting!
I come to fix the wedding, woy

Apart from that, they say how she so big and fat
When she dress they tantalize she, saying monkey wearing mini
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Good morning Mister Walker
I come to see your daughter
Oy, Mister Walker!
I come to see your daughter
Sweet Rosemarie, she promise she gone marry me
And now I tired waiting!
I come to fix the wedding, Hmm

All I know, is I don’t intend to let she go
Cause if she was a beauty, nothing like me could get she
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Source: Retrieved July 27, 2016 from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mighty_sparrow/mr_walker.html

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Blog # 600 – State of Caribbean Union: Hope and Change

Posted on May 17, 2017 in Ethos, Planning, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Here’s a fact of life: Young people always need Hope and Change.

To ensure this, there have been protest movements – around the world – in recent times where young people have engaged to get attention, to foment their prospects for Hope and Change. Consider:

Arab Spring – Young people in one Arab & North African country after another stood-up in protest of their political & economic status quo.
Occupy Wall Street – Young people in the US complained in enduring street and sleep-in protests outside Wall Street.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – chronicled the rise of these protest movements (Pages 143, 160, 200 & 224). It showed how people at the grass-roots level are able to effect change on the policies and priorities of their country. This is the bottoms-up strategy for forging change; there is also the top-down strategy: getting the political leaders to propose new legislation. Both approaches could be effective in the quest to elevate the 30 member-states in the Caribbean region. The State of our Caribbean Union is that we are in crisis; we must reform and transform our region; it is not optional; it must be done in order to offer Hope and Change to the young people of the Caribbean.

The book states this urgency in the opening (Page 3):

Our youth, the next generation, may not be inspired to participate in the future workings of their country; they may measure success only by their exodus from their Caribbean homeland.

Nine years ago (2008), young voters in the US thronged rapturous rallies for then-presidential-candidate Barack Obama. Then again, early in the 2016 Presidential campaign, young people flocked to candidate Bernie Sanders. Despite the end-result, the natural idealism of youth always looks for political expression. Usually …

Currently, there is no grass-roots change-protest movement in the Caribbean – this is the State of the Caribbean Union. There needs to be … such a movement! This is according to this commentator-columnist scanning this region’s political landscape. See his strong urging here:

Title: Why the concerns of Caribbean youth matter
By: David Jessop

In much of the world, young people feel economically marginalized, politically alienated and in a struggle against insecurity and inequity.

In the Caribbean, it is little different. Lack of opportunity, the absence of generational change, high levels of unemployment, discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation, and the slow pace of change, are abiding aspects of the lives of many in the younger generation.

However, unlike their counterparts in other regions of the world, where frustration with the political class and anger with the old order have led to new political movements and protest, no similar region-wide or sustained manifestation of dissent has occurred. Instead, in recent years, protests have been limited and disconnected.

Part of the answer as to why this should be seems to lie in the Caribbean’s smallness and fragmentation. While life in micro-states offers proximity to political and economic opportunity, size also imposes limits on dreams and aspiration. When set alongside the seemingly boundless prospects for material gain in North America and US cultural penetration, the same smallness is almost guaranteed to heighten frustration with the slow pace of national development.

The consequence is a sense of disillusion among many young people, and a desire by many of the best, brightest and better educated to seek avenues of escape to other parts of the world.

Dr Terri-Ann Gilbert Roberts, a UWI/SALISES research fellow who was recently nominated by Caribbean youth to be the UN secretary general’s youth envoy, and who is engaged in research, policy and programme formulation on issues affecting children and youth, speaks with knowledge of the topic.

She believes that while young people in the Anglophone Caribbean may not express their frustrations in traditional highly-visible ways, their concerns are palpable, and can be seen and heard in their online and offline conversations in their communities, and in student and youth organisation debates.

She says that the reason that the views of Caribbean youth do not manifest themselves in large-scale anti-government street protests of the type seen in other parts of the Americas, is not because young people do not share the same concerns about their future, the inclusiveness of Caribbean society, or the accountability of public officials. Instead, she believes that because the Anglophone Caribbean has relatively stable democratic traditions, freedom of expression, a free press, and smallness, young people feel that that their shared concerns are known, but are not adequately addressed.

She argues that because “many young people have lost confidence in the capacity of formal governance processes and structures to address their concerns”, they “question the practical value of investment in large-scale protests in which their voices may be ignored and their actions will not influence change”.

While others believe that the absence of protest in the region is a good thing and reflects the homogeneous nature of Caribbean society, the absence of any real basis for public dialogue with those who may lead or vote for tomorrow’s Caribbean, says much about the region’s malaise, and more importantly its future development.

In common with other societies, many in the older generation in the Caribbean seem to want to hold on to the past and the status they have achieved, sometimes making it seem that all that matters is the jealous guarding of privilege.

Unfortunately, this has resulted in an absence of progress, and bestows legitimacy on defending the political and economic status quo. The consequence is that many nations and regional structures remain locked into thinking that is well past its sell by date, whether it be in relation to politics, the public sector, or business. The effect is to create responses that are inward looking, deeply protective, and lacking leadership, or ambition when it comes to the future for the young. It is reflected in the falling youth voter numbers in many Caribbean nations.

Dr Gilbert-Roberts argues that these frustrations have resulted in a clear majority of Caribbean young people refocussing on what she describes as “self-regulated, constructive and pragmatic spaces for online and offline dialogue” to form a basis for their everyday politics.

Putting this another way, she says that, in the Caribbean, young people are now seeking change in those parts of society over which they have power and influence. She cites as the political expression of this, youth movements in some parts of the region that are calling for public transparency and accountability that seek to audit government processes rather than make generic criticisms of government; environmental clubs; youth clubs that offer homework programmes for children; and offers of peer counselling and mentorship.

There are of course regional variations.

In the Dominican Republic, there is generational mobility but this largely only applies to the well-educated sons and daughters of the elite and the county’s expanding professional classes. In Cuba, its government has belatedly recognised the need to make strenuous efforts to include young people who want more in the way of personal freedoms and materially, while keeping the country’s social gains.

In other parts of the region there are exceptional, often female free thinkers in politics and business. There are young entrepreneurs in the services sector and agriculture who see Caribbean opportunity in new ways. There are very able individuals who in private acknowledge they would seek positions of leadership if politics was less tribal. And there are also large numbers of young men who feel uncertain about their place in society and feel threatened.

Dr Gilbert-Roberts, and others who prefer to speak off the record, observe that the level of frustration may now be growing faster than the capacity of youth groups to respond to the needs in their communities.

“We are already seeing increasing numbers of peaceful civil society protests involving young people: for example, marches in Jamaica against violence against children and women, alongside more disruptive protests, for example in Dominica in relation to oppositional politics… If and when these youth movements join up, and connect with the broader frustrations of other segments of the society, we will begin to see new and more visible forms of expression which could also become catalysts for change,” she observes.

Addressing youth alienation, declining educational standards, and the glass ceiling on aspiration, requires high level leadership and action. If the concerns of the region’s young people are not recognised and embraced by its political and business class, change and new thinking could well be driven by unmanaged events.

About the Author: David Jessop is a consultant to the Caribbean Council and can be contacted at
david.jessop@caribbean-council.org. Previous columns can be found at www.caribbean-council.org
Source: Caribbean News Network – Posted May 13, 2017; retrieved May 16, 2017 from: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-Commentary%3A-The-View-from-Europe%3A-Why-the-concerns-of-Caribbean-youth-matter-34441.html

It is important to glean these main points from this foregoing article by David Jessop (Caribbean Council Consultant), to better understand the State of the Caribbean Union and the lack of Hope and Change aspirations here:

The Caribbean status quo is failing from the perspective of young people – there is a “glass ceiling of aspiration”:
- Lack of opportunity
- Absence of generational change
- High levels of unemployment
- Discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation
- Slow pace of change
Other regions – i.e. Arab Spring – have active or recent political movements and protests
Caribbean youth do complain … in small voice and online
The smallness of most of the Caribbean member-states lead to fragmentation and disunity
Entrenched leaders want to conservatively hold on to the status privilege
There is a foundation for change: democratic institutions, freedom of speech and press; even small starts in Cuba.
These ones are challenging orthodoxy, particularly many female free thinkers in politics, business and entrepreneurism.
But young people seem settled on only changing the periphery: demanding transparency, accountability and audits
There is the need for more disruptive transformation: “out with the old; in with the change”.

These main points of the foregoing article correspond to the Go Lean movement, the original book and blog-commentaries, especially among the last 100 or so, the most recent milestone. This submission is a new milestone; this is blog-commentary # 600. These prior entries posit that the Caribbean status quo is truly in crisis, and that any alternative destination (North America or Western Europe) is not a fitting refuge for the Caribbean Black-and-Brown.

Really, the assertion is that the best option for Hope and Change in the Caribbean is to work to reform and transform the Caribbean, all 30 member-states for the full population of 42 million people. (This is the quest of the Go Lean movement, to forge a Single Market and a technocratic government for the 30 Caribbean member-states). Consider these consistent themes from these previous blog-commentary samples:

The Caribbean status quo is failing…
… there is a long list of societal defects:
- Stupidity
- Orthodoxy
- Rent-seeking practice
- Complexity with Terrorism mitigation
America is failing … for many of its own people and definitely the Black-and-Brown Caribbean people
- Strong Abusing the Weak series
- President Trump plan / no plan for Caribbean region shows: We must act ourselves
- President Trump even opposed a bailout for Puerto Rico, an American territory.
Europe is failing for Caribbean people
Canada is too cold!
- This country is a Great model of modern pluralistic democracy, just too cold
- Second Class Citizens as Guest Workers
- Chilly Attitudes towards Caribbean Banking
- But Climate Change is making Northern locales less unbearable
The Go Lean roadmap seeks to not waste this Caribbean crisis.
- Righting the Wrongs – Consider this series on lessons learned.
The Caribbean must prosper where planted … in the homeland
- Stay Home! Consider this series.
- The Change to the Two Pies.
- Focus on our youth!

The Go Lean book and accompanying blogs studied the good, bad and ugly lessons from a number of communities around the world – see the most recent American protest movement in the Appendix VIDEO below – and then presented a plan to grow the Caribbean regional economy, create jobs, secure the homeland and optimize governance.

Yes, we can.

But the Go Lean book asserts that this effort is too big a task for just one Caribbean member-state alone, so the book urges all 30 member-states to convene, confederate and collaborate in order to effect change. As such, the Go Lean book 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 and create 2.2 million new jobs. (The issue of jobs alone is paramount to any Hope and Change movement in the region).
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.

viii. Whereas the population size is too small to foster good negotiations for products and commodities from international vendors, the Federation must allow the unification of the region as one purchasing agent, thereby garnering better terms and discounts.

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.

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.

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.

xxvi.Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries, like that of ship-building, automobile manufacturing, prefabricated housing, frozen foods, pipelines, call centers, and the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism… – impacting the region with more jobs.

The Go Lean book accepts that the current (failing) State of the Caribbean Union does not have to be a permanent disposition. Under the Go Lean roadmap, a 5-year plan, we can do better; all of the Caribbean can do better. This roadmap (370-page book) provides the “how”, the turn-by-turn details of the community ethos to adopt, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society.

This commentary is 1 of 5 in a non-sequential series on the State of the Caribbean Union. This series depicts the dysfunctional and defective state of affairs (economics, security and governance) throughout the entire region; there are some common traits. These have been assessed by the Go Lean movement. The full entries of all the blog-commentaries in this series are as follows:

State of the Caribbean Union – Lacking Hope and Change
State of the Caribbean Union – Dysfunctional Spanish Caribbean
State of the Caribbean Union – Deficient Westminster System
State of the Caribbean Union – Unstable Volcano States
State of the Caribbean Union – Self-Interest of Americana

Can we change the State of the Caribbean Union? Yes, we can. We need our own Hope and Change movement … anew … here at home. We need to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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

————-

Appendix VIDEO – Trump inspires grassroots protest movement – http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/02/03/trump-grassroots-protest-movement-todd-tsr-dnt.cnn

Posted February 3, 2017 – CNN’s Brian Todd reports on the surge of anti-Trump protests across the United States. – Source: CNN

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Petition to Lean-in for the ‘Caribbean Union Trade Federation’

Posted on March 4, 2017 in Ethos, Government, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean wants to effect change in the Caribbean region.

We are not the government.
We are not the region’s Big Business apparatus.
We are not representative of the security forces.

Yet, we want to optimize all these societal engines.

How can we lead, despite our lack of status?

We can be a Drum Major.

Sounds familiar?

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. – Martin Luther King, February 4, 1968

Assuming the stance of a Drum Major, this movement now presents this Change.org petition to urge the Caribbean to lean-in to this quest to elevate the societal engines in our communities.

Consider the actual petition here and the Letter to the government leaders in the Appendix below:

There is something wrong in the Caribbean. It is the greatest address on the planet, but instead of the world “beating a path” to our doors, the people of the Caribbean have “beat down their doors” to get out. Our societal abandonment rates have technically been reported as high as 60 – 89 percent of our tertiary-educated populations.

These are desperate times, calling for desperate measures.

We hereby urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to a roadmap to introduce and implement the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) among the 30 member-states of the region. This is presented as a technocratic federal government with powers to optimize the region’s societal engines with these prime directives:

Optimize the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy; there is a potential to create 2.2 million new jobs and to grow the regional GDP to $800 Billion. The deficiency of jobs is one of the reasons that Caribbean people have emigrated.

Establish a security apparatus to protect the economic engines, mitigate threats and ensure public safety.

Improve Caribbean governance to support these above engines, including a separation-of-powers between member-state governments and CU federal agencies.

We must do something and this roadmap for the CU – modeled after the European Union (EU) – has addressed the issues, strategies, tactics and implementations to effect change in our homelands.

Many people love our region – residents, Diaspora and visitors alike – and yet we understand why and how people have left. It is time now to work to elevate our communities. The timing of this effort is urgent, as our youth, the next generation for the Caribbean, may not be inspired to participate in the future workings of our communities. We cannot have a future without our youth.

We must therefore do “this” (lean-in = pursue these goals with gusto) … and do it now.

Sign this petition.

This petition – along with the below letter – will be delivered to:

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat
CARICOM (15 heads of Caribbean nations and 5 Affiliates)
United Kingdom Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN
Republic of Cuba
Dominican Republic
Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Government of the United States Virgin Islands
Kingdom of the Netherlands – Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba, Minister Plenipotentiary of Curaçao, Minister Plenipotentiary of Sint Maarten
Republic of France – for the Departments of Guadaloupe and Martinique, the Collectivity of Saint Martin and the Collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a technocratic federal government to optimize the economic-security-governing engines of all 30 member-states. The quest is to streamline the direct stewardship, applying lessons-learned from global best practices.

There is the need for our region to elevate the societal engines of our communities. Fulfilling this need is the underlying theme behind this Go Lean movement, to “appoint new guards” to make the Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. This Declaration of Interdependence is pronounced at the outset of the Go Lean book (Page 11):

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.

The Go Lean book declares that the Caribbean is in crisis, but posits that a “crisis is a terrible thing to waste” (Page 8). The book asserts that the solution for the Caribbean crisis is within reach:

The Go Lean movement is … a plan to re-boot the Caribbean. This movement was bred from the frustrations of the Diaspora, longing to go home, to lands of opportunities. But this is not a call for a revolt against the governments, agencies or institutions of the Caribbean region, but rather a petition for a peaceful transition and optimization of the economic, security and governing engines in the region.

The Go Lean book details a 5-year roadmap, with turn-by-turn directions, for reforming and transforming our homeland. This 370-page manuscript features the community ethos that the region needs to adopt, plus strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute in order to impact the Caribbean region for the needed turnaround.

This petition is addressed to a number of stakeholders, starting with the CariCom, which includes the English-speaking member-states plus Dutch-speaking Suriname and French/Creole-speaking Haiti. Additional addressees include the governments of the Netherlands and France. There is also the need to integrate the US Territories into the fold; so the Go Lean book details the process of Interstate Compacts under US federal law that allows their participation legally. The Dominican Republic is also requested to lean-in to this collaboration as well as they already cooperate with other Caribbean member-states in the CariFORUM economic dialogue with the European Union.

Lastly, there is Cuba. While this country’s participation may have been unlikely in the recent past, today there is a normalization of relations with the United States, the dominant regional power. This paves the way for a full cooperative among all regional Caribbean neighbors; in effect the roadmap calls for the establishment of a Single Market economy among the member-states – 30 in total with 42 million people. They all share the same dysfunctional disposition; they should share in the fight to assuage the crisis.

The efforts to elevate the Caribbean societal engines have been a frequent theme in messaging from the Go Lean movement. Consider the details from these previous blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10629	Stay Home! A Series Highlighting Reasons to Stay in the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10585	Two Pies: Economic Plan for a New Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10554	Welcoming the French
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9595	Vision and Values for a ‘New’ Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9214	Time to Go! A Series Highlighting Reasons to Repatriate
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8530	Tired Waiting! Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7151	The Caribbean is Looking for Heroes … ‘to Return’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5759	Bad Example of Greece – Crisis leading to abandonment of Doctors
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5733	Better than America? Yes, We Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2547	Miami’s Success versus Caribbean Failure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433	Caribbean loses more than 70 percent of professionals to brain drain

The Caribbean: the greatest address in the world, and yet such an alarming abandonment rate. This must stop … now!

Why do we think that this Go Lean roadmap will be successful? It is modeled on time-tested best-practices. Remember dysfunctional East Germany? Remember how easily they were integrated into West Germany and a bigger, better society emerged – detailed in the Go Lean book on Pages 132 & 139.

Don’t remember?

That’s because it was seamless, technocratic and drama-free … in terms of international vistas; see Appendix VIDEO below. The prime directives of the Go Lean/CU roadmap is similarly modeled, as a technocratic stewardship for our region, identified with these 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to a $800 Billion GDP & create 2.2 million new jobs. The deficiency of jobs is one of the reasons Caribbean people have emigrated.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and mitigate internal and external threats.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these above engines, including a separation-of-powers between member-state governments and CU federal agencies.

Let’s do this!

Our people have a simple request, they only want a better homeland, a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———

Appendix VIDEO – The Cost of Reunification | Made in Germany – https://youtu.be/A4v3zeDKjNM

Published on Nov 5, 2014 – Reunification came with a hefty price tag – about 2 trillion euros. More than half that went into social services and programs. About 300 billion euros went into renewing infrastructure and transportation. The massive transfer of funds from West to East spurred an economic boom in Western Germany as well as in the former East.
More Made in Germany on: http://www.dw.de/program/made-in-germ…

Category: News & Politics
License: Standard YouTube License

————–

Appendix – Actual Open Letter to Caribbean Governments Decision-Makers:

To the Honourable ___________________________________,

We, the undersigned are representative of the views of persons and organizations with an affinity for the Caribbean; we are residents, expatriates, trading-partners and visitors of these communities in the Caribbean region. We present you this petition, reflecting our love for the people and places there-in. But we recognize this reality:

There is something wrong in the Caribbean. It is the greatest address on the planet, but instead of the world “beating a path” to their doors, the people of the Caribbean have “beat down their doors” to get out. Our societal abandonment rates have technically been reported as high as 60 – 89 percent of our tertiary-educated populations.

These facts manifest that these are desperate times, and therefore call for desperate measures.

We hereby urge you to “lean-in” to this roadmap to introduce and implement the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This is presented as an inter-governmental federation with powers to optimize the region’s societal engines with this prime directives:

Optimize the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy; there is a potential to create 2.2 million new jobs and to grow the regional GDP to $800 Billion. The deficiency of jobs is one of the reasons that Caribbean people have emigrated.
Establish a security apparatus to protect the economic engines, mitigate threats and ensure public safety.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these above engines, including a separation-of-powers between member-state governments and CU federal agencies.

We must do something and this roadmap for the CU addresses the issues, strategies, tactics and implementations to effect change in these Caribbean homelands.

The timing of this petition is urgent. When is the right time to address a crisis? The answer is always NOW. We cannot have a future without the youth, and these young people – the next generation for the Caribbean – are not inspired to engage in the status quo. We must impact change in our region, even if it is only for their benefit.

We urge you to lean-in – pursue these goals with gusto – now!

The source reference can be located and downloaded here at: http://www.goleancaribbean.com/

Thank You for your service,

Go Lean … Caribbean Movement

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Blog # 500 – Vision and Values for a ‘New’ Caribbean

Posted on November 2, 2016 in Ethos, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

“Do what you have always done…get what you always got”.

This Old Adage is consistent with so many other wise proverbs:

“A fool does the same thing over again and again expecting a different result”.

“One cannot get blood out of stone”.

“Whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” – Galatians 6:7

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” – 2 Corinthians 9:6

Those last two are from the Bible. That reference source should give these proverbs, and this line of reasoning some validity and a claim to authority.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean – available to download for free – asserts a similar position, that the Caribbean is in crisis, due to a continuation of the same bad values, practices and vision. It is high time now for a new vision and new values.

“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste” – Go Lean book Page 8.

This crisis can be used to reform and transform the region.

This commentary in support of the Go Lean book is a milestone; this is blog-commentary # 500.

All of these previous commentaries and the underlying book posits that the Caribbean is in crisis; that the region of 42 million people in the 30 member-states is dysfunctional … to the point of flirting with Failed-State status. There is a need for reform.

Failed-States? How do we measure failure?

For one, our region has an atrocious societal abandonment rate, one of the worst in the world, according to the World Bank. Our failing brain drain rate is reported as 70 percent of our tertiary-educated citizens having fled the homeland for foreign shores; some lands report as high as 89%.

70% … this is no way to nation-build. Why did they leave? For “push and pull” reasons. This has been communicated to the governments and leaders of the region and yet still, the problem persists. They have not taken action to curb the problem. There is thusly, the need for a new vision…

VISION

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU constitutes a new vision for the Caribbean; a confederation of the 30 member-states into a Single Market. This technocratic structure allows for the execution of the following prime directive:

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.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

This is a different vision than anything the Caribbean region has seen manifested before. But there was a previous dream of an integrated Caribbean entity, the ill-fated West Indies Federation of 1958 – 1962. That previous plan only considered the British colonies at that time. This new vision, the CU, is a roadmap for all regional neighbors, despite their colonial legacies. So the 30 member-states include all British, French, Dutch and American territories, plus the independent states (including Spanish-speaking.

The previous 499 blogs identified, qualified and proposed details of this new vision; see a sample as follows:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9480	Benefiting from the Destinations of our Diaspora – A Series
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9455	Fixing Climate Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9068	Securing the Homeland – A Series
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9038	A New Vision for Charity Management
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8669	A New Vision for College Education
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8590	Building Caribbean Infrastructure – A Series
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8379	Fostering Centers of Economic Activity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8045	How Local Economies Benefit From Small Businesses
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7977	Economic Transformations: A Series
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7963	Being a Good Neighbor for Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7920	How to Jump-start Technology Hubs
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7866	A New Vision for a Profitable Sports Eco-System
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7646	Going from ‘Good to Great’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7449	‘Crap Happens’ – A Vision of Planning and Response
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7412	Restoring Cuba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6867	A Viable Plan to Address High Consumer Prices
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6341	A New Vision for Tourism Stewardship
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6089	Where the Jobs Are – Beyond Minimum Wage
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833	A New Currency Regime

Why will this new vision succeed while the old plans failed? For one…

VALUES

… new values in particular.

These new values are presented in the Go Lean book as community ethos. This is defined as …

… the fundamental spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a society.

Unfortunately, the old community ethos were part-and-parcel of the societal defects in the Caribbean. Many members of the Diaspora left the region because they were “pushed” by the bad values. Now after assimilating the culture and values of the more advanced economy countries, they see the need to reform and transform their original homeland. Consider this example:

In a recent Facebook (FB) Survey, this one question was asked of the Diaspora and FB Friends in different Caribbean countries:

If an undocumented women is a victim of domestic violence, should she be offered protective services from the police and courts? Capturing 100 responses, the Yes/No answers were as follows:

Diaspora: 100% Yes

Bahamas: 60% Yes

Jamaica: 85% Yes

Barbados: 90% Yes

Turks and Caicos Islands: 92% Yes

Consider this reality, civil and human rights should not be conditional on immigration status; right is right. The woman is a victim, in need of protection; this is the tenants of any “Social Contract“; defined as the implied covenant where citizens surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the State in exchange for protection of remaining natural and legal rights. – Go Lean book, Page 170.

This above drama depicts the need for new community ethos.

The previous 499 blogs identified, qualified and proposed details of new values the region needs to adapt; see a sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8815	Harvesting Organs: Being Prepared with the Right Values
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8200	Respect for Minorities: Climate of Hate – A Series
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8155	Gender Inequality => ‘Brain Drain’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6937	Women in Politics – Yes, They Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6836	Role Model – #FatGirlsCan
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6718	Lessons on Values from the US Civil War – A Series
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6434	Strong Black Women – Weak Values on Hair
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5901	Mitigating Elderly Suicide
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5784	Proper View of LGBT Rights
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5733	Better than America? Yes, We Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5720	Disability Advocacy: Reasonable Accommodations
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5529	Mitigating American Crony-Capitalism Defects
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5304	Mitigating the Eventual ‘Abuse of Power’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5287	Making the Right Decision Between Life -vs- Profit
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7490	Mitigating Interpersonal Violence – A Series
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3078	Mitigating Sexual Assaults; Protecting the Victims
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2522	The Cost of Life-or-Death Cancer Drugs
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1020	No Toleration of Racism in Sports
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789	Why Take Our Own Lead? America’s War on the Caribbean

The Go Lean…Caribbean book is a 370-page publication that presents the solutions for all of the Caribbean region, all the 4 language groups (Dutch, English, French and Spanish) by describing 144 different missions to elevate the economic, security and governing engines of the region. This is a serious answer to a serious crisis.

This book is published by a community development foundation made up of mostly Caribbean Diaspora. These ones left their beloved homeland, but didn’t leave their love for the homeland. They long to return! But not to the same lands they left; but rather they want the Caribbean to reform and transform.

For this goal, they are willing to devote their time, talents and treasuries. But they need help; they cannot do it all themselves. They need the other stakeholders (residents, governments, tourists and trading partners) to wake up and join this movement, this quest to elevate the Caribbean to a better place to live, work and play.

Wake Up … all you people.

Sounds familiar?

This was a familiar cry in the 1975 song – embedded here; (see the lyrics in the Appendix below). This song promotes a new vision and new values for society. See the AUDIO-VIDEO here:

AUDIO-VIDEO – Wake Up Everybody – Original Version (Teddy Pendergrass, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes) – https://youtu.be/-TDfPgd3Kyc

Uploaded on Sep 23, 2011 – The original full-length song recorded in 1975. It’s a classic.

Category: Music

License: Standard YouTube License

Music: “Wake Up Everybody” by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes Listen ad-free with YouTube Red

The Caribbean Diaspora – living abroad in the US, Canada, the UK and Western Europe – were always taught that the Caribbean is the greatest address on the planet, and yet it was essential that they leave to forge their existence elsewhere. They left for “push and pull” reasons.

“Push and pull” is tied to vision and values.

Many of this Diaspora have endured, flourished and thrived in these foreign lands, but it is not home; they are still only alien residents. They need, want and deserve their homeland, but as a better destination, as a “New” Caribbean.

The Go Lean book assert that this quest – to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play – is conceivable, believable and achievable; providing that we bring the new vision and new values.

Wake Up …. everybody!

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————-

Appendix – Lyrics: Wake Up Everybody” by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes

Wake up everybody no more sleepin’ in bed
No more backward thinkin’ time for thinkin’ ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be
There is so much hatred war an’ poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they’ll listen to whatcha have to say
‘Cause they’re the ones who’s coming up and the world is in their hands
When you teach the children teach em the very best you can

The world won’t get no better if we just let it be
The world won’t get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me

Wake up all the doctors make the ol’ people well
They’re the ones who suffer an’ who catch all the hell
But they don’t have so very long before the Judgment Day
So won’t cha make them happy before they pass away
Wake up all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out they do it every time

The world won’t get no better if we just let it be
The world won’t get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me

Change it yeah, change it yeah, just you and me
Change it yeah, change it yeah
Can’t do it alone, need some help y’all
Can’t do it alone
Can’t do it alone yeah, yeah
Wake up everybody, wake up everybody
Need a little help y’all
Need a little help
Need some help y’all

Change the world
What it used to be
Can’t do it alone, need some help
Wake up everybody
Get up , get up, get up, get up
Wake up, come on, come on
Wake up everybody

Songwriters: Jonathan Howsman Davis, James Christian Shaffer, David Randall Silveria, Reginald Arvizu, Brian Welch
Source: Retrieved November 2, 2016 from: http://www.metrolyrics.com/wake-up-everybody-lyrics-harold-melvin-the-blue-notes.html

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Tired Waiting? Download the e-Book NOW!

Posted on July 27, 2016 in Implementation, Social

Go Lean Commentary

“Now I tired waiting”.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean is now available to download as an e-Book … for free.

Get the e-Book here NOW!

What is the big deal?

Well, this book purports to be the answer … for what ails the Caribbean.

70% …
… this is no way to nation-build.

These alarming abandonment rates have been communicated to the governments and leaders of the region and yet still, the problem persists. They have not taken action to curb the problem.

This book is published by a community development foundation made up of mostly Caribbean Diaspora. These ones have grown tired of waiting.

“Now I tired waiting”?
I’ve come to fix the …

VIDEO – Mighty Sparrow – Mr. Walker – https://youtu.be/i5d9WzncTew

Published on Oct 22, 2012 – This song describes a frustrated man who was promised to marry a “not so beautiful” woman, but who was more prosperous economically than himself. This is presented here as a metaphor, of the frustration of waiting for change and finally taking positive action to effect the change oneself.
Album : Party Classics. 1986
All ownership belong to the copyright holder. There is no assumption of infringement here.

If only there were some solutions for their homeland?

Solutions for the Caribbean are the prime directives of the Go Lean/CU roadmap; just consider these:

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.

“Now I tired waiting”, I come to fix … “the situation”. We now present you the “fix”!

🙂

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

———–

Appendix – Lyrics: Mighty Sparrow – Mr. Walker

She ugly yes, but she wearing them expensive dress
The People say she ugly, but she father full a money
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Good morning Mister Walker
I come to see your daughter
Oh, Mister Walker!
I come to see your daughter
Sweet Rosemarie, she promise she gone marry me
And now I tired waiting!
I come to fix the wedding

After the wedding day, I don’t care what nobody say
Everytime I take a good look at she face I see a bankbook
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Apart from that, they say how she so big and fat
When she dress they tantalize she, saying monkey wearing mini
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

All I know, is I don’t intend to let she go
Cause if she was a beauty, nothing like me could get she
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Source: Retrieved July 27, 2016 from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mighty_sparrow/mr_walker.html

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Blog # 400 – A Vision of Freeport as a Self-Governing Entity

Posted on February 20, 2016 in Economics, Government, Industries, Locations, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

This commentary addresses the needs and vision for just one city in the Caribbean, the Bahamian city of Freeport/Lucaya. But this commentary is also a milestone for the movement associated with the book Go Lean … Caribbean; this is Blog # 400.

400 is a lot of insight, analysis and wisdom. Yet, these all focused on the same goal: to make all of the Caribbean – the 30 member-states consisting of all islands and the coastal countries of Belize, Guyana and Suriname – a better place to live, work and play … by elevating the societal engines of economics, security and governance. This is easier said than done, yet still conceivable, believable and achievable. The following are the totals for these blog categories:

Live	64
Work	73
Play	55
Economics	175
Security	91
Governance	169

The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a technocratic federal government to optimize the societal engines of the 30 Caribbean member-states. The book asserts that many of the member-states are failing … their citizens, and as a result many have fled their homelands in pursuit of refuge in foreign lands. The Caribbean population is 42 million, with a large Diaspora (estimated from 10 to 25 million); many who have pledged not to return (for permanent residency) until their homeland breaks from their ineffectual governing systems, failing economic engines and inadequate security provisions.

While the previous 399 blog-commentaries are promoting the Go Lean book, this one – # 400 – is different. This commentary is promoting the other blogs!

While the Go Lean book focuses primarily on the member-states, the only actual city with special mention – an actual advocacy; see photo – was Freeport/Lucaya, the 2nd City in the Bahamas.

Freeport is beautiful! “It has great potential” …

… unfortunately, this has been the descriptor for over 60 years: “Great Potential”. In actuality, this town is the epitome of a failing community as it has been “rocked” by one crisis after another: hurricanes, financial crisis, abandonment by Direct Foreign Investors, abandonment by residents, and the eventual manifestation of deficient planning; bringing the age-old lesson to the fore: “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.

The complaint there of the everyday man, everyday, is that the oversight of the city’s affairs by the central government in Nassau is deficient, flawed and shortsighted for Freeport. The critics are demanding a referendum to consider different secession options from Nassau. But the options being considered are not “all of nothing from Nassau”, but rather, Freeport is seeking some degree of autonomy and then becoming a Self-Governing Entity (SGE) of the CU.

There is a lot of history associated with the issues of SGE’s and Freeport.

The closest, most successful SGE is in the Orlando, Florida area: Walt Disney World Resort. This resort is administered as a SGE, empowered by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special government district created in 1965 that essentially gave the Walt Disney Company the standard powers and autonomy of an incorporated city. Today, the resort hosts 52.5 million visitors as the most popular vacation destination in the world. But early in the site selection process (1959), Walt Disney’s team toured Freeport for consideration for his planned resort^[a]. Today tourism is the primary economic driver for Freeport, but declining, with only less than 280,000^[b] annual visitors. (Freeport’s economic history has been likened to the Concorde Supersonic jet airplane; considered advanced for a time and then … the cutting-edge had an expiration date, so it became stagnant and stale in its appeal).

See VIDEO in the Appendix below from a visitor that first came to Freeport in 1971, then again in 2009; though not his intention, he chronicled the “delta”.

There are lessons for Freeport – and the whole Caribbean – to consider in this history and to learn from this SGE experience. Primary lesson: Things that are alive should grow!

Freeport was planned as a Free Trade Zone, under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement – a “Free Port” – in 1955. This is one of the categories described in the Go Lean book as “Self Governing Entities”. (Other forms of SGE’s include: industrial parks, technology labs, medical campuses, industrial sites, research facilities, etc.). Orlando’s Reedy Creek Improvement District emerged 10 years later, it was a matruation of the SGE concept.

This commentary is advocating for Freeport to return to its root design – the city had envisioned a population of 250,000 people, but never exceeded 70,000 at its peak decades ago – and pursue some form of autonomous rule (not necessarily independence) that was always envisioned, and is so badly needed now. This has been a familiar call for decades. The options now are ideal for a public referendum by the people of Freeport/Lucaya, with the following choices:

Special Taxing District	Allow for additional tax revenue, like a surcharge to VAT, for the autonomous administration.
Municipality	Full autonomy as a city with Strong Mayor and/or separate Parliament with Prime Minister.
Semi-Autonomous	Separation-of-Powers between central government and Freeport allowing some limited control.
Autonomous	Expanded Separation-of-Powers between Nassau and Freeport allowing even more control.
Independence	Create a separate country.

Freeport is not the only community contemplating these choices. Consider:

In Catalonia, Spain, there is a separatist movement advocating a similar quest.
In the United Kingdon, the people (and leaders) of Scotland are wrestling with the same issue: autonomy from London.

There are a lot of lessons – from the worldwide struggle – in this issue for the Caribbean in general and Freeport in particular. Despite Freeport’s demand for autonomous rule, the plan is not to “go at it alone, rather immediately confederate with the CU. This makes any referendum a demand for interdependence with the rest of the Caribbean. The people of Freeport should feel that aligning with the CU and submitting to the technocratic solutions (Security initiatives, Job creations, Caribbean Central Bank) would be preferred to the failed economic and monetary policies from Nassau. The underlying spirit behind this Freeport Re-boot movement would be a quest to learn lessons and “appoint new guards” to make their homeland a better place to live, work and play. This spirit was pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence at the outset of the Go Lean book (Page 12 & 14); consider these statements:

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.

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like East Germany, Detroit …

The Go Lean roadmap posits that the Climate Change crisis (with the accompanying hurricanes) continues, and that the global financial crisis lingers … to this day. But the roadmap trumpets that “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste”. The best hope to reform and transform Freeport in particular – and the Caribbean in general – is to confederate the CU. Then, real solutions can be forged: growing the regional economy to $800 Billion GDP and creating 2.2 million jobs … leveraging the region’s 42 million people.

How would this vision of Freeport, as a more autonomous city, affect the everyday man, everyday?

This transformational change comes with burdens and responsibilities; the people must therefore be cautious and reserved. There must be a comprehensive plan that considers all the advantages and disadvantages of an autonomous move. Some of the reservations would be:

Debt – The City of Freeport would have to assume all outstanding National Government debt that have been incurred specifically for Freeport’s consumption. Think schools, hospitals, public safety facilities. It would curtail negotiations with Nassau if the expectation is for Nassau to pay for Freeport’s debt.

Rent – Any status, short of independence, would require some separation-of-powers with Nassau. Therefore some degree of government revenue – rent – would have to be remitted to Nassau. It could easily be envisioned for Freeport to make “lease” payments to Nassau equal to, or in excess, annual Freeport contributions to the National Treasury, plus inflation.

How would such an autonomous move make Freeport a better place to live, work and play? How would this roadmap elevate the societal engines of economics, security and governance in this city? Consider here:

Live	Open Borders: The city currently have open borders with the rest of the island. This change now would require for people the way bonded vehicles are managed. This operation – with transponder IDs – can be modeled after the NEXUS program between Detroit and Windsor, as demonstrated in this blog. Empowering Families: Unity of purpose from a handful of families can facilitate this vision for Freeport; these ones do not have to be rich, just united. This was demonstrated in this blog. The City should institute a National Service for its youth, and invest further in their future. Freeport’s flavor of Philadelphia Freedom; revolutionary spirit and freedom to soar … Intuitive transportation solution: Light Rail and Electric Cars. Fully embracing green energy options so as to use 100% renewables. Disaster Relief funding … Better human rights and civil rights compliance.
Work	Empowering Immigration: The investment in time, talent and treasuries to facilitate Freeport’s future must embrace globalization. This was detailed in this blog. Under any plan, Freeport’s immigration policy would be autonomous. Inviting structure for Direct Foreign Investors; no submission to Nassau. Waterways ideal for Ship-building/breaking
Play	Re-invest in its musical past and people. Embrace the business of sports.
Economics	Robust middle-class job creation. Tertiary Education re-boot: Local supply, not just foreign consumption; thereby creating new jobs. Fertile ground for Research & Development in all STEM endeavors. Inviting alternative medical research and practices. Build-up of current Oil Refinery infrastructure. The need to micro-manage banking on the local basis with full embrace of electronic payments.
Security	Local control of Police and public safety agencies. On guard against local and regional threats to protect economic engines. Overbuilding prisons and detention centers to embrace a Prison Industrial Complex and … new jobs. Community Ethos: Priority on life, then property and privacy.
Governance	A separation-of-powers and technocratic management of Common Pool Resources. VAT and Property Taxes for government income. Invite responsible and accountable NGO’s.

Freeport was envisioned for a population of 250,000; that can still happen. Positive steps in that direction would only grow the economy. It is an economic fact that more people = economic growth; less people = economic abatement.

Freeport can and must do better … than its status quo or its historical past.

This movement behind this Go Lean roadmap just wants to make our Caribbean homeland – and Freeport – a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————

Appendix VIDEO – Freeport VIDEO Tour; first time since 1971 – https://youtu.be/LVFIVbgwjTg

Uploaded on Sep 12, 2009 – Freeport is a city and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama, located approximately 100 mi (160 km) east-northeast of Fort Lauderdale, South Florida and gives its name to a district of the Bahamas. Freeport proper has 26,910 people. The city of Freeport has grown to be the second most populated city in The Bahamas (26,910 in 2000) after the capital, Nassau. The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) operates the free trade zone, under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement signed in August of 1955 whereby the Bahamian Government agreed that businesses in the Freeport area will pay no taxes before 2054. The area of the land grants has been increased to 138,000 acres (558 km²). Freeport Harbour is accessible by even the largest vessels, and has a cruise terminal, a container port, and both a private yacht and ship maintenance facility. Grand Bahama International Airport (IATA airport code: FPO, ICAO airport code: MYGF) [at one time] handled nearly 50,000 flights each year. Tourism complements trade as a revenue earner in Freeport, [at one time] with over a million visitors each year. Much of the tourist industry is displaced to the seaside suburb of Lucaya, owing its name (but little else) to the pre-Columbian Lucayan inhabitants of the island. The city is often promoted as ‘Freeport / Lucaya’.

Category: Travel & Events
License: Standard YouTube License
Music: “Variations On A Theme From Pachelbel’s Canon In D Major (Live Piano Solo)” by David Lanz

————

Appendix – Book Citations

a. Finnie, Shaun (2006). “Chapter 7 – The Mouse Moves East“; The Disneylands That Never Were. www.Lulu.com Online Publishers. Pages 94 – 96. ISBN 9781847285430

b. Oxford Business Group (2009). “A lot to offer; Grand Bahama Outlook”. The Report: The Bahamas 2009. www.OxfordBusinessGroup.com. Page 77. ISBN 9781902339221.

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