Save Our Country From Depravity

By Sareen Ray

THIS writer hopes that the world does not plunge to the point of awarding decadence and sexual depravity, to one day bestow upon this island, an award for “Most sex crazed nation”. Nevertheless, many Saint Lucians seem to be earnestly consumed with bringing their island a very infamous title.

The Ugly Picture we are feeding the world
From a Government Minister embroiled in an extra – marital scandal with a teenage girl, to video secretly captured of two young males performing oral sex in the restroom of a public cinema, a school principal and calypso monarch facing disciplinary action for alleged inappropriate relations with a student of his school and to crown it all, a mother of seven recorded brazenly pulling down her undies and that of an apparent visitor to openly engage in a sexual act in the presence of hundreds at the Gros Islet Friday night street party. Who could blame a tourist for thinking that sex in public is not forbidden in Saint Lucia these days? Isn’t that the loose impression of ourselves that we have been marketing to the world?

Harvest Time
The Bible says in Galatians 6:7: “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth that he shall also reap”. It is undoubtedly harvest time in Saint Lucia.

The pathetic state of the country’s socio-cultural fabric is now coming to light because of technology but we know the issues which form the causal links or perpetuated cycles of sickening behaviours have always been ongoing more or less unabated.

Heinous crime, depletion of moral grounding and the abandonment of our civic responsibilities comprise our greatest hindrances and challenges to growth and advancement since Independence in 1979. These unsavoury issues have permeated and corrupted all sectors of national growth and advancement including economic growth. However haunted we are by our demons, the convenient excuses continue to pour like rain into the public domain from the key sectors of society such as the judiciary, police, social services. They are looked upon for sage, unambiguous direction and leadership above all else. They are supposed to be our compasses. It is painful for law-abiding citizens to listen to these laissez faire, sometimes unconscionable leaders. This much is clear – there isn’t enough national push back against our societal ills to cause this country to get past her problems and succeed as a stakeholder of the 21st century.
Who are our leaders?
Leaders are not necessarily politicians and politicians are not necessarily leaders, so for those who are ignorant of this fact, for you this should be a teachable moment. Every Saint Lucian is a leader because he or she has a stake in the present and future survival of this country. As the Independence theme: “I am Saint Lucia” explicitly captures – every citizen in our democracy is empowered to behave in a manner that will either plunge the country further into the abyss of degeneration or they may decide to be upstanding citizens whose demeanour reinforces positive values and bears proof “that we love the land that gave us birth”- words immortalized in our national anthem.

Unfortunately we are a people who love to be popular above all else including to be “pardners” with shady and questionable characters who have the dollars flowing. Also victimization is very, very real.

Given this existing toxic mix, very few persons have had the strength of character to take responsibility for leadership in this country. Just a handful have the courage to be thought leaders, hence the media gives us the same talking heads every day on all issues under the sun. Not their fault. Unlike other educated nations of the world, fewer Saint Lucians than expected possess the testicular fortitude to take a stand for what is right. In the main we do not wish to be disliked for doing the right thing. We generally do not want to risk the consequences of public dissent and as a consequence of such reluctance or fear, our leaders say a lot but very little is actually done to effect the necessary changes that will put burning issues to rest.

The section of the society seemingly endowed with the most human rights and exceptionally carefree spirits among us are the deviants, the troublemakers, the under- achievers and the outright criminals. Over the years of independence the institutions as a whole have failed to design a deliberate system that will calculatingly produce upstanding, successful, duly educated citizens. We want the claim to fame of the Arthur Lewis (es), Rick Wayne(s), Levern Spencer(s) Walcott(s) and Darren Sammy(s) among others but we apparently want them to magically fall from heaven into our laps. We must recognize that success is no accident. Structures must be firmly established through state and NGO support that will unwaveringly work towards moulding character for desired outcomes, such as minimizing the descent of young troubled males and females into gang life and criminality or prostitution, for example. An untended, abandoned garden produces wild weeds and grass. Unfortunately that is how too many young people grow up in Saint Lucia particularly from the 1980s through to this millennium era.

The right cocktail of measures is all it takes to discourage people from going astray but there must be efficient support and preventative systems in place which send clear signals to children from their formative years. By the time they attain adulthood, they would possess reinforced standards that we want to define Saint Lucia as an independent nation while we strive for excellence on the global stage.

We must stop throwing ourselves pity parties and instead forge an environment of respect, discipline, ambition, accountability and responsibility without fear or favour.

Politicians stop! Stop focusing solely on doing whatever it takes to secure victory at the next elections. For once step out of the comfort zone and try implementing the policies to shift the nation back on the right track.

Our underbelly is exposed for the world to see, and it’s not pretty. All those unaddressed issues that we needed to tackle all those years ago but ignored and excused away while turning the proverbial blind- eye are coming back to haunt us.

Let us do what needs to be done to save this country from the jaws of depravity now.