The title of today’s commentary may be confusing to some. So let me explain. We will be familiar with the terms “conditional love” and “unconditional love.” The first is love that depends on certain actions or happenings; the second-which is akin to the vows married couples share – is love without any limitations or conditions. The point embedded in the title of this commentary is that while my love for Saint Lucia is enduring, intense and incomparable, it is not unconditional. It is sensual in that it is affected by what I see, hear, and feel. For some time now, my countenance has not been at peace and my happy moments are becoming more fleeting. In this commentary, I share the reasons for this state of mind.
Love Beyond Compare
My love for my country is impossible to describe. I have traveled the world and beheld many places of unspeakable beauty; but none that can compare with Saint Lucia’s raw, rugged, elegance and charm. I have lived for extended periods outside of Saint Lucia, but only in Saint Lucia have I truly lived. I can’t explain it. Saint Lucia owns me, heart, mind, and soul.
The Seychelles Test
Seychelles severely tested this assertion. About a decade ago, I spent an enthralling week there. It’s an island of truly wondrous beauty, where Seychellois exude an unenforced friendliness. Their simple, communal style of living evoked delightful memories of the way we lived in Saint Lucia when I was a boy. Moreover, they spoke my mother tongue in a manner that paid homage to their culture. I left Seychelles with a warm glow in my heart, vowing to return with my wife. Still, the moment I boarded the flight to return home, my mind and heart became consumed with thoughts of my homeland.
The Potential for Greatness
I have never been in any doubt about the potential of our country and its people to achieve extraordinary things. I did not need the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s acclaim of Sir Arthur and Sir Derek to convince me of this. You see, I grew up at a time when the pursuit of personal ambitions and excellence in academia, business, sports, culture, and music were almost national obsessions. Aside from Jamaica, no other country in the region could match Saint Lucia’s productivity in these areas.
We lived a much simpler life back then. We had few primary schools and even fewer secondary schools. Our teachers weren’t certified, but they were sufficiently knowledgeable and committed to give us a high class, life-shaping education. After school, we swarmed to playgrounds in our communities. During school vacations, we were apprenticed to a tradesman to learn a “léta” (trade) to make ourselves more resilient and less dependent on Government and on others. Back then, those who did not win the few university scholarships on offer took correspondence courses to push themselves forward. That’s how luminaries like Sir Allen Lewis, Vernon Cooper, Elwin Augustin, and others got their law degrees. Back then, the media was truly a source of information, education, and entertainment. Our communities were teeming with clubs with diverse purposes. The plays put on by the Arts Guild gave our cinemas stiff competition.
The Divisiveness of Politics
I accept that politics is inherently divisive. Still, it pains me to hear and see so many of my people assemble behind red and yellow standards on social media battlefields to wage war. Of course, it’s their right to do so. Of concern to me is the partisan desire to win every argument and every political conquest; all the while, unwilling to surrender to either truth or fact. I can’t see this mindless, unending acrimony having any other outcome but social and economic stagnation, regression, and decay.
It’s natural for there to be political differences on development policy. However, in this perpetual warring state of ours, reaching agreement on the things that really matter has not been possible. To borrow a criticism of diplomats, we can’t seem to agree that senna is a laxative. Our “debates” on public policy seem focused on finding fault, not reason or compromise. After nearly a decade, I’m still unable to accept the depressing conduct and outcome of the “debate” in the House of Assembly in 2015 on the report of the Constitutional Reform Commission. Readers might recall that this Commission was established in 2004 under the leadership of the late Justice Suzie d ’Auvergne to recommend a new constitution for Saint Lucia based on the views and desires of the populace. But painfully, that effort came to ZERO! The current administration is attempting to breathe new life into that effort. Still, I lament what we could have achieved if we had seized that tide of promise at its flood.
Of deepening concern to me is that we seem unaware or unperturbed about the ways in which this culture of continual disagreement and conflict can fuel crimes of passion in our country. Saint Lucians are naturally passionate people, and so surely, by our words and actions, we ought to be encouraging each other-especially our children-to practice respectful, reasoned, fact-based, discourse and peaceable settlement of disagreements.
Blanket of Noise
Over the years, I have watched with deep anguish, a steady internal assault on our country’s once impressive foundation of endeavour, enterprise, and excellence. This is not to say positive things are not happening. There are! There’s a buzz around a flourishing honey industry. The sensational rise of Julien Alfred is the talk in world athletics. There are ground-breaking developments in research and innovation, such as the Magellan Fishing Aggregate Device-designed by Karlis Noel and Laura Jn Pierre out of Laborie-which impressed at the 2023 Dubai Innovation Expo. More young people are setting up small businesses. Here, I share a heartwarming scene that I witnessed at the Office of the Registrar of Companies about a month ago. In the four hours that I spent there, about 30 young people came in to register their companies, do searches and so on. I was touched to see those who were familiar with the process, helping others to complete and file their applications. I must commend the staff of the Registry for their exceptional service to these youngsters. So yes! Some good things are happening; but they are being smothered by this blanket of noise and negativity from the battlefield of politics. This is an unhealthy situation.
Declining Patriotism
My love for Saint Lucia is also being undermined by the rapid decline of patriotic fervor in our country. Even more alarming for me is that this is happening alongside the emergence of a transactional culture in which fewer people are willing to volunteer their time and talent to develop our country. The general view is that nobody does anything for nothing. I encountered this sentiment when I agreed to Chair the National Covid-19 Management Committee. I was raised by my parents to always put country first, and so I was surprised that many people refused to believe anyone would take on the stress and responsibility of such a role without commensurate reward. I was called a “vampire” for accepting a “big job” with a “big salary.” The reality was that I received neither salary nor allowance. But I have done this several times before and this experience will not deter me from offering my support whenever it is sought.
Assault on Voluntarism
Voluntarism used to be a normal and natural feature of life in Saint Lucia. When I reflect on the contributions of people like Romanus Lansiquot (pre-politics), Sir Stanislaus James, Smokey Charles, James Belgrave, Noel Cadasse, Agatha Jn Pierre, and countless others during the Rotary, Kiwanis, Jaycees era, it’s quite distressing to see how rapidly we’ve become a “what’s in it for me?” society. I urge that we work hard at reversing this trend, beginning with the introduction of national service in our schools.
Perceptions of Corruption
The penultimate area is which my love of Saint Lucia is being tested is the perception that our country is a corrupt place. In 2022, Saint Lucia scored 55/100 on Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI). This score might give comfort to some who may see it as an average score. Not me! It’s impossible to describe how sickened I am by this. The challenge for me is that this score is based on “perceptions” of corruption and not proven corruption. I have no doubt that this perception is mainly due to the decades-long, wildfire-type spread of unproven allegations of corruption in our country. Such negative perceptions are causing us to be lumped with other corrupt countries and can cause potential donors to think twice about giving us aid. Who will want to give us money if they feel it will end up in the pockets of corrupt officials? Even more dangerously, this perception of corruption can encourage a culture of corruption to take root in our country—one in which fewer people will see any reason to not be corrupt, because others are getting away with corruption. I would much prefer to be associated with a country that, at the very least, is striving to stop corruption. A simple way of accomplishing this is to investigate, and if/when solid evidence emerges, prosecute in a Court-of-Law. Additionally, quick action must be taken to remove any loopholes in law, process or procedure that may be facilitating corrupt acts in the public service. That’s how it’s done in Singapore, Norway, and others in TI’s Top-10 least corrupt countries.
The Rumormongering
The proclivity of our people to spread malicious rumour is the final area in which my love for my country is being imperiled. Here again, I draw from personal experience. It’s just too easy for some of our people to concoct and spread malicious rumours about each other. The creativity and zeal with which they do so is quite astounding. Sadly, many otherwise rational-thinking folks entertain these rumours and even share them. And so, two close male or female friends who lime together are automatically labelled as being gay. The owner of a big house or expensive car is at risk of being unfairly accused of being a drug dealer; and so on. Frankly, I don’t ever expect this practice to stop; but the fact that so many of our people are so keen to hurt each other with wild lies is quite depressing.
Conclusion
I have laid bare some of the pain that comes with loving Saint Lucia. This does not mean that I love Saint Lucia any less. I need Saint Lucia in my life much more than it could possibly need me. But I won’t accept the Saint Lucia we are shaping up to be.