#BTColumn – Public apathy is a dangerous thing

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados TODAY Inc.

by Dr. Derek Alleyne

A narrative reflects a shared interpretation of how the world works. Who holds power and how they use it is both embedded in and supported by dominant narratives. Successful narrative change shifts power as well as dominant narratives.

From 2016 the current Government, while in Opposition, started a narrative that pitched the then Government as corrupt and incompetent.

The narrative was accompanied by several cartoons and other images which were posted across the social media. The focus was on the other and the result was a clean sweep of the polls. Quickly the propaganda machinery deemed the 2008 to 2018 period “the lost decade”.

A tight control of most of the local media has meant that changing the narrative in Barbados from the other Government has become a challenge for all opposition forces to the extent that a poorly performing Government has been able to project a perception that the country is in good hands.

This use of behaviour control mechanisms has been recognised as a tool of benevolent dictatorships and at every turn this Mottley-led Government has demonstrated an undiluted disdain for the people it was elected
overwhelmingly to serve.

It has now become normal for the Prime Minster to announce a Press Conference and to address the nation in a manner that reflects a parent scolding a child. The responsibility is shifted to the other. This posture seems to have been passed to other members of the Cabinet as exemplified in the
Minister of Health and Wellness’ recent broadcast announcing new close down times.

Often Governments after serving for some time display perceptions of arrogance attributed to familiarity with the personalities and practices at all levels of government. But in a short three years, this crowd shows no empathy and demonstrates no humility. In the face of all the hardship we face, the list of consultants and special advisers continues to grow.

How can the designated Ambassador to Canada be still lodging in Barbados when Canada remains a principal market for tourism and offshore financing opportunities? But the man called into the radio to report that it was a good thing he was in Barbados because he was able to reach out to residents of
St. George North after Hurricane Elsa.

Is he still canvassing for his replacement? It is one senseless episode after the other and Barbadians appear to be voiceless, numbed by the display of arrogance into a state of apathy.

Marianna Papastephanou in an article entitled Political Education in Times of Political Apathy and Extreme Political Pathos as Global Ways of Life, explained that “Indifference and apathy are the signs of a bewildered public”. Among other things, this heightens “our existential need to recover political passion”. We need this recovery for vigilance against the extreme political pathos that nourishes political emotions such as hatred, unjustified anger and blind fear”.

Public apathy has many faces. It could be a retreat revealing discontent, or, in cases of disagreement, it could be respectful acceptance of one’s entitlement to a different opinion. But it could also be a withdrawal, especially affordable by
those whose comfortable lives do not give them reasons to engage in politics or to engage with others. It could even be resignation (Saito, 2012, 283). When it gets rooted it becomes difficult to unseat.

Cries of corruption by opposition parties breathed on a public escaping responsibility for the state of their political existence will continue to add to the causes of apathy. It leads to responses of avoidance like “all politicians are the same” or “I done with politics.” The failure of governing parties to provide evidence of acts of indiscretion also add to a public display of apathetic responses to the state of politics.

While it is true that the lack of evidence does not render the claims false, to my mind, it reflects on the public’s failure to insist on claimants pursuing accusations of indiscretion. The Government’s leadership of the Integrity in Public Office legislation did not advance belief in the integrity of politicians.

What it suggests is that convenience underlies many a political claim. Now in government this administration continues to hide behind a narrative built on the other to the point that what it stands for, what it does, and has done fade into insignificance even if they are claims of indiscretions. The recent revelations by the Auditor General are treated in the vein “the other Government did the same.”

The St. George North by-election reported 48 per cent turn out and since the confidence of the citizens in the electoral system and their participation in the electoral process are requisites for the enthronement of responsible and democratic leaders, the current state of apathy should be a major source of concern.

Dr. Derek Alleyne is a trade unionist, social commentator and member of the Democratic Labour Party.