#BTColumn – Barbados, God, and common good

The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Dr. Peter Laurie

In the history of every nation there are turning points at which the people find themselves facing a choice that can shape their future for better or worse.

We are at such an inflection point in Barbados right now.

The historic appointment of a Barbadian as our ceremonial head of state along with the prospect in the year ahead of our crafting a Barbadian constitution that reflects who we are as a people offers us an opportunity to strike a humane and ethical path in our evolution as a nation — if we have the insight, will, and courage to do so.

This is a light in the pandemic darkness.

Outsiders have long recognised that Barbados is a paradoxical society: at once profoundly conservative and fiercely progressive. Let me quote two eminent and knowledgeable outsiders.

Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves in a lecture entitled The Idea of Barbados a few years ago argued that: “Barbados is at once the most conservative and the most progressive society in the Caribbean, bar none!”

Anthony P. Maingot, a Trinidadian professor of sociology in a recent book
on the Caribbean, devotes an entire chapter to Barbados.

I quote one sentence from it: “Of all the countries of the Greater Caribbean, Barbados has most successfully combined a deep respect for tradition with a constant attempt to modernise.”

The discussion provoked by the appointment of a Bajan as our head of state and the issuance of a Charter embodying the hopes and aspirations of our people illustrate perfectly this paradox.

Barbados is both a profoundly religious and a profoundly humanist society. Our ancestors could not have survived the ordeal of their enslavement if they had not a deep and abiding belief in a providential God who had created this world for a purpose.

At the same time, the horrific conditions of their bondage imbued them with the determination to ensure that no form of discrimination or oppression whatsoever should ever again be tolerated. This is the legacy that we should honour as we go forward in our development as a nation.

As a Catholic, I find it shocking that religious persons should be yielding the ground of humanism to atheists. The tradition of Catholic Social Thought that has nourished my own spiritual and intellectual formation affirms that:

• life is sacred and the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society;

• that the person is not only sacred but also social so that how we organise our society directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community;

• that the rights of persons must be protected and citizens must meet their responsibilities;

• that the moral test of a society is how it meets the needs of the poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalised;

• that the economy must serve the people and not the other way around and therefore the dignity of work and the rights of workers must be protected;

• that we are one human family regardless of any differences and there is no basis for discrimination;

• and, finally, that we show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation so that care for our environment is a moral requirement.

These are all exemplified by the pastoral outreach of Pope Francis in pursuit of social and ecological justice.

The idea that we are moving into a godless future under a new constitution simply because we condemn and outlaw all forms of discrimination and wish to build a more humane and ethical society is absurd.

Even more ridiculous is the suggestion that some disrespect is intended because in the Charter the term ‘Creator’ is used rather than ‘God’.

‘Creator,’ as the source of all existence, is in fact a powerful and unambiguous designation of the Divine.

Let’s focus going forward on forging a society based on the common good.

We live in a society governed by a market economy. Such an economy has always been extraordinarily effective at creating wealth and driving technological and organisational innovation.

At the same time, the market economy has a systemic bias to inequality. Hence, governments over the years have intervened to protect society from the negative impacts of the market. Equality of opportunity is an important corrective to the negative impacts of a market economy, but it’s a remedial principle not an adequate ideal for a society dedicated to the common good.

Whether we like it or not we live in a capitalist market society. Moreover, all attempts to do away with capitalism by force, fiat, or revolution have been a failure in one way or another.

But there is hope. Capitalism right now is changing — fast. The degradation of the environment and the existential threat of climate change have placed limits on endless economic growth. A truly sustainable economy requires that all social needs be met without violating the life-supporting systems of our planet.

Now is the ideal opportunity to pursue the common good by exerting pressure on the market economy to ensure it functions more ethically in terms of its ecological and social impacts.

So, what can we do in Barbados to advance the common good, especially in the face of the disastrous economic fall-out from the pandemic where people are falling into income insecurity and poverty at an alarming rate?

We can undertake specific actions that contribute to the common good.

• Support social enterprises, cooperatives, and credit unions.

• Reform our educational, justice, and penal systems.

• Encourage Barbadian business organisations to establish a Common Good Balance Sheet. This measures ethical indicators such as whether products and services satisfy human needs; how humane are working conditions; how environmentally friendly are production processes; and to what extent are employees involved in strategic decision-making.

• Encourage trade unions to partner with employers in achieving humane and ethical economic development.

But perhaps one of the most promising things we can do is to create a Barbados Social Wealth Fund.

A Social Wealth Fund is a commonly owned investment fund, managed for long-term growth, with the returns used explicitly for the benefit of all citizens, including future generations.

The Government would have to pass legislation to set up the fund, but it should be independent of government or legally ‘ring-fenced’ so that no future government would be tempted to ‘raid’ the fund to finance shortfalls in revenue.

It should be supervised by a board appointed by the Social Partnership and should be independently managed in the most scrupulously transparent and accountable manner with quarterly public reports. Let us move forward, not backwards.

Dr. Peter Laurie is a retired permanent secretary and head of the Foreign Service who once served as Barbados’ Ambassador to the United States.