Go Lean Commentary
It is Election Time in Guyana … March 2, 2020.
What are the issues at stake?
- Some say the economy;
- For some, it is security-public safety issues.
- All vested parties, conclude that better governance is a universal requirement; see the Appendix VIDEO for local insights.
- Whatever the motivation, everyone is being urged to vote the issues, and not race (Afro-Guyanese –vs- Indo-Guyanese) nor political legacy.
There are many factors in Guyana that need addressing; this beautiful Caribbean country on the South American mainland is one of the worse for the societal abandonment problem. See this chart here – from a previous blog-commentary – which shows that 89% of the college-educated population has fled this homeland:
Guyana therefore has a large Diaspora … abroad.
Could the strategy for reforming and transforming Guyana simply be The Diaspora?
This is the assertion of one of the candidates for President of Guyana, Dr. Irfaan Ali; see this news story here about a recent political rally:
Title: Ali plans to get Diaspora involved in every aspect of national development
Sub-title: Speaking at his party’s rally on Sunday in Stewartville, Mr. Ali said the diaspora should not be ignored and he has no problem with those who have dual citizenship.
The Presidential Candidate for the People’s Progressive Party, Irfaan Ali, believes that members of the Diaspora could play a meaningful role in Guyana development and a government under his watch would include the diaspora in every aspect of decision making in Guyana.
Speaking at his party’s rally on Sunday in Stewartville, Mr. Ali said the diaspora should not be ignored and he has no problem with those who have dual citizenship.
“You are a born Guyanese and you have a right here and we love you and this is your home. We are going to aggressively involve the Diaspora in every aspect of national life and development, they must come back and work and be part of the future”, Ali told his supporters at the large rally.
Ali also released a menu of development plans for the Region 3 area that he intends to put in place if he wins the upcoming elections.
He said the West Demerara will see a superhighway and a new fixed bridge across the Demerara River with improved health and educational facilities under his leadership.
Mr. Ali also promised to do more to assist the farmers of Region 3.
The Region 3 residents were also told that revenues from the oil and gas sector will trickle down to them, with training and jobs being made available.
Ali who also lives in the West Demerara area believes the residents of the region must continue to support his party to ensure development of their communities.
Source: Posted & retrieved February 10, 2020 from: https://newssourcegy.com/news/ali-plans-to-get-diaspora-involved-in-every-aspect-of-national-development/
Don’t get it twisted, the Diaspora has not been, is not currently nor will they ever be the panacea for what ills Guyana. Plus the [majority of the] Diaspora is not even listening to this appeal from the home country. So calling out to them is a waste of Guyana’s time and the Diaspora’s time.
This is a constant message from the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean. This was well communicated in a series of previous blogs on this same subject, for one Caribbean country after another:
The Diaspora – of all Caribbean countries – never listens to the appeals of their former homelands. Alas, Barbados [Guyana] is not the first to waste time, talent and treasuries to engage their Diaspora and urge them to come back and/or to invest in the homeland.
This quest has been pursued throughout the Caribbean world. Yet the failures has been loud.
Why? Because they – the Diaspora – are gone!
Yes, there is this preponderance for governments (and citizenry alike) in the region to pursue this same Diaspora strategy. [Since] the calendar year of 2017, we published a number of commentaries on this Caribbean pre-occupation, with these entries relating these homelands:
- Barbados – April 30, 2019 – http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17325
- Grenada– November 3, 2017 – http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13438
- Dominica– October 18, 2017 – http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13288
- Haiti– September 30, 2017 – http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13105
- Jamaica– September 20, 2017 – http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13040
- Bahamas– September 4, 2017 – http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12911
- St. Lucia– March 3, 2017 – http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10657
The Diaspora is not the panacea, or cure-all, for the Caribbean ills.
There is a rhyme-and-reason for why a strategy of depending on the Diaspora fails every time:
The troubling flaw for the Diaspora strategy is that the expectation is that these people who have left ‘here” will now turnaround and fix what is broken here. [But] this is a fallacy!
Rather than a strategy to “Invite the Diaspora to Remember Us”, there needs to be a Way Forward with strategies, tactics and implementations to elevate the societal engines of the Caribbean so that people do not have to leave in the first place.
Why do people leave?
The reasons have been identified as “Push and Pull”:
“Push” refers to people who feel compelled to leave, to seek refuge in a foreign land. “Refuge” is an appropriate word; because of societal defects, many from the Caribbean must leave as refugees – think LGBT, Disability, Domestic-abuse, Medically-challenged – for their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
“Pull”, on the other hand refers to the lure of a more prosperous life abroad; many times our people are emigrating based on a mirage of “greener pastures”; many times, this is elusive for the first generations.
It is far better to mitigate these “Push and Pull” factors; this would dissuade our people from leaving in the first place.
These words here are different than what the political candidates are promising for the Guyana March 2, 2020 Poll. Why?
The approach is different!
Guyana’s political establishment is proud of their independence status – one of the first in the British West Indies to secure this status. The Go Lean book, on the other hand, serving as a roadmap for a Way Forward, declares that this country went down the wrong road, that the key to success for Guyana is not independence, but rather it must be interdependence. The problems in Guyana are “too big for Guyana alone” to assuage, they need confederated solutions with their regional neighbors, who are all “in the same boat”.
This Go Lean roadmap is the Way Forward for Guyana.
The Go Lean book, serving as a roadmap for the introduction of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), asserts that the panacea for Guyana is not the Diaspora, but rather the strategies, tactics and implementations of this regional construct. The quest of this CU charter is not CariCom or the “Caribbean Community”. No, we are advocating for something better. We are advocating for economic empowerments, a regional security apparatus to optimize public safety and justice standards for all stakeholders – citizens, visitors and trading partners – and a technocratic regional governance.
How do we go about elevating these 3 vital societal engines (economics, security, governance)? Throughout the 370 pages of the Go Lean book, the details are provided as turn-by-turn directions on how to adopt new community ethos (attitudes and values), execute new strategies, tactics and implementations. These will reboot Guyana … and the other CariCom member-state on the Guiana Platte (Suriname). In fact, this actual advocacy in the Go Lean book contains specific plans, excerpts and headlines here from Page 240, entitled:
10 Ways to Impact The Guianas
| 1 | Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market Confederation Treaty: Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) The CU will allow for the unification of the region into one market, thereby creating a single economy of 30 member-states for 42 million, including the independent states of Guyana and Suriname. Other territories that made up The Guianas region include French Guiana, Spanish Guiana (today, the Guayana Region comprises three of the federal States of Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolívar, Delta Amacuro), and Portuguese Guiana (Brazil’s State of Amapa). On the CU roadmap, annexations will be explored in Year 5; French Guiana is ideal candidate, but not the Venezuelan and Brazilian regions. But there is the immediate need for foreign policy synchronizations with these other states for common pool resources and regional threats. |
| 2 | Trading Partners based on Nature not Politics |
| 3 | Homeland Security Pact – Assurance of Economic Engines |
| 4 | Disaster Planning, Preparation & Response |
| 5 | Caribbean Dollar and the Caribbean Central Bank
The CU Treaty allows the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to manage the monetary policy of the Caribbean Dollar, in place of the Guyanese Dollar or Suriname Dollar for global trade (supplanting US$). The independent-professional management will assuage devaluation risks while garnering the benefits of money multiplier. The C$ will be pegged to a basket of currencies, including the US dollar, Euro, British pound, so as to maximize value in the international markets. |
| 6 | Emigration Circuit Breaker
Some chronic problems related to economic progress has been the shortage of skilled labor and a deficient infrastructure. The CU seeks to offer an alternative to citizens abandoning the region for EU or US shores. A diverse, well-managed economy of 42 million people, rather than the minimal 700,000 of Guyana alone and 540,000 of Suriname, offer more options to assuage pressures for Guianian talent fleeing. The whole CU can provide solutions to contend with the scarcity of skilled labor, innovation deficits, and financial risks in social pension systems. |
| 7 | Extraction of Natural Resources |
| 8 | Tourism Collective Bargaining |
| 9 | Financial Receivership |
| 10 | Host Country Entitlements |
Guyana has had some encroachments of Failed-State status in the recent past; (plus the dire straits of Venezuela next door). Their societal engines are so deficient that they now have one of the highest suicides rates in the world. This is not a proud legacy to boast, but rather an emphatic cry for help. Here comes help!
In fact, the dire status and issues of “Guiana Region” has been detailed in many previous blog-commentaries; consider this sample list here:
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17691 | ‘Free Market’ Versus … Socialism – Very Prevalent in the Caribbean |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16172 | A Lesson in History: Jonestown, Guyana |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13299 | Making a ‘Pluralistic Democracy’ – Respecting Diwali |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12581 | State of the Union – Annexation: French Guiana |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12098 | Inaction on Venezuela: A Recipe for ‘Failed-State’ Status |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5396 | ‘Significant’ oil deposit found offshore Guyana |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2602 | Guyana and Suriname Wrestle With High Rates of Suicides |
So for the March 2, 2020 election, we urge the citizens of Guyana to vote early and often; just know that your Diaspora will probably have a small turn-out, (for those that are eligible from their foreign abodes). Do not waste time, talent and treasuries trying to engage this population. These one have left; support the ones who are still there and engaging their civil duty.
As related in a previous blog-commentary – A Change is Gonna Come – this Chinese proverb is apropos:
“Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come”.
A change will come to Guyana. We urge the stakeholders there to hold-on and hold-out for the reformations and transformations that will come, either with the General Election on March 2, 2020 or soon thereafter with the Go Lean roadmap. We urge all Guyana stakeholders and Caribbean stakeholders alike to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap … to do the heavy-lifting of elevating our regional society and making our homelands better places 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.
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APPENDIX VIDEO – This Week in 60 Minutes … – https://youtu.be/baIzuIIatx0
Peoples Progressive Party/Civic
Posted February 8, 2020 –
- Category: News & Politics