Go Lean…Caribbean

The Bahamas Prime Minister, Dr. Hubert Minnis, is asking the citizens in his country to sacrifice for the good of the country so that the whole community can endure the Coronavirus-COVID-19 panndemic:

… the process will require sacrifices from all Bahamians.

This seems so wrong!

This is the same country that systemically suppresses, represses and oppresses one minority group after another. (When you add up all the minority groups, they form the majority).

If you kick your guard dog and abuse him all the time, he will probably not try to defend your house. You would have broken his spirit.

This should be a familiar refrain by now. In September 2019 when Category 5 Hurricane Dorian devastated the Northern Bahamas, some regional stakeholders complained then that they were dis-inclined to help because of the Bahamian track record of abuse.

We learned nothing! The Bahamas has still not developed any “Give and Take”, no symbiosis, no mutualism. Even the Bible presents the Golden Rule as:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This is just how life works. In nature, it’s called a symbiotic relationship. The encyclopedic definition is as follows:

Symbiosis (from Greek “living together”, from Sym meaning”together” and biosis meaning “living”)^[2] is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic. The organisms, each term a symbiont, may be of the same or of different species. …

Symbiosis can be obligatory, which means that one or more of the symbionts entirely depend on each other for survival, or facultative (optional) when they can generally live independently.

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Mutualism; describes the ecological interaction between two or more species where each species has a net benefit.[1]

In a previous Go Lean commentary this argument was presented, against the backdrop of the quotation from Alexandre Dumas’s story of the Three Musketeers. “All for One and One for All” was elaborated upon in that previous blog-commentary.

“One for All” must equally accompany a quest where there is “All for One“. This aligns with the implied Social Contract, defined as:

Citizens surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the State in exchange for protection of remaining natural and legal rights.

It is only apropos to Encore that original commentary from June 10, 2016 now:

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Go Lean Commentary – Respect for Minorities: ‘All For One’

This subject of “Respect for Minorities” is dominant in the news right now. This commentary is 1 of 3 in this series on lamentations for defective Caribbean social values. The complete series is as follows:

1. Respect for Minorities: ‘All For One’
2. Respect for Minorities: Climate of Hate – ‘It Gets Worse Before It Gets Worse’
3. Respect for Minorities: Reconstruction then Redemption

There is this impactful quotation from the Bible:

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? – The Bible; Matthew 18:12 – New International Version.

But someone might argue: “the needs of the many out-weight the needs of the few”. This is the principle of the Greater Good. Yes, this is true! This principle is very familiar to the publishers of the book Go Lean … Caribbean; the principle is foremost in the book (Page 37) as a community ethos, the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a society. The region needs to adopt this ethos to forge change in the Caribbean. But it turns out that the Greater Good is not just a priority on the majority, it is very much reflective of minorities.

All For One … and … One For All!

This expression is from literature, the book: The Three Musketeers, by the nineteenth-century French author Alexandre Dumas – it represents “art imitating life” in it’s meaning:

All the members of a group support each of the individual members, and the individual members pledge to support the group. Note: “All for one and one for all” is best known as the motto of the title characters in the book. Source: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/all-for-one-and-one-for-all

Since everyone is unique, we may all be minorities in some respects. Consider (these previous blogs):

• Race
• Language
• National Origin
• Religion
• Sex/Gender
• Sexual Orientation
• Physical Ability
• Obese
• Mentally Ill

There is the need for the majority to protect the basic rights of minority groups; this is in effect protecting the rights for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness … for all.

What’s more, the minorities should not have to beg the majority for these rights; the rights should be an automatic entitlement.

Let’s consider the example here of the “peanut“.

It’s a great little snack; a lot of people enjoy them. But, for some – a small but growing minority in any society; see VIDEO below – the peanut is deadly, due to their allergic reactions. Should a majority of people be inconvenient due to allergies of just a few people, or sometimes, just one. Consider this model here:

Title: Customers with Disabilities – Peanut Dust Allergies
Source: Southwest Airlines Website – Customer Service Policy; retrieved 06/09/2016 from: https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/unique-travel-needs/customers-with-disabilities-pol.html

Because it is nearly impossible for persons who have an allergy to peanut dust to avoid triggering a reaction if peanut dust is in the air, Southwest Airlines is unable to guarantee a peanut-free or allergen-free flight. We have procedures in place to assist our Customers with severe allergies to peanut dust and will make every attempt not to serve packaged peanuts on the aircraft when our Customers alert us of their allergy to peanut dust.

We ask Customers with peanut dust allergies making reservations over the phone to advise our Customer Representatives of the allergy at the time the reservation is made. If the reservation is made via a travel agent, the Customer should telephone 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792) afterward to speak with a Customer Representative. If the reservation is made via southwest.com, the Customer may advise us of the allergy on the “Southwest Airlines Payment and Passenger Information” screen by clicking on the link to “Add/Edit Disability Assistance Options.”

We suggest that Customers with peanut dust allergies book travel on early morning flights as our aircraft undergo a thorough cleaning only at the end of the day.

We ask the Customer with the allergy (or someone speaking on the Customer’s behalf) to check in at the departure gate one hour prior to departure and speak with the Customer Service Agent (CSA) regarding the Customer’s allergy. Please allow enough time to park, check luggage and/or receive your boarding pass, and to pass through the security checkpoint. Our CSA will provide the Customer with a Peanut Dust Allergy Document and ask him/her to present the document to the Flight Attendant upon boarding. If the Customer has a connection, the CSA will provide the Customer with two documents, one of which should be retained to present to the Flight Attendant on the connecting flight.

Our CSA will advise the Operations (Boarding) Agent so that service of packaged peanuts can be suspended for that flight. Our Operations Agent will notify the Provisioning and/or Ramp Supervisor to stock the aircraft with a sufficient supply of pretzels or alternate snacks. The Operations Agent will also notify the Flight Attendants of the Customer’s final destination and advise them that we cannot serve packaged peanuts until the Customer deplanes.

As some of our other snack items may contain peanut particles, peanut oil, or have been packaged in a peanut facility, Customers who have allergic reactions to eating/ingesting peanuts should read the ingredients on any packaged snack before consumption. Of course, all Customers are welcome to bring their own snacks with them.

Southwest cannot prevent other Customers from bringing peanuts or products containing peanuts onboard our flights. In addition, Southwest cannot give assurances that remnants of peanuts and/or peanut dust/oil will not remain on the aircraft floor, seats, or tray tables from the flights earlier in the aircraft’s routing.

In addition, Southwest Airlines cannot guarantee that a flight will be free of other allergens such as perfumes, lotions, cleaning solutions, etc.

The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean wants to forge change in the Caribbean; we want to change the attitudes for an entire community, country and region. As depicted in the foregoing article, but on a larger scale, we want to ensure that one peanut allergy sufferer can be assured of best efforts to not deprive them of life and health. But this quest is more than just peanuts; it is the attitudes of the people. We need majority populations to sacrifice, however small or large, to allow minority populations every opportunity to participate fully in society.

Besides, how much of a sacrifice is it truly to forego peanuts … for a short period. There are other alternative snacks. This is the full definition of a reasonable accommodation.

The “peanut” is this case is truly a metaphor. The seriousness of the allergy – life-and-death – is representative of the seriousness for the rights of minorities in a community. But at the same time, peanut allergies have increased in western societies. Why? See VIDEO in the Appendix below.  So for peanuts and other aspects of societal life, what may only be an inconvenience for the majority may actually be “life-and-death” for the affected minority. This is why the requirements for someone’s quality of life, should never be subject to a popularity contest. This is the Greater Good.

So the community ethos of the Greater Good must be tempered with the ethos of National Sacrifice. The Go Lean movement (book and blog-commentaries) posits that these new community ethos must be adopted by the Caribbean; they are undoubtedly missing. This is evidenced by the fact that every Caribbean member-state suffers from alarming rates of societal abandonment: on average 70% of college educated ones in the population have fled in a brain drain, while the US territories have lost more than 50% of their general populations). Why do people flee?

“Push and pull” reasons! “Push”, as in people fleeing to find refuge from abuses tied to their minority status, and “pull”, as in the perception (though many times false) that life is better on foreign shores.

The term National Sacrifice is defined here as the willingness to sacrifice for a greater cause; think “patriotism or love of country”. This spirit is currently missing, in that many in the community refuse to extend some reasonable accommodations so that others who may be minorities or differently-abled can participate in the out-workings of their community. As it turns out, “All For One and One For All” is also a recipe for forging successful communities.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); a confederation of the 30 member-states to bring change, empowerment, to the Caribbean region; to make the region a better place to live, work and play for all stakeholders (residents, tourists, visiting Diaspora and trading partners). This Go Lean roadmap also has initiatives (strategies) to foster solutions for the Caribbean youth. Any attempts to change Caribbean society’s community ethos (Greater Good and National Sacrifice) must start with the youth in order for the changes to be permanent. We are embarking on the effort to fix our Caribbean culture:

What is it that young people want in their society, so as to map a future for themselves at home: opportunity!

More specifically, equal access to opportunities – despite any minority status – to pursue their passions in life; whichever fields of endeavor they might pursue. This includes the strategies of education, jobs, entrepreneurial options, sports, and aspects of culture (art and music). Young people who cry, sweat, and bleed for their communities – embedding a desire to sacrifice for the Greater Good – are less inclined to flee. While these strategies are important, there is something else even more vital: a culture of inclusiveness; as follows:

Our community’s values, how we treat each other, our citizens, and stakeholders, and a healthy inclusive culture are more important than the elevation strategies executed.

Yes, when we make reasonable accommodations to be a more inclusive society, we invite “more people to the party” and elevate our society.

An African proverb brings a lot of solace to this discussion:

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

This also corresponds with the next verse in the above Bible scripture:

“And if he finds it [the one errand sheep], truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.” – Matthew 18:12 – New International Version.

The purpose of the Go Lean book/roadmap is more than just the embedding of these new community ethos, but rather the elevation of Caribbean society. In total, the Caribbean elevation 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 protection to the economic engines, public safety and justice for all.
• Improve Caribbean governance to support these societal engines.

The roadmap details the following community ethos, plus the execution of these strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to expand inclusiveness – to go together – and forge permanent change in Caribbean society:

All in all, there are certain successful traits (community ethos) associated with populations that have endured change, like the Greater Good and National Sacrifice. These are focused more on deferred gratification; on the future more so than immediate impact.

No sacrifice; no victory.

Now is the time for all stakeholders – majority and minority – to lean-in to this roadmap for Caribbean elevation, as depicted in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. “We need all hands on deck” to make our homelands better places to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Appendix VIDEO – Why Are Peanut Allergies Becoming So Common? – https://youtu.be/Mjr9h_QmdeM

Published on Oct 3, 2014 – Peanut allergies are becoming more and more common, and researchers are trying to find the cause. Trace is here to discuss this unique allergy, and how we might have finally found a cure.