WeblogBahamas.com

On Integration

Rick Lowe

A question we need to ask ourselves.

"What do you think might help people integrate? Leave aside how many people should come here. For the people who have already arrived, do you think government (either local or central) should be trying to do more to help people fit in? Or is it up to us? Do you even agree that we should be aiming for new arrivals to fit in and feel British?" Bahamian?

Sounds like debates were having here about the Haitian migration issue (click here…) but it is one we need to discuss in a serious manner. It should not be a hot button election issue.

Read the entire article about Britain and their integration issue here…

The senseless debate brouhaha

Edward Hutcheson

If there is to be a contest in the next election, the leader of the opposition must drop the one-liners and grandiose statements that only resonate with a particular category of the electorate. If we were forty years removed and certain paradigms were still in place, his polemic offerings would be seen as reasonable, but, this is a different time and the Bahamians are in a different place. His good friend and adversary, may not seem as eloquent as he , but it amazing what is accomplished by persistent diligence to the issues that people are concerned about. Especially, if you are able to give your audience a picture that is historically relevant.

The two candidates have gone on record as wanting to have a public debate with Mr.Ingraham. This request gives us an indication that both men are very naïve or just ill-informed. I will grant you that they will look more ministerial than their adversary but that will mean nothing as both men have to conceal the fact that they have a very thin understanding of political history and no amount of preparation will spare them from the ensuing onslaught.

The same request is  being made on the talk shows by numerous callers; they have opined that speaking in Parliament is not the same thing as a public debate and that another side of persons wanting to lead must be seen so that the voters can make an informed choice.

A cleaner, renewable Bahamas for sure. But it’s not going to happen overnight

Michael Reiach

I am about to graduate with a degree in electrical engineering and am planning to specialize in sustainable and renewable sources of energy. Admittedly, I haven’t quite got to the professional engineer status yet but most days I try and relate my studies to The Bahamas. I must give BEC and the Bahamian government credit. Running a power generation and distribution system is not easy. It is even more difficult when you consider the geographic make up of The Bahamas.

I would rather make a comparison of our electrical grid to that in North America, specifically Canada, since we derive our electrical code from them and not the UK or Europe. The grids are based on a 100-year-old mindset. The old idea was that there would be a few large generation stations to power a distribution network for a region. Now the industry is trying to evolve that idea into multiple, smaller generation sites that can alleviate the dependency and demand on central power generators and possibly even feed excess energy into the grid. The Bahamas has taken the old grid approach by developing an independent power system on each island rather than trying to share resources. This has resulted in 29 power stations on over 25 islands.

It’s easier said than done. A large portion - 55% - of the energy in Ontario is generated by nuclear power. Nuclear power plants cannot be turned off in an instant – look at what happened in Japan. Nuclear gets a bad rap, which is too bad. It is very efficient and keeps the fuel surcharge low. Unfortunately, nuclear plants generate far more than the population of The Bahamas could ever demand so I will not be saying anymore about them.

Now onto what Mr Humes was talking about in The Nassau Guardian recently. He said:

“I know the high cost of energy is a major factor when doing business in the country. We have to look at ways of reducing energy costs. We need to introduce renewable energy sources like solar, hydro and wind that all can be used to bring down the cost of doing business,”

You cannot just say that so simply since there are other costs to consider than just generation, but I’ll go with the flow.

So Mr Humes could suggest that we throw lots of money into wind power and then we should have really cheap rates? Some of the highest energy prices are in Europe. Denmark is known as the wind power capital of the world. They cannot cope with the demand and their average price for energy is ~$0.40 per kWh [1] with the majority of energy being supplied by fossil fuels. Last time I checked, BEC was at $0.15 per kWh with a fluctuating fuel surcharge that was below $0.40 per kWh.

Continuing

Lessons in Freedom: A Small Pleasure of Book Production

Tibor R. Machan

One of my books is a collection of prominent essays by mostly contemporary libertarian political-economic thinkers.  Its title, The Libertarian Reader (1982), was so well chosen that years later someone quite prominent, David Boaz of the Cato Institute, also used it for a collection of essays he put together, The Libertarian Reader (1998). (Just in case you didn’t know, in the publishing world it is acceptable to make us of the titles of already published books.)

One of the hopes of authors and editors of books is of course that these will be bought and read, not to mention in huge numbers.  But unless one is a famous author or so dedicated to learning of the fate of one’s works, it is rare that one learns whether they have made the rounds. (In the academic world, of course, professors often assign books they have written or edited in their classes, although such self-dealing is widely frowned upon.)

I do know that another book of mine was at least considered for display in a movie or TV program because some years ago I received a form letter asking that I give permission for a producer to do just that with my The Pseudo-Science of B. F. Skinner, originally published by Arlington House of New Rochelle, NY (later reprinted by the University Press of America) and once reviewed very favorably in by Robert W. Proctor and Daniel J. Weeks in The American Journal Of Psychology (Summer 1990).  But I never learned if this ever came to pass.

What to do about unemployment

Rick Lowe

Mr. Jeffrey Todd, Business Editor of The Nassau Guardian called on Tuesday to ask what I thought about how the government can help stimulate the economy to create employment. See the interview with Mr. Winston Rolle, head of the Chamber of Commerce and myself here…

My initial suggestions:

1. Government needs to reduce some of the regulations. Even remove minimum wage for first time employees. At least let them get a foot on the ladder.
2. Review the business licensing process and cut down on the red tape and delays.

Obviously there is no easy answer with the economic turmoil around the world, and if Europe crashes, well who know when things will improve.

I know the political class intend to "help", but so often their policies inensify the problems they think they're alleviating.

Further reading: Unemployment. Causes and Cures by Farrell E. Block

Don't buy the political rhetoric

Edward Hutcheson

We are entering a season where some of our most able citizens take leave of their senses and profess their chosen political ideology with such a passion that the question of demonization comes up. In years past, I gave this anomaly little consideration, but having come face to face with it in the past decade I feel the need to comment. This activity really pinged my radar, when one of the local pastors, used some very inappropriate language as a “man of god”, as he “directed” his flock  in a previous election. I will admit that at the time I saw his behaviour as normal, when you consider his upbringing within that “political community”. In that same year, I watched as several persons that I have been in ministry with, went out on political limbs and started cutting on the wrong side of the limb they were standing on; they would have done irreparable harm to themselves and their families, if not for intervention. I think demonization is an accurate term, because when we attempt to talk about those “past” incidences they claim to have no memory of it.

"…Nation building is hard work and it must be intentional; especially in the four and a half years between the silly season."

This could be the year that we get some answers about the true function of political ideology in a social context, as a younger voting population asks the questions that have nothing to do with jobs, entitlement, dependency or Exodus as we have evolved into the new pharaohs. The populace who see themselves as a majority will have to experience their own personal exorcising as they battle the social and cultural influences that have allowed particular biases to be inserted into their psyches. In my opinion, this is worse than being a drug addict. In a recent sermon during the Majority Rule celebration, Pastor Timothy Stewart reminded the listeners that we who consider ourselves the majority came into a circumstance that allowed us to exercise our freedom as Bahamians, but some of us were more comfortable in securing our own “Pharaohs”, as we ventured into the new land. What his sermon also implied that what we call a Bahamian Majority, has nothing to do with skin colour – although some politicians would want to tell you different as they spread their own gospel of fear and mistrust. What was preached as a confusing black and white issue, has been further confounded by the additional colours of yellow, red and green.

Lessons in Freedom: How to Win this One in November

Tibor R. Machan

Seeing that it looks like Mitt Romney may well win the Republican nomination--though it’s too early to be sure about that--It has been a concern of freedom loving Americans whether the nod given to human individual liberty by the Tea Party back in 2010 will have staying power.  When the Republicans began their primaries it looked like one or another of the champions of serious liberty, such as former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson or Texas representative Ron Paul, could either make it or at least have an influence on who will.  This last is still a possibility but not very likely now.  With Gingrich injecting the influence of the Beltway Republican insiders into the race and with Mitt Romney derailing any progress toward a consistent political philosophy of liberty among Republicans, prospects for repeating, let alone enhancing, the central trends represented by the Tea Party--which itself has never been fully focused on true liberty--are waning.  And that is very disturbing because it looks more and more like Barack Obama has no interest whatever in individual rights, in a bona fide free society and market, or even in civil liberties.  What he is after is a populist reformation of the American polity, one that will usher in democratic socialism, with its confusing “market” socialism added.

"...What it needed is to run an articulate, self-confident, and unapologetic campaign that emphasises the minimalist thesis of liberty as against the totalitarian thesis that all of us must be herded into a collective mass (of which the best current manifestation is North Korea)."

This is the politics of soft Marxism; which is to say it aims to establish a legal order that’s basically collectivist, communitarian to the core.  The idea is that all Americans should be treated as one huge team lead by Obama or some similar minded politician and his or her cronies, with all property (including human labor) treated as public or social, with the serious implementation of the major step Marx and Engels identified on the road to socialism, namely, the abolition of the right to private property.  The modern explication of this idea was laid out by NYU professors Liam Murphy and Thomas Nagel, in their book The Myth of Ownership (Oxford 2002).  It is an unabashed attack on the principles of free market economics and individualism (i.e., on a system of law based on Lockean individual rights).

Perry Christie wrong on taxpayer funded elections

Rick Lowe

Mr. Christie, leader of the Opposition PLP has stated that, "if elected, he would ensure the government provides some sort of election funding for parties and individuals running in a general election."

Surely Bahamians should not be forced to give their money in support of a political party or candidate that they would not otherwise support?

It never ceases to amaze me how some people in the political class believe they have the right to divvy up taxpayer money for their personal benefit.

In the same Bahama Journal article of Monday, February 6, 2012 Mr. Christie goes on to suggest that "Democracy ought not to be frustrated by people who don't have the means to do so".

Now there's an interesting twist.

Surely a political party should have to solicit voters support, financial and otherwise and not have the ability to take taxpayer money for their purposes?

It is the political parties themselves that have driven the cost of elections up trying to put on the best "show", making the cost prohibitive for the average person to throw their hat into the proverbial ring.

That is frustrating democracy more than anything else.

Additional reading:
Wrong to Use Tax Money for Campaigns by Edward H. Crane
The Failures of Taxpayer Financing of Presidential Campaigns by John Samples

Mr. Branville McCartney and his motivation

Rick Lowe

This letter to The Editor of The Tribune on February 3, 2012, reminded me of a couple things I've wanted to blog about regarding Mr. Branville McCartney's motivation for some time.

First, "when he donned his camouflage" while 'rounding up haitians' for the press, was little more than grandstanding. It reminded me of when the price control people would take their picture for the press while confiscating (read stealing) items from the food stores because they were supposedly priced incorrectly. As if it's a useful practice. Releasing statistics seems more beneficial.

Second. He resigned from Cabinet because he was called down for having to release haitians he had rounded up right after the tragic earthquake in Port 'au Prince, the capital city of Haiti.

Being "forced" to release the "prisoners" because there was no where to send them to - after Port 'au Prince was flattened , a humantarian effort of sorts, he was so incensed that he chose to resign his post from Cabinet and then the FNM party.

These two events give me pause about Mr. McCartney and his ability to lead a government.

In the first instance, grandstanding that way when rounding up illegal immigrants remains a vital part of the Immigration Departments work is a bit over the top. And, in the second instance, I wonder why the thought never occurred to him to slow down on these exercises until there was a clear indication of what was happening on the ground in Haiti?

It's all a bit peculiar to me. What's your take?

Lessons in Freedom: Good Bye OC Register

Tibor R. Machan

Since the Fall of 1966 (if memory serves me right) I have been a columnist at what was then The Santa Ana but is now the Orange County Register.  I cannot count how many columns I produced, nearly all of them concerned with demonstrating the superiority of the free society as understood in libertarianism. (Two books I edited contain some of the columns, Liberty and Culture, Essays on the Idea of a Free Society [Prometheus Books, 1983] and Neither Left nor Right, Selected Columns [Hoover Institution Press, 2004].)

None of the columns I wrote for the paper has ever been rejected or significantly altered by the editors. I am quite amazed by this but couldn’t complain, that’s for certain.  It has been an amazing run and I am very grateful I was given the opportunity to be a part of the company's efforts to promote individual liberty. Unfortunately, however, the current management has decided that they no longer wish to publish my columns. Given that Freedom Communications, Inc., that owns The Register and a slew of other papers around the country, has been abandoning it's libertarian bearings over the last couple of years--the Hoiles family lost all control over the company--this is no great surprise.