by Sidney Sweeting, DDS
A letter in the Tribune this past week from the Nassau Institute “The Bahamas – Democracy or Autocracy” – should be a trumpet call for everyone who cares about the direction that this country is taking.
When we have a Government that is afraid of criticism and they are getting cozy with dictators like Chavez and Castro we should all be making our voices heard.
Too many Bahamians take the attitude that unless Government passes a law prohibiting freedom of speech then we can presume that all is well.
No, a country does not become autocratic overnight, their moves are subtle at first, then not so subtle, until they can finally become so bold that we become the typical “frightened society,” afraid to speak because “big brother” might be listening.
Today it is the Tribune and Mr. Marquis. If there is no one objecting then tomorrow is will be someone else. If there is still no one objecting it will continue.
We should not be advocating the abuse of freedom of speech or baseless attacks against individuals, but we need to insist on the right to free expression of one’s honest opinions and views.
We need to all be able to say that we took a stand and spoke out for freedom and democracy so that when the day of testing comes we can hold our heads high or be satisfied with our dismal failures of non-commitment.
On the other hand, this might be the nedded wakeup call to well and truly get our major papers in Nassau to be more analytical and objective in their coverage of the issues facing the country today, rather than continuing to tout their individual political agendas.
So called “fair and balanced” is the “politically correct”approach to reporting on events by the 2 major papers. The Punch is deliberately “Incorrect” – which position affords the editor wide latitude in what and how he chooses to print.
Required is a daily or weekly publicaton with a libertarian bias – i.e. deliberately testing political action on its support or denial of economic and personal freedoms.