by Rick Lowe (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)

The following blog is an excerpt from a weekly column from 1998 that I used to write for The Bahama Journal. It is remarkable how true the saying is that, "the more things change the more they remain the same".

At forty years of age, I have very little in common with the leaders of our country from the 1970’s. I do remember however, the Abaco Independence Movement where I lived at the time, and the negativity that surrounded our nationhood. Looking back, I wonder if the idea could have been “sold” more effectively to the entire nation.

But today all 270,000 of us can hold our heads high when we consider what has been accomplished. To paraphrase Dr. Cleveland Eneas who wrote in his post script to Bain Town, “The time is rapidly dawning when we Bahamians will…… have a story to present to the rest of the world”.

With that said, I would like to enter the fray regarding the wild frenzy to change our institutions and national symbols.

The Constitution: I do not agree that the Constitution needs to be amended at this stage of our development, particularly if we are simply suggesting that we become a Republic to add checks and balances to our system as in America.

As our debate rages here, a similar one is being advanced in the US. To escape those very same checks and balances we want to emulate, President Clinton is appointing men and women as Acting Directors. This is simply to avoid scrutiny of his candidates by the Republican Congress. The point is, to change from one system to another does nothing to advance the morals of those elected to high office or our ability and desire to ensure the proper thing is done.

Maybe when our electorate becomes participatory we should look back at amending our Constitution. There is an awful lot of work to be done to reach that point.

The Flag: Leave the flag well enough alone! When we attempt to make the system “fair” to one group, we offend another. As a people, we have enough self-confidence to move forward without getting hung up on whether or not my race has a triangle, and another race has a square. This discussion serves to reduce our symbols to nothing more than temporary objects of emotionalism.

When I lived in Toronto Canada in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s, I remember how proud I was to display my Bahamian flag, never once thinking that I was left out!

Yes we have numerous accomplishments to be proud of over the last 25 years, and we can become the model “small” nation for others to emulate. If we can dispel the mistrust, (that may be a result of differing cultures), that we have allowed to creep into our national psyche, with prompting from some of our politicians of course, we could move “Forward, Upward, Onward Together”.

Happy 36th Birthday Bahamas!