One can't help but be cynical when reading the recent statement issued on behalf of Mr. Shane Gibson (PLP), Minister of Labour, about a new National training Agency.
Mr. Gibson is reported to have said:
“The National Training Agency will aggressively address the challenge of preparing young adults, in particular those 25, and who make up 32 per cent of unemployed persons, for successful entry to the workforce,” And,
“This is critical to the development of a dynamic and productive workforce that will be able to keep pace with a progressive and expanding economy, evidenced by the development projects that the 2013-2014 Budget foreshadows,”
I'd be willing to bet that if we read the press releases over the years for what is now referred to as BTVI we would get more of the same.
But, you can only write the same stuff over and over until it becomes meaningless if there are no results. But should we blame the politicians or ourselves?
Here's something I penned back in June 1999.
"It’s far too easy for us to believe the eloquent and seductive speeches from both sides of Parliament that politicians will fulfil our hopes and dreams for us. This is impossible. If they have the political will they can make opportunities available but as individuals we have to make the effort ourselves.
"Yes it seems to come easy for some people to succeed; others take years to get there, while others never “make it.” I don’t think it can be any other way. However I think we do ourselves a disservice when we prefer to believe that success – however we define it – comes without effort.
"Our misplaced faith in the politician is part of the problem.
And over two decades later, we're still getting the same speeches from our "caring government" and we're still waiting for the results.
Shame on you Shane, you and your political cohorts can offer only failed platitudes and empty promises that will never work.. Our children, from their late teens through their twenties, are a lost generation that will become an increasing burden on the Bahamian people.. Jobs in the aggregate will be meaningless regardless of so-called training inititives.. The ingrained attitudes of slackness and absence of the work ethic has destroyed any personal initiative required to be a productive individual.. They are a product of a system of dependency that has been emphasized throughout their schooling.. With the long-term outlook for meaningful employment waning, one wonders in earnest what are we training our youth for?? Lets face it, our number one priority is business creation and development which will create demand for new jobs and increased employment..
As anyone with any sense knows this of course is just the opposite of what government is doing as its so-called policies are crushing businesses and relegating new business formation back to the drawing boards.. Higher taxes, bureaucratic meddling and regulation are destroying capital formation and business growth and expansion.. And nothing is being done to address the pressing issues of the negative attitudes and lack of self-esteem of our children of primary school age.. We are creating another lost generation with no meaningful solutions forth coming from government to address this ongoing crisis..
So it is shame not only on you Shane, but on ourselves, the Bahamian people and our social and political institutions as well.. We can do better if we really want to try..
Gee, I thought I might reply to this post, but Tradewinds said it all, and did so very well indeed….
All I can add is that the reason why such programs never work is admirably explained in Hayek’s excellent book ‘The Road to Serfdom’ ( http://mises.org/document/2402/The-Road-to-Serfdom )
It is a must read for all and particularly politicians of all breeds.
Dr. Cove.. Thank you for your kind recognition, but please let it fly as our nation is heading for a dead end conclusion as many of our friends, professional colleagues and neighbors are in a state of serious denial.. This, psychologists refer to as the “normalcy bias”, where our natural reactions to a crisis situation is complacency believing it could never happen to us.. People become unable to deal with physical or economic disasters once they has occurred.. This explains why basically intelligent people will never react until it is to late.. Most Bahamians are guilty of this bias as it is a fundamental part of our human nature.. Today, we simply refuse to recognize the mounting evidence of economic decay even though it is right in front of us, on account of its unlike anything we have ever experienced or expect to encounter..
With this in mind, we must continue to expound and explain the evidence we know to be truthful.. If we let the “normalcy bias” continue to totally influence and dominate our national thinking, then we as a nation are destined to our own disastrous consequences.. Friedrich Hayek’s classic, “Road to Serfdom”, is the national blue print our politicians have chosen to take us on, and we are totally blind to what is really happening to our proud nation..
Gibson, like all our elected misfits, are struggling to remain relevant in the face of irrelevance and mayhem.
They, collectively, have allowed our systems of Governance to be undermined,
but have undermined themselves and the offices they hold in the process.
seeking popularity instead of good policy, whether fiscal or ethical, they are compelled to promise more and more, and they keep getting rewarded the same failed results that they have earned.
We are getting it because we sat by or supported them.
Einstein would point at us and say “irrefutable proof”
of insanity!