This speech consists of a presentation I was asked to make at Roosie Finlayson’s Vision 2020 back in November 2002 and was amended slightly for Remarks for the Rotary Club of South East Nassau, Wednesday, July 3, 2003.

I stumbled upon a printed version while cleaming out some old files and thought they might be worth dusting off.

So the concepts will not be novel or original. In fact, they might seem trite, but I don’t think they are expressed by our leaders as often as they should be.

Hope you can stick with this through to the end (only about 2,000 words) and leave a comment or two.

It's good to talk about these things, but there has to be a corresponding commitment to walking the talk as the old saying goes, and holding each other accountable.

OUR Constitution was drafted in 1973 on the fundamental beliefs in freedom, limited government, the rule of law and the inherent obligations that go with them. Here is what the preamble to our Constitution says:

Whereas Four Hundred and eighty-one years ago (now 510 years ago) the rediscovery of this Family of Islands, Rocks and Cays heralded the rebirth of the New World:

And Whereas the People of this Family of Islands recognise that the preservation of their Freedom will be guaranteed by a national commitment to Self-discipline, Industry, Loyalty, Unity and an abiding respect for Christian values and the Rule of Law;

Now Know Ye Therefore:

We the Inheritors of and Successors to this Family of Islands, recognising the Supremacy of God and believing in the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual, Do Hereby Proclaim In Solemn Praise the Establishment of a Free and Democratic Nation founded on Spiritual Values and in which no Man, Woman or Child shall ever be Slave or Bondsman to anyone or their Labour exploited or their Lives frustrated by deprivation, And Do Hereby Provide by these Articles for the indivisible Unity and Creation under God of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas…  

You might well ask what this has to do with moving our nation “Forward, Upward, Onward, Together?” or what it has to do with my vision for a future Bahamas. I hope to answer that question for you in the few minutes more allotted to me.

Power to do what we ought

Lord John Acton, the great English Historian (1834 – 1902) best known for his famous remark: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" once said that “Freedom is not permission to do what we like, it is the power to do what we ought”

We are, in many ways, a free society, but we are far from civil in numerous respects as crime seems out of control and our moral fibre and tolerance are stretched to their natural limit. There is the “if you don’t want to give it to us we’ll take it, or destroy it so no one else can have it” attitude pervasive in our society. As we become more “free” and “successful” do we value the rule of law and civility less?

Our neighbour, America, has long been the nation of freedom and liberty, but Republican Senator Dan Coats expressed some concerns about liberty and law in his (voluntary) retirement speech from the US Senate. I quote as follows:

“In the last few decades a good deal of obvious human suffering has given rise to doubts about our current arrangement of liberty and law. Easy divorce, for example has brought new destruction to the lives of children, making them prone to violence, depression, suicide, educational failure, sexual aggression and drug abuse. There is a conflict here between the rights of adults to do as they please and our duties to protect fragile minors from being scarred by others. Similar arguments could be made regarding sexual liberty that leads to poverty and pain, or alcohol use that leaves carnage on the roads, or gambling that disrupts families.”

“When these bad moral choices are rare, isolated and punished by stigma, they remain private tragedies. But when these moral choices are prevalent and threaten to dissolve the norm, when 70 percent of children will spend some time in a broken home, when in some communities 90 percent of births are illegitimate, these private tragedies gather into major social problems, complicating the lives of every citizen, leading the young into dark empty valleys.”

Are We Any Different?

When reading through the Senator’s speech I kept thinking that he must have visited the Bahamas, because it sure seemed as if he was detailing our social ills. I am not a prude by any means, but as we continue to publicly accept more behaviour that was previously considered as amoral, we lessen the chances of becoming a civil society.

As a people we continue to call on government to provide for us, but ignore our responsibility in the process. While morality cannot be legislated, people will sooner rather than later begin to conform if our existing laws were to be enforced. If we do not demand high standards, we will get exactly what we ask for.

It is obvious that our moral standards are not very high, and in my opinion, this contributes to the social decay we are presently experiencing. When we defend fellow workers who steal, “sweet-hearting” or illegitimacy as we do, should we continue to call ourselves a Christian nation?

The Law, Freedom and Rights.

All this begs the question of how we find the balance between the law and being a free people. Many of us believe that freedom allows us to do just as we please, but as Lord Acton pointed out, freedom “is the power to do what we ought” to do.

As Prime Minister Christie recently said “Yes, I know all about the presumption of innocence, but I also know that the accused individual is not the only one who has rights in this country.” To his credit, “He said the responsibility for curbing criminality does not only rest with the police and the courts, but it also rests with all Bahamians.” “Mother’s stop protecting your criminal children!” he is reported to have exhorted his party’s faithful. (Nassau Guardian, Saturday, November 23, 2002).

Here is some data compiled by The American Enterprise magazine back in 1998 that show some positive developments in the U.S. society:

1. MORAL TURNAROUND? In 1970, 52 % of those surveyed picked out “a letdown in moral values” as one of the “major causes of our problems today.” In 1998, 62% agreed.
2. RIGHTS VS. RESPONSIBILITIES. 66 percent of those interviewed in 1998 were more worried “that the country will become too tolerant of behaviours that are bad for society,” and 55 percent felt that “defending standards of right and wrong,” were more important.
3. ILLEGITIMACY fell from a high of 47% in 1995 to 44% in 1997.
4. TEEN BIRTHS fell from 39% in 1970 to 33% in 1997.

In addition to these, divorce is decreasing, while marriage is increasing. Welfare recipients, poverty, crime, drug use, teenage drinking, and high school dropouts are all declining, while work ethic, donations to charity and family values are all on the up turn. An important fundamental in all this is that government expansion has declined 3.9% over the 13 years from 1985 to 1998.

As Senator Coats stated in the closing paragraph of his speech:

“Many of our worst social problems will yield only to moral solutions: renewal of parental commitment to children, internal restraint of impulsive violence and aggressive sexuality, a return of public spirit and civic engagement. The institutions of civil society teach these lessons. By supporting them broadly, government can promote moral answers to human problems without favouring one moral or religious vision. It can encourage the work of civil society without overwhelming it with rules and restrictions. It can encourage the virtue of a free nation and still leave it free.”

So there is evidence that change is possible in the United States. Is change possible here?

Freedom goes hand in hand with responsibility.

While crime does seem out of control and all of these vexing social ills affect us to one degree or another, most of us believe something must be done, starting with an overhaul of our public educational system, that is obviously failing a majority of the students passing through. This is demonstrated by the average grade being a D as announced by the Ministry of Education. However, we have to be careful how far we encourage the state to go. Governments do not have a great track record with shaping individual consciences. Oh, they can use their power to get their way temporarily, or pass draconian laws, but this will all be for the sake of symbolism over substance as history has shown us.

In his introduction to Rev. Robert Sirico’s (President of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty www.acton.org) treatise Toward a Free and Virtuous Society, Doug Bandow points out:

…building a better society that protects justice and meets material needs is a worthy goal and most likely to be achieved through a free society. While a liberal – in the classic sense – economic and political system is the best one available, it will operate most effectively if nestled in a virtuous social environment. “In order to function effectively,” observes Sirico, “markets require a certain moral context and perspective…” People who are honest, work hard, exercise self-control, treat others with dignity, help the disadvantaged, and respect the rights of others require less outside regulation. A society made up of such individuals will have fewer of the problems that invite government intervention.

Forming such an environment requires sustained effort. Although government is a poor means of moulding character, collective social action is required. In many cases the market process itself will encourage virtuous action. As Sirico writes, “The free market, as any entrepreneur knows, can function as a moral tutor by fostering rule-keeping, honesty, respect for others, and courage.” Voluntary cooperation is possible in other ways. For instance, bringing social pressure against businessmen in the marketplace – the purveyors of “gangsta” rap, for instance – is one mechanism by which a free society can encourage virtue.

Those who believe in both a free and virtuous society face serious challenges in the coming years, but neither cause will be helped by playing one against the other. In the end, liberty and morality need each other.

My Vision for 2020

So my vision for the future is A Free and Civil Society.  A society where we:

1. Live by the golden rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you).
2. A society where we have the least possible amount of government intervention.
3. A society where we have a prompt and unbiased judicial system where contracts can easily be enforced.
4. A country where the Constitution is upheld and the rule of law equally applied. And, probably most important of all at this stage of our development,
5. A country where we have an educated citizenry. As an aside, I do not think that education is the ultimate good. I do however think that if we privatised the entire Ministry of Education to make it effective, this would help us toward achieving a moral society…not an end in and of itself.

While all this may seem trite or even simplistic, more of us are beginning to realise that we are responsible for our own actions and lives. But, the sooner we all take hold of this idea, the sooner we will begin the march toward a more free and civil society. A society many of us say we want, but we all may not be prepared to put in the effort necessary to get us there.

So to paraphrase William Bennett, the former US Secretary of Education The teaching of virtues is an old notion and more importantly an old responsibility. Virtues don’t come in our genes, so it is the duty of every generation to pass them on. It is a duty we are not allowed to surrender.

Thank you for reading.

Please share your thoughts.

Revised Date: July 15, 2003.