I have taken the liberty to observe the prevailing attitude of the Dominican people, especially over the past decade. This comes on the heels of my several fact-finding missions – which include scientific surveys – on the socio-political dynamics in Dominica, dating back to 2000, and I am confident that there has been a shift in behaviors among Dominicans.
Dominica’s political culture has shifted and with that, a number of troubling signs are self-evident. Political culture here should be understood as the set of attitudes and practices held by people that shape their political behavior. Political behavior is basically people interaction, including electoral activities. Political culture, therefore, refers to the peoples’ moral judgments, political beliefs, and their general idea or set of ideas about what makes a good society.
It is my view, therefore, that selfishness has replaced cooperative communal tendencies; the people have become immune to anti-benevolent practices (especially in elected office and other such positions of responsibility); there are great levels of intolerance and disregard for indifference and peaceful coexistence, and there seems to have been an erosion of honesty in the society.
Nowhere else was this more evident than in that period following hurricane Maria in 2017, when the people so viciously looted and destroyed the undamaged physical infrastructures of their very own brothers and sisters. Yes, I looted too following hurricane David in 1979, but my looting was sanctioned by my deceased grandmother who also set the terms and conditions of the looting. “Alex,” she said, “go tek food ouché pat you flying om” (go and fetch food anywhere you find it). I, therefore, looted foodstuff – enough to keep us going until we, by our own means, could repair our lives and procure our livelihood. More than this seemed to have occurred in 2017. People were violent and non-selective in their looting behavior, and the question is why? I guess the culture of parental guidance was different then.
There may be other, more qualified answers to my question, but what I am sure of is that our people have changed and that change does not seem to be for the better. What is most critical now, therefore, is for us to understand and identify the genesis of that change from who we were to who we have become. We need to revisit that moment in our history when we parted ways with the Dominican consciousness, and this can only be achieved through an honest search. It is a sort of journey which begins with the individual and connects to other such self-examination(s). Such a practice will bear positive fruits if the mission is purposefully led by a clear vision of newness.
2020 provides us with that opportunity. Let us look inwards for the answers (which might even be staring us in the face) and apply a fix to the problems which we face as a Dominican society. We need new and conscious leaders – or leaders with a renewed sense of consciousness – to guide our resolve because the current crop has become lazy, tired and greedy (most of them), and unappealing. It is my wish that a new and improved Dominica emerge, beginning today, and that emergence will lead us to a better place.
My fellow Dominicans at home and abroad, I wish you what you wish for yourself, your family and loved ones in 2020 and beyond. Let us be a community again, even if we are separated by space, air, water and time – or especially so. Our country is on the verge: let us create whatever verge (or reality) we want that verge to be. Let us say and claim that we are on the verge of prosperity, so we can take that plunge together with the knowledge and faith that when we come together – meaningfully – we prosper together.
2020 is a year of coalition building; a period when you and I learn to work together for a greater cause. We have a country to save and nothing should stand in the way of our collective efforts to rebuild our nation’s damaged culture.
This article is copyright © 2020 DOM767
