Creating a more humane society in Barbados- reflections on Pope

Benedict’s encyclical “Charity in Truth”

(Seminar 21 September 2009 facilitated by Emeritus RC Bishop

Anthony Dickson)

Political and Social Considerations

Presentation by Peter Laurie, author and former Ambassador of

Barbados to the USA

1. The Encyclical’s Observations on the State and Civil Society

Pope Benedict’s encyclical Charity in Truth is in the mainstream of

Catholic Social Teaching (CST), and recapitulates many of the classic tenets

of CST. At the same time Benedict makes some very pertinent observations

of his own on the impact of globalisation on state and civil society. The

main points we wish to highlight are:

• The state has a positive moral function. It is an instrument to promote

human dignity, protect human rights, and build the common good.

• The state also has a role in ensuring that the market functions to the

moral benefit of society. In the words of Benedict “grave imbalances

are produced when economic action, conceived merely as an engine

for wealth creation, is detached from political action, conceived as a

means for pursuing justice through redistribution.”

• Two fundamental principles of CST are relevant to the functioning of

the state vis-à-vis the society: solidarity and subsidiarity. As Benedict

says, ‘Solidarity is first and foremost a sense of responsibility on the

part of everyone with regard to everyone’. The principle of

subsidiarity holds that the functions of government should be

performed at the lowest level appropriate. When the needs in question

cannot adequately be met at the lower level, then it is not only

necessary, but imperative that higher levels of government intervene.

• The state’s traditional sovereignty is being increasingly limited by the

forces of globalization and by the growth of a more assertive and

participatory civil society – what some call the ‘third sector’. This

leads to the idea that the functions and powers of the state need to be

“prudently reviewed and remodelled so as to enable them, perhaps

through new forms of engagement, to address the challenges of

today's world.”. This in turn should usher in new forms of political

participation at all levels.

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• In terms of the state itself, Benedict calls for a ‘dispersed political

authority, effective on different levels.’

• Benedict also calls for us to escape from “The exclusively binary

model of market-plus-State,” This, he argues is corrosive of society.

He therefore urges the creation of more not-for-profit enterprises that

are different both from private and public enterprises, i.e. producer

cooperatives, credit unions and so on. He interestingly speaks of

‘civilizing the economy’.

• Benedict also urges the formation of more consumer associations and

cooperatives.

• Finally Benedict sees a new role for trade unions beyond traditional

defence of the workers’ interests.

2. What can be done in Barbados?

The good news is that Barbados starts with several advantages.

• We are a small society and it is easier make major changes.

• Both political parties and the public at large subscribe to a social

democratic philosophy of government in which the market is the

engine of growth but the state intervenes both to regulate the market

and to ensure social justice and equity.

• Barbados works. Compared with many other states, Barbados is a

society with a high level of social cohesion. The people also have a

high level of trust in this country.

• We have an almost unique institution known as the Social Partnership

embracing the state, business and labour. This is a good basis on

which to build.

• We have a healthy cooperatives movement that can be built upon.

• We already have a pool of well-researched and widely canvassed

ideas to draw on in making the society more humane. I refer to the

reports on Constitutional Reform by Sir Henry Forde, on Race and

National Reconciliation by Sir Keith Hunte and on Law and Order by

Sir Roy Marshall. These speak to many issues of political and social

reform and they are all gathering dust.

There are a number of measures we can take.

• Constitutional reform: abolish the Senate which serves no purpose

and is merely an expensive rubber stamp. In its place have a

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unicameral legislature to which, in addition to the elected members

the Governor General appoints agreed community interests ex officio

and some persons in his own discretion. These appointees would have

the right to speak on proposed legislation but not to vote. Have more

parliamentary committees actively seeking public opinion on

proposed legislation

• Reform the public sector. Government in Barbados is not best

structured or equipped to function in the 21st century. It is overstaffed

by at least 25%, is not structured to get the best out of its employees,

and is still doing things that are largely irrelevant and a waste of time

and money. There are several activities that can be hived off. And

there are ways of reducing staff in as humane a way as possible.

Public sector reform should start with a blueprint of what functions

govt in Barbados today (and tomorrow) should be doing, and how best

those functions could be carried out: ministry, statutory corporation,

private sector under government supervision.

• We should develop the third sector in Barbados by refashioning the

Social Partnership (SP) to include representatives of civil society like

churches, NGOs etc, and by empowering ad hoc task forces of the SP

to spearhead assignments such as public sector reform, penal and law

enforcement reform, and other socially worthwhile projects. Right

now the SP is too formal and inactive.

• We need to create more forms of popular political participation as a

way of strengthening democracy. The Constituency Councils may be

one way achieving this or they may turn out to be just more political

pork barrels. In any event we must broaden popular participation

• Trade unions, while not ceding their defence of the rights of workers,

have to be more pro-active in the wider national picture of

productivity and flexibility of work, the aim being to create maximum

employment. We also as a society have to address the changing nature

of work, from long-term to short-term.

• In a knowledge/services economy like ours we need to be constantly

ahead of the game, especially in tourism and international financial

services, both of which are highly competitive, and in both of which

new niches are continually appearing ( and disappearing). And we

also have to engage in future thinking on issues such as non-fossil

energy, the environment, crime and punishment, and a whole slew of

social issues. So I think we need a dedicated non-bureaucratic think

tank, fuelled by the best and brightest, to be scouring the international

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environment on an ongoing basis for best practices etc, and to come

up with innovative ideas to make and keep Barbados competitive,

prosperous and socially just. Such a think tank might logically fall

under UWI’s jurisdiction with majority financing from the corporate

community and minority financing from government. It must enjoy a

high degree of autonomy.

• The public square or the commons plays a great role in social

cohesion and civic culture. We therefore must ensure that there are

more and better maintained public areas – squares, plazas, beaches,

playing fields, boardwalks, parks, etc - where people of all classes

can intermingle. The physical architecture of a country has a huge

effect on its civic spirit.

• Critically, we have to address the problem of a growing underclass

with strong anti-establishment values and its own subculture of

underachievement and defiance. It is this underclass that is targeted by

the managers of drug trafficking as dealers, enforcers and users. It is

this underclass that provides the overwhelming number of inmates of

our prison, many of whom are addicts. And it is this underclass that

now threatens our much-vaunted social stability. As a result we’re

facing a social crisis of growing intensity, evident in rising crime and

violence, falling standards and indiscipline, growing illiteracy, the

decline of community and the fraying of our institutions. Part of the

reason for this is that the social policies and mechanisms several

decades ago to uplift people out of poverty, now tend to function

largely to benefit mainly the vastly expanded middle class they

created. This is especially true in the case of education where the

children of middle class families consistently outperform children

from poorer backgrounds. The poor, in increasing numbers, are

dropping through the cracks. What can we do? If we the middle class

set the example of a grasping selfish materialism devoid of any sense

of public spirit; if we shirk our nation-building mission and look to

the state only to ease up on taxing us and to repress the growing

criminal element among us; if we turn inwards and seek private

solutions to public problems (whether in transport, education, health,

housing or culture); if we wish to cling to our privileges and kick

down the ladder up which we have climbed; then frankly there is no

hope. The rot in society invariably starts at the top. We will then

create the very thing we fear: a happy breeding ground for anti-social

and criminal behaviour. National discipline will continue to be eroded

as the middle class grows more selfish and the underclass grows more

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cynical. Add drugs and easy money to the situation and you get a

society that becomes unstable and drives away tourists and investors.

The social crisis leads inevitably to an economic crisis. On the other

hand, the middle class may act as if privilege entails responsibility.

There are examples of persons, associations, churches, groups, NGOs,

which, in large numbers, show a strong sense of social responsibility

and public spirit, whether on issues concerning the poor, the

disadvantaged, the environment, health or other civic functions. In

that case, the middle class must be prepared to facilitate, finance and

become involved in policies designed to bring this underclass into the

mainstream. We must revisit those social policies and also ensure that

we target social assistance to those who really need it. This will at the

same time help to erode the dependence of the middle class on the

state and allow them to become more self-reliant and take greater

personal and communal responsibility for themselves.

• Finally, It is possible that we’re living through a fundamental

transition from a system of relations between states (international

relations) to a system of global networked communities (global

relations) of which the state is only one such community.