tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4609739513818980179.post4609860086837688367..comments2023-04-18T04:24:02.782-07:00Comments on adrianaugierblog: WHY COME BACK: The Irrelevance of GeographyAAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12992161166751560958noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4609739513818980179.post-39852266357407809832012-12-20T04:07:25.871-08:002012-12-20T04:07:25.871-08:00An excellent and timely discussion. Why are so man...An excellent and timely discussion. Why are so many of the Caribbean's best writers, for example, now living in the US, Canada and the UK? This touches on some of those issues. Prof Crichlow is also right in pointing out the intellectual and cultural reasons why people may not return. They, too, are surely a barrier.Adam Lowehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05891276379064504048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4609739513818980179.post-49456231271325325322012-12-11T21:35:06.767-08:002012-12-11T21:35:06.767-08:00Irrelevance of Geography: Importance of Identity
W...Irrelevance of Geography: Importance of Identity<br />Websters Dictionary defines ‘home’ as residence: the place where a person, family, or household lives; family group: a family or any other group that lives together; or birthplace: the place where somebody was born or raised or feels that he or she belongs.<br />There were many reasons presented on why young citizens would come back home ranging from higher incomes to good healthcare to personal security, but none more important than the promise of self-inspired growth. Each one of us strives to be better in some way—to impact the world, whether around kitchen tables or in a classroom, church, or community. What’s missing in St. Lucia is the opportunity to be heard. More than vengeful personalities or impotent government, what’s missing is what unites us—purpose. <br />Let’s face it, Marcella from Mon Repos has no greater chance of being successful in a declining, unstable economy in the United States as a foreign, black, woman than she does in St. Lucia, a place where online banking still requires ten trips to the bank and two calls to the bank manager. Why haven’t Lucians demanded systems to suit their lifestyle? Because they do not share a voice—there is no rally for purpose. <br />As a foreign investor, ‘rooted’ in the region, I was born in America of emigrant parents but lived all my foundational years on an island with a tenth of the population of St Lucia. I was educated in the US, but longed for the day I could return to my ‘roots’ and build something that could change the world. Stumbling upon St Lucia, I thought I had found it—a place with just the right mix of accessibility, population, market opportunity, and charm.<br />Instead what I’ve found was everything you cited in this vision—doubtful futures, stagnant backwater mentalities, an economy with no discernible direction, complacency, but I also saw an uglier side—sabotage, greed, cowardice, and mostly—a society with a lack of personal identity.<br />So what to do? I have been invited to other islands to instead invest. Are those governments less impotent? Is the sabotage less treacherous? Is the enemy I don’t know less scary that the one I am battling? And what of my own personal identity! Didn’t I make a commitment? Didn’t I get rooted? Didn’t I make promises to myself that I would be the one who returned to change the world?<br />For a movement to go forward, it needs solidarity. Where are the other 30somethings, who want change, who are tired of being tired of the way things are because they are? Where is our leader? Who is our leader? Why haven’t they emerged? What is holding them back? Is she a she or a he? Hey you! Are you scared? What are you waiting for?<br />We are the generation who says yes and no with a text message or a tweet! We are the generation who can talk without ever meeting—who can march without ever putting one foot in front of another. We are the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, we are Facebook and Apple, Starbucks and Google. We are engineers, teachers, lawyers, housekeepers, entrepreneurs, nurses, civil servants, managers, supermarket cashiers, accountants, hairdressers, farmers, sportsmen, doctors, restaurant servers, stay at home moms, students. We are loud and we are strong. <br />So what do we say to you about student loans, higher incomes, and perceptible societal order? What do you know more than us about a ‘tourism product’ or e-commerce or renewable energy and alternative agriculture? When have you ever decided what ‘new economic space’ looks like? It’s time that the ones our fathers and mothers are talking about actually start doing the talking! It’s time that we let them put down the torch of all the things they fought for—equal rights for men and women, for blacks and whites, for pay and for the right to free speech—But only long enough for us to get good footing and pick it up and begin to rise and run! After all, my personal identity is tied up with yours. Let’s go.<br />Lets start the conversation. Facebook JaneJohn Doe—Email generationnextriseandrun@hotmail.com<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11611702705976817878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4609739513818980179.post-65750350317554490902012-11-29T11:15:53.373-08:002012-11-29T11:15:53.373-08:00This analysis highlights some of the obstacles tha...This analysis highlights some of the obstacles that young and old face in deciding on returning home or leaving home. But it is quite econo-centric. While the economy is key, it is not all. Economists thrive on this notion that we're all homo economicus and therefore all our decisions come back to this fixed bottom line. But that is not so, we're not all nor all the time determined by economic issues. There are other concerns. Our societies are quite stagnant intellectually and that is one factor that we should try to unpack when we think about why say, the rock of st. Lucia can seem so confining. It is largely due to the failure of postcolonial politicians. Their politics represent nothing new or creative. In fact they seem to stunt creativity. They seem to thrive on having an illiterate and/or a population that lacks initiative. A timid people, shamed or too humbled by their over dependence on the public coffers. We have proved that we cannot and should not govern ourselves as tiny states. Anthony pretty much said that recently, in his call for more effective communitarian politics. We cannot govern ourselves as disparate competitive geographic spots. So the situation is more complex than economics, although economics is key. It just ain't all. Professor M.A. Crichlowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07123436214287531571noreply@blogger.com