Analyzing readers' reactions to last week's 'The Bahamian brain drain'

Wed, Sep 24th 2014, 10:18 AM

In the past, I've written on very sensitive issues and controversial topics, as I most certainly will again in the future, but nothing I've written before has compared - with respect to the level of feedback received - to last week's 10 reasons Bahamian college graduates don't want to come home.
The quantity of messages received and social media commentary shared, as well as the nature of the sentiments expressed therein, tells me that the exploration of this topic is both timely and crucial, and that the complexity of the young, college-educated Bahamian's decision to return home after graduation is widely experienced and deeply felt.
Some readers were misguided in their interpretations of my article, its caption, and its intention, thinking: a) it was meant to be a complete list of reasons why Bahamian college graduates don't want to come back home, b) it was comprised of things only experienced by Bahamian students and graduates and by no one else in any other place in the world, and, c) it was to be used as a tool to instruct Bahamian college graduates not to come back home.
All of these interpretations are inaccurate.
To understand the necessity of a writer to weave fact, circumstance, experience, opinion, and language, to create something relatable, stirring, and useful, and how a writer captures an audience's attention and draws them into discussion, would allow for a more accurate interpretation of the '10 reasons'. Getting to know the writer facilitates this understanding.
The writer
Even though it is a means of self-expression and a mode of catharsis, I write to encourage others to find words and ways to express themselves honestly and rationally, and to share stories and ideas with them, with the hope that they will share theirs with others, so we can all learn from one another and develop a level of understanding and acceptance that strengthens us as a collective.
I write also to gauge and engage the feelings, perspectives, and tendencies of a wide group of people, irrespective of age or sex, on matters they should be thinking about on a regular basis in order to be more involved in fortifying their culture and their country.
I am a keen observer; my ability to express easily and fully comes from watching and listening, which in turn allows me to develop heartfelt thoughts and feelings about the world around me.
I use my expressive ability to give voice to the people who may not have found their own.
My writing is not intended to require anyone to agree with me or to give me a position on a topic and then beat people over the head with it.
I feel very deeply and sincerely about the things I choose to write on, and everyone can and will take from my writing of experiences and observations whatever they should. In the course of my thinking, analyzing, and sharing, if it leads to healthy debate on important matters, then that, I consider, a byproduct of my original objective.
Curiously, those who have on many occasions been uncomfortable with or opposed to my words have often said that I've allowed my experiences to affect my judgment, and to this I simply say that everyone does.
Each one of us human beings is affected by our life experiences and, we, subconsciously or not, allow them to create the basis of our thinking; it's only natural.
Every experience is a benchmark for living, and, if we don't consider our experiences as we live, then why do we live? Our lives are a series and mass of experiences, some we may want to have repeated and some we would sooner forget, but they are the foundations of our humanity.
Moreover, any writer worth her/ his salt should always seek to stir her/ his readers with human experiences. Otherwise, what do we write for?
Whether a writer is trying to convince someone of something, or simply to inform or to share, knowing how to capture the attention of the reader and how to reach that reader beyond the writing on the paper or the screen, without argument, without the burden of trying to get them to agree, means the writer's work is halfway done and likely to be more impactful.
If you write and you can't connect with the people you write for without forcing yourself on them, then you need to do something other than write. But, as long as you do write, you should try to write about things with sincerity, so your readers can be more open to your words and to feeling welcomed into the larger dialog.
Writers usually have a lot to say, but readers help them to define what they will say next, to the benefit of both the writer and the reader.
My own position
Being as sincere as I can be on the matter, I will say that my perspective on Bahamian brain drain does shift between the absolute and the uncertain, because, on the one hand, I know what my country desperately needs to grow, even to survive, but I also know that four or five, 25 or 40 returning college graduates trickling in over the next few decades won't get us to where we need to be, at least not in this century and certainly not in time to reverse the impact of lost Bahamian intellectual capital. A precise action is needed and it would have to be implemented fully in one fell swoop.
What is most factual about this issue of Bahamian brain drain is that there is a serious and valid concern on the part of young, college-educated Bahamians, and it is not to be taken lightly.
Many of these young people want to come (and stay) home if their specialties allow, but they feel strongly that the tendency of Bahamian decision-makers to turn to non-Bahamians for exclusive expertise is as common as sand on our beaches. Were it not for the longstanding and pervasive lack of national self-worth, always looking to the outside for the answers, the problem of brain drain may have ceased to exist right now.
Listening to the feedback on the topic, it is also clear that there are many other people, not only the students or graduates, who are affected by this flight of Bahamian human capital to the rest of the world. Parents, sponsors, and potential beneficiaries of this group's skills and talents who lose out when these graduates don't return to The Bahamas are also greatly affected. The problem is not just a problem of the individual anymore, especially when it's replicated many times over.
What's most alarming (though not surprising) to me, in analyzing all of the comments I've received on the subject, is that it appears as if the Bahamians who reject the possibility that a majority of young Bahamian college graduates could and do genuinely feel averse to their home country, and have very acceptable reasons for feeling like they best not return, are more likely to be Bahamians with elevated financial or social means, with a financial or social structure or network having been in place for them when they decided to return to The Bahamas; they are the well-connected and the well-funded, not the average Bahamian student who has struggled from day one to afford college, or struggles with family obligations, or struggles with basic finances and living expenses the moment they set foot back in The Bahamas.
Those arguing that the '10 reasons Bahamian college graduates don't want to come home' are mostly irrelevant really don't understand the scale of the problem. They have little to no concept of lack, what it means to eat a can of corn for dinner, or pay all living expenses on a $200 per week salary, after spending $20,000 per year in tuition (loans) to escape poverty! And they don't understand it because their worlds are closed to it. They have no experience with it; again, they are not nor have they ever been the average young, Bahamian college graduate with legitimate concerns about returning home that go far beyond successfully curing nostalgia.
Ironically, but perhaps tellingly, many young Bahamians vehemently arguing that Bahamian college graduates should return home have themselves stayed away for many years before returning, only doing so when it was at their convenience, or when they were "set", or when there was something established for them to return to in The Bahamas.
There is another option
The decision to live and work abroad after graduating from college does not mean a Bahamian college graduate turned expatriate to or in another country cannot contribute to the development of their country of birth.
They can - and I feel very strongly that this should be done by each and every one of them - return once per quarter or at least once per year to "give back", to share their expertise by hosting clinics, seminars, workshops, and trainings, interacting with the people who need them, and with the students who need to learn from them, as they once needed to learn from others. It can be done. It has been done, even if only in small numbers thus far.
And maybe that is where we need to start to resolve this brain drain issue, by providing a small incentive in the form of free or reimbursed airfare to expatriate Bahamians so they can return to The Bahamas expressly to share their knowledge at reasonable intervals and structured events and help develop their native land.
And, if this could be done, and 'coming home' at intervals is still too much to ask of these original Bahamians domiciled elsewhere, then the problem will not be with the country's lack of effort but with the people's lack of concern.
Realistically, over the long-term, without great financial or other incentives to return to The Bahamas, en masse - an acre of land on a Family Island for their first homes or first businesses, an annual travel voucher, etc. - these young people are not going to sacrifice the next 20 to 30 years of their lives and earning potential to move back home for conch salad, Junkanoo, and free baby-sitting for their children. They will visit home to enjoy these things and that will suffice.
For Bahamian college graduates, the beginning and growth of a career, and obtaining work experience abroad, usually occurs in conjunction with other personal pursuits of relationships, family, etc., which often means that young Bahamians stay where they are abroad because they have to now consider quality of life factors, world exposure, and opportunities not just for themselves but for their children.
The reality is that opportunities do not abound in The Bahamas, no matter your age or education, without access to sufficient, bordering on substantial financial resources. And what you will pay to live in The Bahamas, for decent quality food, housing, utilities, transportation, education, and any other necessity of life, far outstrips what you get. And this ties back to...
Economic value and productivity
A country and a culture of people who are unaccustomed to reasoning, analyzing, planning, creating, and innovating will not easily catch up to the competitive appeal of any country or culture that is already accustomed to these things being the essentials of a productive society.
The Bahamian college graduate has gone abroad and discovered the true definition of productivity, and that becomes a feature of life that they cannot live without. They will identify the minimal value placed on productivity by their birth country in comparison to another, and they will seek to be in the place where they can not only be industrious, but where they are valued monetarily and professionally as a measure of their industry, the place that gives them (and their children) the best chance at a productive, prosperous, and meaningful life. With that in mind, while reconditioning its approach to the 'Bahamian brain drain' problem, The Bahamas (government or citizenry, whoever can do it) will need to simultaneously recondition its people to be active participants in the fruitful evolution of their country into a productive nation.
Today, the problem of brain drain in The Bahamas isn't just a problem originating with a lack of opportunity, but it is attributable also to a ballooning number of unproductive Bahamians who just live out their entire lives sucking every bit of life and opportunity out of their surroundings without giving life and opportunity back to the country they call home.
More ambitious Bahamians will not want to be associated with this fruitless lifestyle and until a general lack of productivity becomes less of a problem, Bahamian brain drain will always be a viable alternative for the college-educated Bahamian.

o Facebook.com/politiCole.

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