o Author's note: This article was adapted from a column that was first published on September 21, 2009.
Since majority rule 49 years ago, three persons have led this country, each with his unique strengths and weaknesses, and each with his own distinctive vision for the nation, parts of which were achieved and parts left unfulfilled.
The longest serving prime minister, Sir Lynden Pindling, held office for 25 years, while Hubert Ingraham completed 15 years as prime minister. The current prime minister, Perry Christie, has served for nine years.
Christie is the front-runner for re-election as party leader at the Progressive Liberal Party's (PLP's) upcoming convention in November. If he is successful both at the convention and at the polls next year, this would result in a total period of a half-century that The Bahamas that has been led by only three individuals.
Therefore, in light of the changes that have taken place in the leadership of the Free National Movement (FNM) and the prospects of a leadership race in the PLP, this week we would like to Consider this... Is The Bahamas ready for a philosopher king?
Plato's philosopher king
In "The Republic", Plato outlined his concepts of the ideal government. Distilled to its basic premises, Plato argued that the best form of government would be a society ruled by a philosopher king. In Plato's society, that individual is a member of a class of persons who were raised and educated from birth to take their place at the highest levels of government.
This kind of monarchy was, in Plato's estimation, the greatest possible political system, since both democracy and oligarchy have their tyrannical leanings. One cannot help but suspect that Plato saw himself as the ultimate philosopher king, and that his system was based largely on dissatisfaction with the government of Athens, which ranged between democracy and oligarchy, after the execution of Socrates. But Plato sought to soften the hand of an absolute leader by providing him with enlightenment, an appreciation for all segments of the society and a wide knowledge of all aspects of his nation and his people, hence a philosopher king. The idea has some merit, but is it workable today and is it workable in The Bahamas?
Our experience
If we review our leaders over the past five decades, notwithstanding his shortcomings, Sir Lynden, in our opinion, most closely equates to Plato's definition of the philosopher king. We are not suggesting that he achieved or fulfilled that status in all respects, but of the three members of that club he comes closest.
He had a tremendous vision first for majority rule and a Bahamas for Bahamians first, personified in his government's Bahamianization policy. He appreciated the people of The Bahamas as individuals and as the Quiet Revolution gathered momentum, he interacted with them on a daily basis as they waged this peaceful campaign for freedom. Sir Lynden then led the country to political independence from Great Britain, and headed a Cabinet that established institutions that have significantly affected every aspect of our economic, professional and social lives.
The other two leaders seem to reside at opposite ends of the political poles. At one end, a pure political pragmatist whose decisive, determined and some might say dogged determination and almost autocratic leadership style seems to be in stark contrast to the characteristics of the individual who was both his successor and his predecessor; who is generally characterized as a consensus builder; who is slow to reach decisions and therefore appears to demonstrate a gentler style of leadership.
Despite the positive accomplishments that Pindling, Ingraham and Christie achieved, all three of the men have failed to implement policies for the sustainable attainment of real economic independence for a large number of Bahamians. And so the question must be asked: Do we need a philosopher king whose legacy will be to truly economically empower Bahamians to achieve full independence for ourselves and our homeland?
All too often, Bahamians complain about bearing witness to the red carpet being rolled out by politicians for those who come across the bar, who are often prepared to accept foreign investors at face value without fully investigating their antecedents, frequently granting them concessions that are unthinkable for Bahamians; often providing them with the ability to use the land that we bestow on them to raise the financing which they do not have in place before they arrive in order to create jobs, but not ownership for Bahamians.
This is not the progressive, forward-thinking leadership we would expect from a philosopher king, who would by definition be patriotic and blatantly biased toward empowering his own people to achieve the highest levels of success within his own borders, thereby strengthening his own kingdom from within.
Essentially it seems that too often our leaders are overly consumed by their concepts of theory or practice, mired in either the throes of the theoretical or ensconced in the pit of pragmatism. Too often, there is little appreciation for the middle ground, little consideration given to the balanced position.
Too often public policy and politics are viewed as either black or white, never as gray. That is not to say that they should waffle on issues that affect our national development, or that we want our leaders to be fence-sitters, but they should consider the wisdom of taking decisions and implementing policies whose outcomes would positively impact the greatest number of Bahamians, both today and into the future.
A Bahamian philosopher king
Although a philosopher king might be difficult to find in this 21st century Bahamas, Bahamians should demand more from their leaders on all sides of the political divide. And they are beginning to do so. Why else would Bahamians remove both parties from office after a single term?
The time has now arrived for Bahamians to demand that their leaders are more educated in the broadest sense of that word, not just in their particular professional discipline. We need our leaders to be more informed on issues that affect our national development and on international developments that impact us in ways where we have little, if any, influence.
We need leaders who fully appreciate Bahamian traditions and customs and who are able to nurture our rich culture in order to take its proper place in our national agenda. We need leaders who, while governing us as a nation, still regard The Bahamas as a place full of individuals with hopes, dreams and desires for a secure and fruitful future, and with the competency to achieve them. It is time for us to demand that our leaders appreciate the value of the knowledgeable, learned and cultured way of the philosopher king.
Conclusion
In our modern Bahamas, our smartest and best-educated individuals - those who approximate the mold of a philosopher king more closely - have chosen to avoid political office, in many cases leaving the governance of our society to those who generally do not satisfy the qualifications of the philosopher king. Consequently, we are left with politicians who have little vision, a myopic world view, poorly read and uninformed persons who are devoid of analytical skills to critically assess and implement policy options to lead us.
We all know what the Good Book says about a people with visionless leaders - their fate is to perish. It is now up to each of us to carefully examine those who would offer for all positions of leadership.
It is now our solemn responsibility to disregard the external hype and look into the character of the men and women who would seek to represent our interests to be sure they are truly the best and brightest we have. We deserve the workable elemental attributes of a philosopher king and the smarts of 21st century Bahamian leaders. We the people deserve and should demand no less than the best.
o Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis and Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.
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