There are people who believe or imagine that The Bahamas today is a place in which everything, or almost everything, is bad, ruined or unpleasant. I am not one of them, not by a long shot. Yes, there are some things, perhaps too many things, to feel bad about our country these days; but they are not everything, or most things, not by far. In almost every area of life one examines in this country, the glass, for me at least, is more half full than it is half empty.
Physically, the New Providence Landfill in Tall Pines is disheartening; it is truly a disgrace for a 21st century Bahamas. No doubt there are other environmental sins for which we must repent, but the dump and those problems are not New Providence, and New Providence is not them. New Providence still remains a beautiful island. Further still, New Providence is but one of the 700 beautiful islands in our chain. Even if we think we have ruined New Providence, surely, the other 699 islands give us cause to pause in hope. Trust me, I know. I have been to a number of them, and the air is fresh, the waters clear and the vegetation rich. They are special, therapeutic and glorious, even if underdeveloped.
Economically, you don't have to tell me that too many people are out of work, and that too many more are underemployed, and that many more than them have not seen a wage increase in years. Yes, the government's finances are in bad shape, the national debt is rising still and the debt-to-GDP ratio rising even more. Hey, I know about the downgrades by Moody's and Standard and Poor's, and can even explain their implications for the cost of government borrowing. While the government's borrowing cost is going up, the government can still borrow, even if we should not. Our economy, while only growing slightly, is growing nonetheless. It is not contracting. While 15 percent of people looking for work can't find work, 85 percent have work. And while the cost of living in the face of stagnant wages is burdensome, inflation is contained.
Murders have increased over the years and are too callous for all our taste. We truly should have a nation with less violent crimes. More of our young men are committing crimes and being victimized by it than gives any of us cause for comfort. Yet, 90-plus percent of the people in The Bahamas are neither perpetrators nor victims of violent crimes. Our families, businesses, churches, government and general society can still function in relative tranquillity. In fact, take Nassau out of the picture, and to a lesser extent, Freeport, and The Bahamas is paradise again, where crime is concerned.
Our politics, and our politicians, do have much to answer for. Yes, over the years we have not kept all our promises, or made the degree of progress we should have. And yes, we have in instances taken the population for granted and overlooked some of the obvious details. Yes, some have been lazy, slack, rude and outright corrupt, but, boy, it has not been all bad, not by far. There are men and women who have sought to bring good to the country, and by God's grace, they did. We may not be the state we want to be, but we surely are not the state we use to be; and that had something to do with the government and the politicians. Whether it is infrastructure, education, the media, the systems, healthcare or social services, we may not have all we want, but we do not lack all we could.
Now, given the high anxiety, frustration, anger and politics of this present hour, this is probably not the politic thing to write, but you know what? Thank God, I still live in a country where basic human rights and freedoms exist so that I can write this. And why? Because it is easy to be so jaded, so negative, so pessimistic that even the good that exists cannot be seen. It is possible to be so dystopian that even the God that is good becomes a burden too much to carry.
Without hope, no one and no people can survive. Without truth, no one and no people can thrive. Without balance and objectivity, no one and no people can find tranquillity. To say that there is good around does not deprive us of seeing what is wrong, but it does remind us that we were not useless and we need not be helpless. To say that we made progress does not prevent us from lamenting the progress we did not make, but it does encourage us to know that we have and can achieve. To acknowledge what we have accomplished does not dismiss our need to press for change where necessary, but it does energize us with the possibility that such change can occur.
No, I am no Bahamian dystopian believer. In all my stress, fretting and anxiety, I am hopeful of a better life for us all. I dare not spit on the grace of God in ingratitude, even as I pray his strength to change the things I can. In this silly season, I dare not falsely paint the blue sky gray simply to shape a view that meets with some twisted ambition. My country is both good and bad, and in my view, it is more good than bad. It is in need of change, in some areas more than others, but it is still a paradise, if not in my heart then in my hope.

o Zhivargo Laing is a Bahamian economic consultant and former Cabinet minister who represented the Marco City constituency in the House of Assembly.

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