By Rick Lowe:

Now that the celebrations of our Independence are over, it's time for a little reflection.

There's no doubt we have lots to proud of, yet I often wonder if we really value freedom. Touting the fact that The Bahamas is a "democracy" is not enough in my view.

When reviewing what we celebrate at Independence a good place to start is what the Government of the day agreed to, Sir Alec Douglas-Home'ssummary of The Bahamas Independence conference at the British Parliament's Hansard helps to some degree:

"Throughout their deliberations the conference had in mind their responsibility for ensuring that decisions were taken in the best interests of all the people of the Bahamas, whatever their race, colour or creed. Particular attention was paid to the need to provide constitutional safeguards ensuring the rule of law, protection of the rights and freedoms of the individual, the independence of the judiciary, the impartiality of the public service and the maintenance of the constitution itself."

So these were fundamental ground rules of gaining our Independence from Britain so to speak, but I sure wish I could find the Minutes of The Bahamas Independence conference discussions between the British and Bahamian governments leading up to the agreement.

Maybe one of our historians will document this much like the US has itsFederalist Papers so we can understand the thought processes of our Founder's a little better.

To paraphrase Dr. Cleveland Eneas who wrote in his post script to Bain Town (first published in 1996); “The time is rapidly dawning when we Bahamians will…… have a story to present to the rest of the world”.

I'm not sure we're ready to present our story to the world yet particularly when we dig a little deeper than the cute slogans that are thrown out this time of year.

I think we've turned over far too much of our responsibility in the belief that some mystical politician is going to take care of all our needs and wants and hence we are experiencing the backlash of the shattered hopes of so many of us that bought and still buy into the political rhetoric.

Am I wrong to hope that we (the Bahamian people) will soon understand that the political class can give us nothing unless they take something from us first?

So here's a toast to The Bahamas and her people:

May we one day take up the responsibility that goes with freedom. Let's turn from government intervention into every aspect of our lives and economy, and work hard to leave government dependency behind.

Quo Vadis Bahamas?

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