The painful death of Democracy in Dominica

The painful death of Democracy in Dominica :A mock election- As I reflect

For 15 years I have been sounding the alarm about the state of “Despotisme Doux” that Dominica was in; that is a democracy disintegrating into a despotic reality within a democratic formality as Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French nobleman and an astute political scientist termed and explained it!

I have been noticing in pain and agony as it went from one stage of deterioration to the next. Those who seriously and honestly study politics and observe the demise of democracy in Dominica also saw what was happening. We heard their cries and warnings through the air waves of Q 95 radio every day on several programs hosted by many concerned Dominican patriots of conscience. Dominicans chose not to heed the warnings. Now we have arrived at a very troubling place!

The subtle danger that De Tocqueville spoke about is not subtle anymore, it is now blatant and in your face. The thought that an election could be so perverted, bastardized and mocked in such an unsubtle way, under the guise of democracy to install a tyrannical, cruel and corrupt ‘government” is overwhelming. What was witnessed and reported during this election is a shame and a disgrace and a sham, but the implications will be even worse.
The citizens out of convenience, selfishness, comfort, false safety, perpetual ignorance or misunderstanding allowed themselves to be used, abused, bribed, degraded and ultimately tormented by narcissistic men and women who think that the country of Dominica is their personal estate. And the Dominicans living in the diaspora who left the various countries that they live in, to go to Dominica to commit this crime against Dominican people at home, and leave them to suffer the consequences have to should be ashamed of themselves!

Our beloved country Dominica has been and is now going through some tough times. We have seen the ravages of hurricanes, especially the biggest and baddest Hurricane Maria which devastated the country in 2017. We have seen the instability of political conflicts, and the decline in our economy. We have seen the results of both unity and division. But the biggest disaster is the loss of democracy!
We have now arrived at a place where future generations of Dominicans may not enjoy the rich heritage that we know. Dominica has lost its identity, it’s sovereignty, its peace, its prosperity, its pride, its dignity, its image in the international community, its hope! What is our responsibility as Dominicans in all this?

There was a time when we tenaciously preserved our culture, our heritage, our history, our values, our resilience, our concern for each other’s welfare, a treasured value that dominates the core of our nation’s unique personality. We have lost it all. How do we go back to those times? Can we?

Dominica has reached the bottom of that slippery slope that I along with many others were warning about. There seems to be a disappointing and unsettling paradox, the majority of us, when we really take stock of the condition of our country, we appear to be so unusually learned, but at the same time so unusually and sadly ignorant; some are also dubious and deliberately conduct the brainwashing of the weak among us, some of us remain silent even when the moral crisis and the disintegration of our country demanded our voice and our actions.

Those who know better should do better. Many of us have been willing accomplices in the destruction of our country, and the death of democracy because of our pathological desire to belong, to conform, to obey, to follow, and to let others dictate to us what we must think and how we should think.

There are those of us who were always willing to do the bidding of the masters, (those in power) hoping to someday be rewarded at the expense of the general public. We were doing a disservice to the public good when we shielded and protected the Government from scrutiny and transparency.

We did not put the interest of the general public before the interest of the legislators. It was incumbent upon those the public looked up to, trusted, and depended upon not to allow the public to have betrayed by their actions or in-actions, but they did!

Our minds are engineered to make it impossible for us to think, for us to tap into of laws of conscience and to stand for truth and justice…as Dante Alighieri said and Martin Luther King adopted “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality” Many Dominicans of influence DID NOT SPEAK, and they DID NOT ACT! But to those who Spoke up as Dominican Patriots, and Statesmen, and Stateswomen. Dominica history will absolve you.

But the question remains what then do we do? Can we still salvage Dominica? Who will salvage Dominica?