• 1
Dudley J. Thompson O.J. Q.C.
1111 11 11 1111 1111 1111 1111 111Ell
SARAFINA • Vantage Point 44 Portview Rd # 8 • P.O. Box 2989 Kingston 8 Jamaica West Indies
• Telephone (876) 969-9671 • Fax (876) 969-1042 • e-mail dudjt@cwjamaica.com
POLITICAL CHANGE and its impact on Developing Countries
DELIVERED AT THE BERMUDA COLLEGE
FEB .7th,2000
;I wish to thank the Bermuda College and in particular my learned
friend and colleague the Honourable Arthur Hodgson and Dr.Peters for this
kind invitation to exchange a few thoughts with you.I wish also to thank Dr.
Cooke and Dr.Gloria Fredericks for taking me through that marvelous
Bermuda College which impressed me as a glorious opportunity for the
development of the young minds here. It is as good an institution of its class
as I have seen anywhere else.I feel pleased and honoured to share the same
platform as my old and honored friend the Honourable Michael Foot, a man
whose integrity and intellect makes him an icon in British politics. It is so
easy to love him.,
It is very wise and timely that Bermuda should be considering the
Impact on Developing countries by present International development , for
the following reasons.
2
Firstly as a small country there is no pretentious effort to lead in the
obviously pending international developments but rather to contemplate,
analyze the situation and "ride with the storm",so to speak.
Secondly;This is an early voice summoning "developing countries' to
prepare for the impending inevitable,- the future..
Perhaps I should declare my personal bias ,in the very beginning by
declaring my interest. I am from a Caribbean undeveloped country within
the shadow of the great North geographically. I thus view the world through
that particular prism. Unlike Bermuda ,mine is one of those counties of the
South more accurately described as undeveloped rather than developing,
Most of us are doing everything except developing, Tonight we shall attempt
to classify the framework of global problems and help to resolve the
dilemmas associated with it.
Your timely prescience takes into account the rapid acceleration of
events today and in particular the almost immeasurable speed at which these
events take place.Tomorrow grows nearer each telebyte microsecond.
Scientific research and modern technology continues to bring it closer. The
initial effect to us is that we are falling further and further in the slip-stream
of results with little time to adjust to the gravitational pull of greater forces
flying forward,
3
Perhaps it is a good start to pause and examine the direction in which
we are going.We certainly cannot stop the comet but perhaps we may
succeed in hitching to another star.Perhaps that star will give us another
vision, a vision which will point to the absence of social tension and the
instilling of national pride,.Today Bermuda is a success story -almost.
The fact is that rapid change in technological advancement has hurled
the entire world into a process of transition. No longer do we see the old
conventional forms of political, alignments, economic systems and social
values as applicable.Even the language has changed and today's buzz words
such as "globalization, merger, transnational corporations (TNC), e-mail is
modern parlance. The impetus now is on globalization which has been
induced by changes such as deregulation and privatisation.Other new
features like wholesale and sudden immigration and refugee situations also
are new phenomena on the world scene.But the vital point in this new
transformation is to understand that "globalization" equates with
"international capitalism"More and more of the world's wealth and power is
being grouped into fewer hands and control.
One hoped that a significant feature like the cessation of the military
tension caused by the East-West confrontation would have brought about the
windfall of financial assistance so long needed by the developing countries
4
of the South, but that was not to be.On the contrary the immediate effect of
the cessation of military tension was the transition from a bi-polar to a uni-polar
world with the United States of America being the sole engine
directing international affairs. The shifting of considerable funds from that
military-political situation in the East West dilemma could have made a
great step towards a more egalitarian society worldwide.In fact the shift of
support is to the newly emancipated Eastern European countries and the
North-South division remains in aggravated despair.On analysis it seems
that the ideological differences of the past has been substituted by a form of
economic apartheid of this present period on a global scale.The developing
countries of the South remain outside the pale of hope they entertained at the
end of the Cold War.One direct offshoot of the USAs new hegemony was
the restiveness and instability of developing countries and in Eastern Europe,
the resurgence of small autonomous states. A further possible danger lies in
the possible proliferation of military states . Already we see India, Pakistan
and possibly Israel joining the growing list of nuclear states.
Aside from the economic effect, the social and cultural effects of the
unterlinking process of the Northern developed countries are patent obvious
and demonstrably clear.The impact of the media, controlled by the moguls
of the North is having a very strong almost overpowewring influence on the
5
cultural development and life style of developing countries.The leverage to
economic advancement lies heavily on the access to information. Countries
are now being classified as economically rich or economically poor
depending on whether or not they have access to this hinge of leverage.It is
even worse to realise that the uneven spread of control makes even wider the
gap between the developed and the undeveloped nations.Through the
television, cinema, press and other media those outside their ownership and
control are exposed not only to what others have selected for them to see and
hear but to the selected experts who will interpret the news for them. The
moguls are getting inside the brain and controlling thought itself. The high-pressure
advertisement and attractive affluent life-style develop an imitative
society often with adverse economic effect on the imitators but with the
strongest destruction of their own values and traditions with pernicious and
often destructive effect. Television, the Silver Screen of Hollywood, tourism
and even Northern advertisement must be scrupulously monitored as these
are powerful engines of cultural and social development and are almost all in
the control of the Northern giants.There are examples of countries who have
fallen from being net food producers to one of dependency on importation of
food. Some are reduced to depending on food stamps distributed as aids to
pay for the attractive food parcels imported from the ir benefactors of the
6
North.It can be said of those that "a country who places its stomach in the
refrigerator of his master soon discovers that his brain soon follows behind
it in the deep freeze".Economic development is inextricably bound up in
souci-political advancement.
Another impact on the developing world from the industrial north is
seen in the environment.This word does not connote a one stop operation.
The concept is one of sustainable development. It is a clear and urgent call
for alarm.It is designed to check and balance the processes of physical
development so that there is not a negative effect slowing up or distorting
the development of nature itself.There are no natural boundaries to prevent
the evil effects of industrial pollution marine polution or nuclear radiation to
name a few from affecting the weaker states. Some of these result in
deforestation desertification, soil, air ,water pollution and AIDS among other
disasters.
It is timely and important that all of us large and small countries
should campaign relentlessly and loudly in favor of World Health.
International terrorism the spread and distribution of narcotics are some of
the results either conceived or assisted by modern technological
advancement.
7
Our Comet in many instances is speeding in the wrong direction. It is
for us to realize in a meaningful way that INTERDEPENDENCE is the
order of the day. One can not save a portion of this rapidly evolving
interdependent world.. In these days of rapid technological development of
weapons of mass destruction there is no cave in which to hide or even an
island on which we can seek asylum. There must be cooperation between
the haves and the have nots among the nations of the world. And we must
play our part.This is a time in our history when we have been given the
opportunity of choice. We are mindful that change does not always mean
progress. We can learn by looking around and benefit by seeing the mistakes
of others. At Independence there are at least three routes we may take to
guide those for whom we are responsible. We may choose the way of a
strong central government intoxicated by the new sense of power and use
that power to dictate to the people, Fortunately for us we have seen by
example not far from us that inevitably leads to ruin. It is not our way of life.
We can choose a second route, that of putting black faces where white faces
used to be. That is but a cosmetic difference and no change at all. It has
however been very popularly chosen. That pr4ocess denies the necessity for
fundamental change. But there is a third by which those in power share
together the vision of the future. They set as a goal the country they want to
8
see in the future, The type of individual he wants to be his neighbour.In this
case it would be the status of a happy, cooperative state whereby all
its people would say with pride "I am a Bermudian"
This is not a litany of doom and despair. There are lights in the
tunnels before us. Education is being easier and becoming more wide
spread. Science and even traditional remedies are discovering cures for the
mysteries of diseases. Individual cultures are doggedly holding on to the
beneficial attitudes of the past and many health traditions have survived.
Present trends towards the spread of democracy are positive signs of hope.
An essential element of democracy is the establishment and safeguard of
human rights. The belated but serious recognition of the equality of the
sexes and the emergence of Woman Power and their contribution to the
society similarly are developments internationally. This recognizes that the
core of development is the individual human being. The loud voices from
the representatives of small countries at such Congress, as that of Beijing,
Mexico, Nairobi, United Nations and others all within the last 3 decades or
so are promising phenomenon.Unfortunately these voices are growing less.
The media has seen to that.Recently if I may digress the developing states
have lost perhaps the most outstanding advocate in their cause, The passing
of ex-president Julius Nyerere was a tremendous loss .A 3rd World champion
9
on their behalf his opinions were respected in all quarters of the globe. It is
so important that we should recall and uphold our HEROES. They are vital
and integral parts of our History.Our children must be taught our history,
The legacy of the past is theirs. There are those who believe and say in
woeful ignorance that Africa had no history before they encountered
Western civilisation, We have it on the best authority that this is wrong.
Hundreds of years before the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ the Holy Bible
relates the pilgrimage of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. This royal
visitor wore silks and perfumes and even her accompanying cavalry escorts
rode horses that were caparisoned with ribbons and semi-precious stones,
She came from the civilized country of Ethiopia. We were taught that
Columbus discovered America, But you can hardly discover a country when
you find somebody already there. If I went outside and discovered your
motor car they would call it larceny,
I am not pretending to offer a panacea for the future of mankind
neither am I intoning a dirge of doom and disaster. I am attempting to
analyze with you some of the modern universal trends with a view of
protecting ourselves as far as that is possible from its deleterious effects,
10
If I have admitted that the weak effect of our small voice amidst the
cacaphony of the Behemoths of the North is like a whisper in a
thunderstorm, I have also suggested that there are beacons of hope among
us. It is for us dispassionately and objectively to reassess the situation at this
period of transition.To learn of our past history and to assimilate the world
situation;to look with less concentration on the bottom line of narrow
economic success and the balance of payments and with greater concern at
the balance of human distress and disequilibrium in the ghettoes of our
world. The changing role of the United Nations from that of its predecessor
whereby human rights, the environment, the Law of the Sea and other areas
have resulted in a new and expansive role and given us a new vision of
hope.
Analysis has revealed to us also the power of religion in international
affairs. As a Christian all my life I have normally accepted the traditions and
tenets of Christianity. In the small developing community in which I grew
up I was imbued in my own myopic vision of the many myths and false
impressions of other religions. Before I ventured out as an adult to the
outside world I thought that Christianity ruled the universe, that the word
was synonymous to civilisation.I discovered that the big differences I grew
up hearing between the Baptists, the Wesleyans, Catholics ,Church of God
11
etc. were not the great religious divides. It was the real deep differences
between Islam, Christianity, Buddhism etc that dwarfed the small shades
between the Christian denominations. Once I visited Kano, a great Muslim
city in Northern Nigeria. With a city population of about 4 million Kano is
96% Muslim. To witness the discipline of tens of thousands of Moslem
prostrating themselves in prayer 5 times a day was a revelation to me.You
could feel a power quite different from that I had experienced in the Sunday
-go- to -Church Christian community,When we realise that the Muslims far
outnumber the Christians and that the majority of Muslims are in Africa you
begin to look ahead to the effect of an Islam growing faster than the Western
oriented Christianity.Islam is not just a creed but a civilization.Since culture
is the supreme determinant of human behaviour and since before the end of
this century statistics forecast that African Muslims will probably outnumber
the Arabs and make a bid for the shared leadership of Islam it is timely for
us as Christians allied by History and Geography to Western technology and
science to study the situation as we are doing here and its impact on our own
development. Islam is an African/Asian religion. There are more African
Mohammedans than there are in either India or Arabia.. It is spreading faster
than Christianity in that part of the world. Algiers, Afghanistan, Iran
Indonesia numbered in hundreds of millions are evidence both as to its
12
growth and to its militancy and universal effects. The dynamics of Western
technology challenges many aspects of Islamic outlook. "The problems of
coming decades,"according to Professor Ali Mazrui Emeritus of
Binghamton University.Albert Schweitzer Professor and well known Arab
scholar and author of The Triple Heritage,"extends far beyond the quest for
political order and viable economy" I am not here comparing religions. That
would be a sterile exercise in futility.I would rather direct your attention to
certain global phenomena such as religion to demonstrate that culture must
be at the core of development. In addition to being an inheritance of the past,
culture needs to renew itself to cope with the issues of today.Indeed certain
cultural traits should desist as being inimical to development Cultural
renewal must start by an objective study of our own history, This would
enable us to reasses traditional values with a view to emphasizing those
conducive to progress, Our aim should be to move in the direction of
democracy and social justice in this contemporary period, The Holy Bible is
a Resource document and all Christians can find therein many a solution for
life's problems.
This search should lead us through an analysis of differences to an
area of respect for opposiing views, tolerance and protection of
minorities.We must seek to establish an International Code of Justice.
13
We need fair partnership with the technologically advanced
powers.Partnership will not emerge unless we can bring to the table more
than a moral claim to equality based on thw recognition of human dignity.
Our place will only be guaranteed when we can show our strength. The
undeveloped world still holds a major share in the mineral distribution of
gold 96%, diamonds and other natural resources.Our men and women of the
developing world has proven that there is no monopoly on the distribution of
intellect and character. Our Human resources are there.Today's Times
describes the Congo as the richest part of this planet with gold, diamonds,
uranium and other minerals.That is material wealth in a country locked in
strife.What we need is the coordination and unity that engenders power.This
must include the ability to spread and direct information. It is not sufficient
in this period to focus on political power. We can see in the present victory
of South Africa how illusory that victory can be, The white rulers were
prepared to relinquish the crown as long as they kept the jewels.If we aim
for an International Code of Justice in the face of present universal trends
we must be STRONG If we must be Strong we must come together, If we
must Come Together we can only do this by Organisation. This was the
message and method of Marcus Garvey,.in the early 20s of the last
millenium. He made a start.Today we have not sufficiently passed the torch
14
of his vision and philosophy of that great man to our children and
grandchildren.One can change your nationality,or your domicile, or
citizenship but you can not change your ethnicity, You cannot change your
mother or father, Thus you must learn your history. It is your legacy. No tree
is stronger than its roots.They will be fortified in their own self appraisment
when they discover in their history of struggle their great forebears ,
Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman ,one of the bravest women of her time
who braved dangers to lead hundreds from slavery by the famous
Undereground Railway, C.L.R.James and George Padmore referred to by the
last speaker as intellectual giants, Dr.W.E.B Dubois,and the greatest
mobilizer of them all Rt.Hon.Marcus Garvey who inspired great leaders like
Jomo Kenyatta, and Kwame Nkrumah the first African President of Ghana
whose trbute to Garvey was to place the Black Star (Garvey's symbol) in the
centre of Ghana,s flag where it remains to this day These are all part of your
history and should enlighten and strengthen your roots. .These were the early
PanAfricanists.
PanAfricanism seeks to demonstrate our homogeneity."Africans at
home and abroad". There is a contribution we can each make, As the
paradigm of power today moves towards Unions, Mergers,in the developed
world as witnessed in the establishment of United Europe, Naafta, the
15
Association of the Asian states, the rise of China, Japan and the Tigers of thr
East we see Africa.bypassed and alone, marginalised. The collaboration of
Africans at home and in the diaspora will empower us in the dynamics of
the present superior Western technology to take our rightful place ,long
delayed at the International Table of Power,Our revised culture would allow
us to steer our own path a choice determined by us towards a goal less
fraught with the impending dangers of war, terrorism,racism and narcotics
our tradition as exemplified by the consistency of Mahatma Ghandi, the
dedication of Martin Luther King Jr. and the spiritual example of Nelson
Mandela would guarantee us a place as equals,
These lights are in the tunnels of the impact of modern development
on developing countries and they call urgently for our establishment of an
International Code of Justice,
Dudley Thompson Collection
