WE’RE TOO BROKE TO BE PATRIOTIC…

By: Mike Rudon Jr.

I don’t say it to make myself a target of eggs being thrown by persons who believe that if you cut their veins red, white and blue blood will come pouring out to the accompaniment of the Belizean national anthem. Hey, I love my country just as much as the next person and more than a lot of them but facts is facts – a lot of us are too broke and depressed and angry and frustrated and hungry and confused and desperate to leap into that patriotic mode and burst into song for the September ‘celebrations.’ Boss, ain’t nobody celebrating anything right now. Things dread!

Just look around. Just listen. Last night the big story on the news was the fact that small Belizean tour operators will be closing down because they have been pushed out of business by a powerful foreign based player in the tour business. Hundreds of tour guides who work hand to mouth will be going home because there will be no jobs. It broke my heart last night to hear one young Belizean entrepreneur say that his five employees are wearing his company shirt for the last time because he is closing down. Another woman said that she has been in the business 9 years and things have never been this bad. One man has been in the business 12 years, and doesn’t know how he will be able to provide for his five children.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow should stand in front of these tour operators (without his security entourage), raise his hand in the air and shout with gusto – See, the magic is still there! Oh boy, I’d pay anything to see the result of that.

And these are only a few of the many stories of desperation in Belize, of being unable to provide for families, of children dropping out of school, going hungry. Just listen to the airwaves. It’s gotten to the point where the hosts don’t even know how to respond to the litany of complaints and tales of despair. In Belize today, there is absolutely nothing to smile about. Nobody seems to know where to turn.

Anybody who knows me knows I’m not the religious sort, but to borrow a quote from Proverbs – where there is no vision the people perish. Mr. Barrow, if he does have even an iota of vision, is hiding that bright light under a bushel while his people perish. Can he not see the reality of Belize today? It makes the headlines when big businesses fold, and they are now folding with dismal regularity. Well, for each big business that folds, there must be at least 10 or 15 small enterprises that go out of business but don’t make the headlines. Each business, big or small which folds means that there are people on the street without the ready means to support themselves and their families. That adds up to insane desperation, Mr. Barrow and all that comes with it.

I think it’s scary that so many businesses have collapsed, so many others are teetering on the brink of insolvency, our economy is in ruin and the self-proclaimed genius at everything has had absolutely nothing to say. In fact, to hear Mr. Barrow speak, one could very easily get the impression that all is well in Belize; everybody’s just having a jolly old time. The Prime Minister spends much of his time in foreign travel and cocktails in far off locales, but I am doubtful that the words ‘economic collapse’ would ever issue from his Botox-buttressed lips. But that’s exactly what this is, exactly where we are. Our nation is at the brink of an economic collapse.

I mean, really, I must commend Love Radio for its persistent attempts to get Belizeans into the September spirit. But it’s not happening. Asking businesses to hang red, white and blue bunting on their buildings would be no imposition in normal times, but these aren’t normal times, are they? Right now businesses are trying to keep their doors open as long as they can so that employees can take home food to feed their families and keep the utilities connected – gaily waving bunting is another matter which is far down on the list of priorities.

I turned on Love FM a couple mornings ago and somebody was imploring Belizeans to stick flags on their vehicles, on their bicycles, on their homes. Then I switched over to KREM and an employee of BML was pleading for help from any quarter because his company had not been paid by the UDP CitCo so he had not been paid and his utilities had been cut off. He had five children, two of them very young, no electricity, no running water and no money to put food on the table. Somehow I don’t think the most pressing thing on his mind was purchasing a Belizean flag and running down the street with mad, patriotic fervor.

We’re too broke and depressed to be patriotic, Jack. Viva Belize. Long Live Belize.

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