The Ballot Is Stronger Than The Bullet

There will be words of fire, peals of accusation, impassioned pleas and emotional cries. All emitting from the political platform as every political party seeks to secure your vote. They will all be aim to take the highest offices in the land.

I would recommend however that before you take in some of the well prepared speeches you have a personal conversation with yourself. Consider for a moment what you would truly like to see Barbados look like in years to come. Think about the kind of country you would want your children to live in and you to grow old in. Are there any parties with proposals along those lines. Some of us are already decided in our vote based on affinity and family history and this is typical of most persons in the Caribbean.

However we are at a critical point in our economy and our history. The Barbados we see socially is not what we would prefer. Can we afford really to mindlessly cast our vote because this is what we did in years gone by?  Then we have some newcomers. We have had third parties before, in fact, one of our major political parties had its beginnings as such. However, can they really make the difference they claim they will. How do we know that the quest for power will not overtake their pleasantly put together words?

Many persons have said they will not be voting. It is a waste of time, and what will be, will be. My position on this is; we have ancestors who fought for this precious right and only got it in 1951. So it would be remiss of us, having received the privilege to decide who will run our affairs to simply ignore the opportunity.

Then there will be flyers, stickers and manifestos being passed around. It is called marketing. The only way to be known is to get the word out and appear everywhere. Politicians are not superheroes nor can they solve all of our problems. There are people just like you and me. The come from houses, drive cars and have jobs or own businesses. By now I am sure you know as well that government cannot fix everything in the country, or do everything that needs to be done. It takes all of us.

So what shall we do, since no one truly knows the heart of man but the Creator Himself so we have no choice but to listen attentively, pray and vote wisely.

UPDATE – May 26, 2018

It’s clear Bajans made no Mistake who they want to be Prime Minster of Barbados. Congrats to Mia Mottley and the BLP.