Dickson Igwe, socio-political columnist
Social Democracy is about curbing the all-pervasive culture of capitalism, from completely colonizing societies. Philanthropy is a great idea, but it is not the panacea for a more equitable society.
Crime is a great scourge in capitalist societies. This is the result of wealth inequality. And at the source of crime is poverty and social inequality. Wealth on the other hand, is power. However, when wealth becomes god and rules the roost, it tends to become a slave driver, and places a society in the bondage of immorality, anarchy, and even misery.
This reality is clear from purely capitalist societies. Crime is greater in vastly unequal societies. Purely capitalist societies without strong regulation and government intervention, become unequal swiftly: The Russian example after Communism and Totalitarianism. They become violent and ruthless.
The creed: the survival of the fittest is never a good place for the vast majority of the population of any country, and hence the attractiveness of socialism and social democracy.
That is why this writer is a strong advocate for democratic socialism. Bottom up is always better than trickledown. Why: because trickledown is a fairytale.
Trickledown economies work well: to the benefit of the wealthy. The rich get richer because that is how capitalism works: profit is boss, and everyone must bow to the ubiquitous balance sheet. Gravity in the capitalist world favors the 1% who control global capital.
Now. No one is advocating socialism for these Virgin Islands. However greater equity and equality is always a better place for a country.
And greed at the top drives crime down below.
The Virgin Islands Party is supposedly the party of the grassroots. The bottom up warriors engineering social change for the benefit of the regular guy: in other words, greater spending on the social and physical infrastructure for the benefit of the ‘’small man.’’ However, in recent times, can one honestly state that is the case? I leave that for Joe Public to decide.
Furthermore, it is sheer hypocrisy to be alarmed at the need for a Commission of Inquiry to investigate government. We all know that this investigation is appropriate and timely, even long overdue.
The fact is crime in the Virgin Islands is a systemic issue. It is more than the actual criminal activities: drug busts, gun crime, robbery, murder, sexual assault, public corruption, and fraud.
Crime is a problem of culture, morality, and social behavior, that sits in the social DNA. Crime is a systemic beast. It is about the behaviors of residents as a whole, not just criminals who are caught red handed.
Then this is a highly religious society by church attendance, church building, and personal beliefs. But religion has done nothing to improve social morals and family values.
And even in the church, criminals are glorified as long as they are rich and powerful; that is the accepted reality. The youth look to drug barons and greedy officials as role models.
Understand that anarchy rules when respect for the Rule of Law disappears, and residents can no longer tell the difference between right and wrong, and good and bad.
That is what has happened in today’s Virgin Islands.
Twenty-five years ago we could leave our homes and cars unlocked without any concern whatsoever; people could leave valuables on a bench in Road Town and return to find their belongings untouched.
That could not happen today, even with the explosion in church buildings, and church attendance.
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Dickson Igwe is an education official in the Virgin Islands. He is also a national sea safety instructor. He writes a national column across media and has authored a story book on the Caribbean: 'The Adventures of a West Indian Villager'. Dickson is focused on economics articles, and he believes economics holds the answer to the full economic and social development of the Caribbean. He is of both West African and Caribbean heritage. Dickson is married with one son.
