allsaintswestcommunity

Big issues July 13, 2008

Listing to the “big issues” of Sunday 6th July 2008, I observed that there was a total absence of any evidence of creative thinking by any of the participants, except one. No one can deny that they were well educated, but education like many good things in life has its “side effects.” Some educated persons view the way they learned to do things as the correct way and as a result do not realize that their “correct way” might only be one of several ways, and that there could be a better way. One of the participants who is not afraid to step outside the box, who is not afraid of tearing away the often arbitrary rules that others have set for him, who is not afraid to ask either “why” or “why not” whenever confronted with the way “everyone” does things, tried to get the others to reason things rationally. To my surprise and disappointment the host would have none of that and quickly put an end to another attempted “mental jail break.” The emancipated one tried to tell the others that it is unacceptable that after the government has been elected [ we do not in fact elect any government. We elect parliamentary representatives. The parliament elects the prime minister, and the prime minister selects the cabinet, which does the governing] the people should be powerless to prevent the government taking a certain course of action, even when that action was not in the nations interest. Another panellist expressed the view that the present situation was satisfactory because a government could be changed at election time. The emancipated one said the thought of having to wait up to five years to stop an abuse of power frightened him. The narrow minded one replied that what frightened him was the thought of giving more power to the people because he could envision a situation where a referendum would be held every week. Real power can be given to the people and many of our political problems solved if the following proposals are implemented, and there might not be the need for even one referendum. One: Each constituency should choose its own representative without outside interference. I if this policy had been in place, the outcome of the last election in All Saints would have gone differently because Ralph Francis came across as being honest decent and intelligent. However as is customary the mental slaves voted how their masters instructed them to vote. Some were even instructed not to vote and they did not vote. Two: This person should only hold this position as long as those who voted for them want them to. Three: No representative should introduce a bill to parliament before and unless their constituents have given their consent. Four: Before a vote is taken in parliament each constituency should discuss the proposed legislation. They should then instruct their representative how to vote. Five: A representative should not have any other job, when they are not in parliament they should be in their constituency office interacting with their people. Six: To facilitate this process each constituency should have it’s own low power FM transmitter and its own website where each person could have their own web page or pages. Seven: Government should operate the way the business community operates, with each department headed by a manager appointed by parliament on the advise of the electorate. Eight: The performance of these managers should be monitored by parliament and the people kept informed. If the people are satisfied with their performance there would be no need to remove them from office before retirement age. However if the people are not satisfied they could be removed at anytime. Rupert E. Henry

Invitation to discuss our political system

My name is Rupert Henry. I was born on the 24th April 1948. I believe that I have an open mind but that does not mean that I don’t have opinions. I have strong opinions but these opinions are based on what I consider to be rational reasoning. It is my opinion that our political system is antiquated, outdated, divisive, disruptive and destructive. There are others who do not agree with me. As I like to say “I have an open mind but not an empty mind.” Therefore I am inviting everyone to join me online where we can exchange ideas on this and any other topic.

Community computer access

Free Gifs and Animations Those of us who are familiar with the Bible can recall the story where the disciples went fishing for a whole night and caught nothing. Morning came Jesus arrived and enquired about the nights events. They told him they had not met with any success. He then told them to cast their net on the “other side.” At first they protested that if they had caught nothing all nigh it was not likely that they would catch anything in the day, especially when they were so close to shore. anyhow they did as they were told, and caught more fish than they could handle. Now let us look at our situation in Antigua and Barbuda today, for years and years we have looked outside of Antigua and Barbuda for that “big investor”, who is going to take our land and in return develop the country. Yet twenty-six years after “independence” much of our land has been lost and “we have caught nothing.” We are still looking for some “Big Investor” to “develop” us. I think we need to “cast our net on the other side.” We should start to look within Antigua and Barbuda for our development. I believe that it is time for us, who are disrespectfully referred to as “The ordinary man in the street” to be given a chance to “develop” ourselves. As a start I suggest the government could give the tiny sum of one million dollars to the All Saints West Constituency. With which we could start a constituency bank. This could then be used to purchase and import one thousand computers which the community could in turn sell to the residents at a reasonable price of Fifteen Hundred Dollars. I suggest that at the beginning the bank should only finance computers, because I believe all the residents of the community should be given the opportunity to help decide how the bank should be managed and the internet is the best and most efficient way for us to communicate with each other. If the government is willing to “cast their net on the other side”, and do as I suggest I can assure them that by the end of 2008 everyone in the community who so desires would have a computer, and by January 2010 we could take over all our solid waste management. All for an investment of, not one hundred million dollars, just one million which would be just about .1% of next years budget. As I envision it the constituency would appoint a five person committee to oversee the bank. The Government would then place the million dollars in a commercial bank, if possible in an interest bearing account. Once the money is in place the computers would be ordered, perhaps two hundred in the first instance. This committee would interview persons and approve or reject applications for loans. Once a loan is approved the person would be given their computer in the constituency, but payment would be made at the commercial bank where the real cash would be located and because every transaction would be done on line we would have full transparency . One result of this policy would be that unlike the central government which conducts the peoples business locked away somewhere In some cabinet, the community bank would conduct all it’s business online for all to see. Another advantage that the bank would have is the residents of the community, the shareholders would receive no cash payments from the bank. What they would receive would be benefits. This would begin with a cleaner environment, but according to the success of the bank could expand to include even our roads. The shareholders could also decide what percentage of the profit should be reinvested, and how much should be used for social transformation Rupert E. Henry

Welcome to All Saints West Community

Most persons In Antigua and Barbuda believe that emancipation is an act, when in fact it is a process. These persons believe that when the shackles were removed from the feet of the negro slaves in the Caribbean that they were free. The truth of the matter is, although the physical shackles were removed, the shackles on the mind were neglected. This web site aims to show the way to true emancipation by removing the shackles from the mind, through education and rational reasoning.