Sometime back in 1889 when Remington typewriter expert Frank McGurrin used the sentence “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party” to demonstrate his typewriting ability, little did he know that years after, a slight variant of that statement would have occupied pages of books containing typewriting exercises with the statement “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country”.
The above statement is as relevant today as it was about 125 years ago.
The apparent attempt of a hostile takeover of the local beer industry by a leading Brazilian manufacturer is testimony to the statement’s relevance.
Ever since the moment one of Barbados’ largest conglomerates was dissolved and the other completely taken out of local hands, the slide has continued.
Small business owners and entrepreneurs cannot be heartened by what has been happening at the higher level. Examples and references have been eroded. Some bigger business owners may simply be bypassing Barbados and, by extension, the region in this recent scenario.
It cannot be an accident that local businesses cannot be wholely or majority owned by Barbadian interests with strategic regional and international partnerships.
It cannot be an accident that so many years after CARIFTA and now CARICOM that there is still much talk and no reality of the Single Market and Economy.
Yet, commerce and industry within the region are highly influenced by foreign power and interests.
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country because these fields and hills beyond recall are NOT our very own!!!
– Michael Ray
