“I fear that our middle class will not last this decade because our middle class, our main vehicle of economic and social empowerment, suffers.”
This was the assessment made by Economist Ryan Straughn, who was speaking at the 8th Tom Adams Memorial Lecture at Solidarity House on Wednesday night.
According to him, “The rate of development of our middle class, and I dare to say any middle class, remains one of the key metrics that economists use to measure a country’s social and economic development. Research has shown that the rapid growth rate of our middle class during the late 70s and early 90s is one of the primary reasons the picture that depicts our modern Barbados was colourful and bright. Without Tom Adams’ vision to see our future or his drive to develop and support the credit union movement, I dare say that the picture of development would not have been as vibrant.”
“Notwithstanding that, our colours seem to be fading largely because of the policies, [and] overburdening taxation of failed developmental strategies imposed on us by this government. I argue that we need an infusion of visionary and transformational leadership. We cannot accept more failure. The time is now for change. The fastest way to return to growth and prosperity in this country is to work together in a place of trust, open dialogue and mutual respect – the bedrock philosophy of the cooperative movement.”
The BLP candidate recounted, “What the Late Tom Adams, former Prime Minster of Barbados, brought to the table, was that he was a transformational leader. He accepted the environment he was in, but he looked toward the future. He made decisions and he acted when other leaders failed to act. Leaders who are not transformational tend not to have a clear vision or a road map to embrace or follow, they hesitate and they procrastinate…”
“Barbados I am now convinced that now, more than ever, we need transformational leadership if we are to survive the onslaught of the new global reality.” (NB)