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Case
for a morality index
By
Prakash persad
ppersad@eng.uwi.tt
Moral
is a game that was played by young girls in days gone by.
It seems to have disappeared from the scene. Apparently not
only from the games landscape.
Assuming greater visibility and prominence, if one is to judge
by the number of advertisements and supplements, is dietary
fibre. Hmmm... seems that we are a mono-fibre society. Why?
Because while we may find a snippet of moral fibre here and
detect evidence of it there, somehow it seems to be far less
plentiful these days.
This is indeed very worrisome. Morality deals with the issues
of right and wrong, of justice and fairplay, of liberty and
equality. It is the foundation upon which civilised societies
are founded and upkept.
The only sure outcome of chipping away at this base is the
collapse of our precious societal institutions. This is why
there are international and national efforts to set up public,
morality-based institutions like Transparency International
and the Integrity Commission respectively.
Governance is a process: the mobilising, harnessing and utilising
of the resources of the country and talents of the population
for the benefit of all. Not for a chosen few. Nor for a favoured
community, race or set of people. This is the ideal for which
mankind yearns.
If we are to achieve this lofty and necessary goal, then we
must be able to quantify, both the state and the processes
of governance. In other words, we need a metric.
Not just any metric but one that measures performance in terms
of the very rationale for governance; service to mankind or
Paro Upkaar, to use Hindu terminology.
Service to our fellow men conforms to the highest ideals of
mankind and constitutes moral behaviour of the highest order.
A morality index is what we need and indeed one is being proposed.
A scale to measure the degree to which legislation, policies
and programmes serve the needs of the population, irrespective
of creed and race. Or to put it bluntly, a quantification
of the realisation of the affirmations stated in our national
anthem and constitution.
The mode of governance is determined by two main factors.
The political system and those who hold public offices. In
our case here, the political system is based on the “first
past the post” system. One that gives rise to the winner-takes-all
syndrome, which solidifies the adversarial atmosphere. This
situation is further aggravated by the dynamics of a plural
society.
Given our history and the reality of party politics, can we
really honestly say that this type of political system is
right for us? Does it conform to the democratic ideals of
the people and for the people?
The fact is that for most of our independent history, one
group or the other felt alienated or under-represented in
the process of governance. Any system in which this continuous
unhappiness is experienced by large sections of the population
cannot be viewed as a moral one for it violates the fundamental
premise of governance.
On the basis of this argument then, constitutional change
is needed. The direction in which we should proceed, if we
are not to jump from the frying pan into the chulha, can be
indicated by the proposed morality index.
Take for instance a constituency won by an overwhelming majority
by a Member of Parliament of the side that did not win the
majority of seats. The member finds himself/herself in position
whereby only moral (see how the word crops up naturally) persuasion
can be used to get the Government to give priority to the
needs of the constituency.
An improvement to the present system would be to allocate
budgets (development and otherwise) to all constituencies.
In this way every Member of Parliament would be in a position
to represent, in a more effective manner, his/her constituency.
Furthermore and more importantly, citizens would not feel
disenfranchised by the political system. Clearly such a system
would rank higher in the morality index.
If every person’s vote is equally important, and the
voice of the citizens and not vested interests is of paramount
importance in democracies, then it stands to reason that the
person who is the leader and commander-in-chief must be the
person who receives the most votes.
In light of this, then, the right and moral thing to do, for
the voice of the people is the voice of God, is to change
to our constitution to allow for the direct voting of the
leader of the country.
Another issue that can be addressed by the proposed morality
index is that of the suitability of people to put themselves
up and their suitability for public office. Should not a history
of voluntary social work/service be prerequisite to enter
the political arena?
Public service is not and cannot be the means to self-service.
Public office requires not only technical skills and also
an unshakable commitment to the inviolable principles of justice
and equality. Clearly, the existing screening and monitoring
processes need a lot of improvements.
Leadership is the most important duty entrusted to man (and
yes woman too). It is a sacred trust. Politics by definition
then must be a noble profession, one that should resonate
with integrity and morality. If the perception today that
it is anything but that, we must ask how we found ourselves
in this position. And, more importantly, what are we going
to do about it?
The above are excepts of a position paper given at a panel
discussion on “Hindu perspectives on morality in politics”
hosted by the Hindu Students Council at the UWI.
Prakash Persad is Chairman of Swaha Inc
Maintaining
a moral society
By
Anna Maria Mora
I HAVE some concerns regarding this whole question of morality
and politics, morality and civil society, morality in public
affairs, youth and morality, family and morality, the church
and morality, the citizen and morality, and living life and
morality.
Notice that the common “denominator” in all the
above is the word “morality.”
I always say that I should move out of Arouca and go and take
up residence on “Ah repeater Avenue” (of course
this residence will have to be in one of the parks along the
way, because we all know I will not be able to purchase or
rent any residence on Ariapita Avenue, not at this time anyway).
I am really getting tired of repeating myself and I can understand
why so many people are dropping out of the system and turning
to escapist activities (drugs and alcohol, taking up residence
on pavements and parks, truancy from schools and homes etc).
T&T has become one whole confused and deeply pathological
society, when people who are given the mandate to lead us
(the ruling party, opposition, and all those “gurus”
who are being given licences to run radio stations and give
themselves the freedom to talk, because it is a universal
right) say that there is one morality for politics and another
for everything else and “the ends justify the means.”
I am reminded here about a scenario I witnessed at an Internet
cafe when a young woman took an examination slip and enquired
if they had the technology to change the grade on the slip.
She was told that it was illegal to do so and she “buffed”
the big man, the manager of the Internet cafe and told him,
“You are not my moral agent.”
I began to hear many such stories. Young people are learning
from these politicians that “the end justifies the means”
so that anything goes. This is dangerous politics.
There will be confusion if we continue to use the word “morality”
because it is an abstract noun. “Moral behaviour”
however is more concrete and we can learn where moral behaviour
can lead. Moral behaviour has two basic functions in any society:
It serves to maintain and perpetuate order in a society.
It educates in order to fit a person to live in such a society.
If we understand these two basic functions of “morality
and moral behaviour” we will not have one morality for
politics and one for everything else in this society.
From captain to cook, from Prime Minister to Leader of the
Opposition to man in the street, every one must be concerned
about what it takes to maintain and perpetuate order in our
homes and in our society.
Parents must be concerned about what it takes to maintain
and perpetuate order in homes. We know that corporal punishment
is not the way to do this. Licks and emotional abuse did not
keep the slaves in line during slavery, and it will not work
in the homes.
Children must be made to feel that the home in which they
live is as much theirs as it is yours, parents. Please stop
saying, “This is my house, I paying de mortgage, all
you only doing is eating, eating, eating and sleeping, sleeping,
sleeping.”
This is not moral behaviour because it does not maintain order
in your home. Your teenager is driven on to the streets because
of this, because he/she does not feel that he/she has any
business at home, because you have made it clear “that
it is your home.”
I repeat, children and teenagers must be made to feel that
the home is just as much theirs as it is yours. If this is
done, you will have no problems with yours. If this is done,
you will have no problems with your teens doing their chores
and creating an orderly space, because they will feel part
of it and be happy to come home on evenings after school and
to bring their friends home.
You might think that I digressed but if we understand how
everything in our society is affected by our lack of understanding
of order and what it takes to maintain and perpetuate order,
we will not have the display of deep dotishness which we are
seeing and hearing today.
If we understand what it takes to maintain and perpetuate
order, and what it takes to fit a person into such an orderly
society, we will not be saying that “politics has its
own morality.” We will not be thinking that “the
ends justify the means.”
We will be thinking and acting in such a way that everyone
understands that each human being has a right to be walking
this beautiful earth. Just like you, she/he has the right
to his/her opinion, has a right to express his/her opinion
and do what she/he feels will maintain and perpetuate order
in a society.
Cussin’, fussin’ and fightin’, creatin’
divisions and suspicions do not maintain and perpetuate order.
The “truth” maintains and perpetuates order. Personal
integrity maintains and perpetuates order, and any leader
should be proud to know that he/she has a person or persons
of integrity in his/her side.
Prayers are needed now in our country, yes, but we need more
people of integrity, who understand what it takes to maintain
and perpetuate order and who know deep down in their gut that
the end does not justify the means. This attitude and behaviour
only creates disorder.
Anna Maria Mora is a Counselling Psychologist
Safeguards...
Protecting
industry, preserving jobs
Over
the past five years, the T&T economy has been experiencing
something of a boom. Trade is up and quite brisk: imports
are on the rise, and non-energy oil exports have been increasing,
along with their attendant foreign exchange revenues. Non-energy
imports and non-energy exports grew by an average of 14.5
per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively.
And the latest trade figures show that the T&T economy
is very healthy: between 2003 and 2004, non-energy imports
increased by 32.5 per cent from $15.9 billion to $21.1 billion.
Meanwhile, non-energy exports increased by 20.1 per cent,
from $4.5 billion in 2003 to $5.4 billion in 2004.
Life has been good for both the merchants doing a brisk import
trade and the consumer benefiting from increased choices and
competitive pricing. But some local manufacturers have been
experiencing discomfort, as they battle against a flood of
cheaper-priced imports from their foreign counterparts.
And as the local manufacturers feel the pinch, inevitably,
so will John and Jane Public employed with these struggling
local manufacturers, who might be forced to go on the breadline.
Unfortunately, this is one of the challenges of trade liberalisation;
but there is no turning back to the days of protectionism
to maintain market share and job security. However, there
are tools, sanctioned by the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
and the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), which can
be employed to ease the transition, and reduce the negative
fallout of free trade. Safeguards are one of these.
Safeguards legislation coming
Government believes that T&T manufacturers, once given
the proper time to adjust, would thrive in a free trade environment.
Its trade and industrial policy is to promote the interest
of the local industry and manufacturer, because of the foreign
exchange earnings and the employment they generate.
Before the current parliamentary session is over, Government
will be introducing safeguards legislation on the agenda.
By implementing safeguards legislation, T&T is increasing
the range of measures available for protecting the local industry
against the adverse effects of trade liberalisation. In addition,
the current demand for anti-dumping protection by local producers
justifies the introduction of this legislation.
What safeguards do
In essence, safeguards legislation supports those local industries
that produce the same goods as those that are being imported.
These industries are earners of foreign exchange and, even
more importantly, they are generators of employment.
When safeguards legislation is established, it is with a view
to protecting the general economic well-being of the country—ensuring
that these industries don’t go out of business and continue
to keep people employed.
Sometimes the imports coming into the market are dumped, sometimes
they are not, and it is simply a matter that the volume of
the imports is too much for local industries to handle.
If these local producers aren’t supported, at least during
the short term, they run the risk of reduced market share,
substantial loss of sales and, eventually, collapse. Their
demise would result in reduced foreign exchange earnings for
the nation’s coffers and increased unemployment as workers
in these industries are laid off. To ensure that this does
not happen, safeguard measures would be imposed.
How they work
Safeguard measures are imposed on fairly-traded goods—namely
goods that are not dumped or subsidised—which enter the
domestic market in a sudden surge, and/or which experience
an unusual decline in prices. These imports could cause or
threaten to cause injury to domestic producers which manufacture
a product that is similar, or directly competitive.
The measures imposed include restrictions on the quantities
of imported goods, or increased customs duties on these goods.
Those duties can exceed the bound rates that T&T agreed
to apply to individual products in negotiations as a WTO member.
Applying a safeguard measure gives the local industry a period
of adjustment to enable it to compete with the increased influx
of imports that normally results from trade liberalisation.
Safeguard measures are to be applied only for temporary periods.
The maximum initial period is four years, and for developing
countries like ours may be extended to ten years, if a new
investigation determines that the continuation of the measure
is necessary.
In addition, safeguards must be progressively liberalised
while in effect. This means that quotas and tariffs must be
reduced gradually, over the period of the application.
While the safeguards are in place, the affected industry must
take steps to adjust to the increased competition that will
follow the removal of these measures.
Adjustment could take many forms: adopting improved technology,
or rationalising production structures. In addition, evidence
that the affected industry is adjusting must be provided to
the WTO Committee on Safeguards, when the safeguard measure
is being extended.
However, safeguard mechanisms will not be employed arbitrarily
or automatically. There will be a clear and transparent investigation
before any action is taken. The local industry or manufacturer
must present the Ministry of Trade and Industry with hard
evidence of an increased influx of imports; the actual product
prices in the country of export or origin are not required.
The ministry would then conduct a proper investigation, including
a cost benefit analysis, to determine whether the mechanisms
should be implemented. The unit that would be responsible
for this kind of work would be a subset of the ministry’s
Fair Trading/Anti-Dumping Unit.
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