{"id":143200,"date":"2015-08-01T17:26:52","date_gmt":"2015-08-01T21:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=143200"},"modified":"2015-08-01T17:26:52","modified_gmt":"2015-08-01T21:26:52","slug":"commentary-poverty-retainment-analyst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-poverty-retainment-analyst\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMENTARY: POVERTY-RETAINMENT ANALYST"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"J.J.
J.J. Joseph<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Roosevelt Skerrit, in another one of his White-Knight episodes, strategically inserted former Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security, Alvin Bernard, into yet another manufactured position he coins, \u2018Poverty Reduction Analyst\u2019. The reason, he claims, is in an attempt to “improve the lives of citizens…..by alleviating poverty”. At face value, it is easy to imagine how some may perceive this as a kind gesture. However, further dissection of the concept reveals that the devil is in the details. The move is designed to do nothing more than perpetuate impoverishment rather than eliminate it.<\/p>\n

Like so many times before, this appointment is one more illustration of a PM who repeatedly insults the intelligence of the people by pulling the wool over their eyes. Fortunately, all the people will never be fooled all the time; although some may be gullible to the point of succumbing to it – the more astute ones will see through his crafty intentions. The realism here is that anything offered by this department, short of ensuring that jobs will be created for unemployed and underemployed Dominicans, is an indication that Mr. Bernard’s new position should instead be titled, ‘Poverty-Retainment Analyst’.<\/p>\n

Conventional wisdom dictates that the preferred method for elevating and exalting a people from poverty is by way of employment. Handing someone a fish that has been caught and\/or prepared rather than providing him\/her with the line and the know-how to catch that fish is nothing but a paralyzer. It is by being gainfully employed one is able to earn a living, provide for their family, feel empowered and validated, thus attaining total independence – this is what democracy advocates.<\/p>\n

In President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, he proclaimed, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” It is quite evident that Roosevelt Skerrit’s model is designed to keep the masses hungry, unemployed and vulnerable so as to guarantee him their votes in return. By refusing to bite the hands that feed them, Skerro is banking on scoring big in the polls once again. By establishing this new department, the King is simply being a little more creative this time by further diffusing destitution in an already largely indigent nation. Citizens should be allowed the latitude to be self-reliant and self-sufficient thus allowing them complete freedom to exercise their democratic right to choose the government of their choice, independent of any coercion or bribery.<\/p>\n

This prime minister has not demonstrated the slightest inclination of having the knowledge required to devise a viable strategy to pull this country out of the economic hole he has placed us into. In his delusional state of mind, Roosevelt Skerrit is seemingly convinced that he can perpetually manipulate his way to victory in the polls over and over again without a robust plan to jump start the economy.<\/p>\n

With a national debt upwards of $1 Billion, the PM’s mechanisms for creating a vibrant economy appear to be through citizenship\/passport sales (the so-called Citizenship by Investments Program) and frequent tax hikes. With a derelict banana industry, a tenuous tourism division, no production and limited activity in the area of infrastructure, banking and exports, the unrealistic DLP leader anticipates magically generating sufficient revenue from bank loans and Treasury Bills for sustenance. The problem with this hogwash, however, is the fact that only a nominal amount of the millions generated from passport sales make it to the nation’s treasury vaults; the preponderance of it evaporates into thin air on its destination to off-shore banks. In addition, treasury bills are low risk hence low-return yielding investments by nature, and in a debilitative economy, there is limited disposable income available. Moreover, with such a deplorable job market, expecting to generate any significant revenues from these investment strategies or engines for economic growth is simply injudicious.<\/p>\n

PM Skerrit needs to understand that by keeping the people ignorant and impoverished he is not going to succeed in preying on their susceptibility repeatedly. Soon and very soon citizens are inevitably going to wake up and smell the coffee. Clearly, Alvin Bernard’s so-called Poverty Reduction Analyst position is a ploy to do just that – suppress and enslave. Let me therefore reiterate that the true title should instead be ‘Poverty-Retainment Analyst’. Why call it a shovel when it clearly is a spade?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Dominica News Online or Duravision Inc. Additionally, DNO provides an open forum for all views once they meet the publishing and editorial standards of this website. Publishing space has also been directly offered to the various political parties and continues to be available to all those who wish to utilize it.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roosevelt Skerrit, in another one of his White-Knight episodes, strategically inserted former Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security, Alvin Bernard, into yet another manufactured position he coins, \u2018Poverty Reduction Analyst\u2019. The reason, he claims, is in an…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":128959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCOMMENTARY: POVERTY-RETAINMENT ANALYST - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-poverty-retainment-analyst\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COMMENTARY: POVERTY-RETAINMENT ANALYST - Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Roosevelt Skerrit, in another one of his White-Knight episodes, strategically inserted former Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security, Alvin Bernard, into yet another manufactured position he coins, \u2018Poverty Reduction Analyst\u2019. 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