CARICOM Isn’t Just About Economies – It Is About Homogenization Of Cultures
And yes, I used the American spelling of “homogenisation” to make a point… some cultural blending impacts us very little – while other cultural differences have the potential to do significant harm to our qualifty of life and to our economy.
Some of the benefits of CARICOM include a pooling of resources, economies of scale in production and marketing and the primary reason which is to increase the political influence of smaller nations through banding together.
But along with all that comes an increase in the free movement of Caricom citizens between the member nations – each of whom brings the best and the worst of their respective cultures to other Caricom nations. And some of those other Caribbean cultures are incredibly violent.
Barbados is known as a safe vacation spot in the Caribbean – if not the safest. How will our tourism industry be impacted if an increasing percentage of our population originates from more violent cultures than ours?
We can’t afford to have too many more bus loads of tourists accosted at gun-toting gangs before we lose our reputation as a vacation destination with no worries about personal security.
Further Reading
The Economist: Sun, Sea & Murder
BFP: CARICOM Membership Fallout – High Crime In Other Caribbean Countries Hurts Barbados
