Beware, TT,of becoming fragile state

THE EDITOR: Political scientists frequently evaluate the status of states in terms of the concepts of failed states and fragile states. Failed states are defined as the ability of states to function effectively in resource allocation – establishing security, providing services, maintaining the rule of law, and providing other important public goods.

A fragile state, as defined by the Fragile States Index, produced by The Fund for Peace, is not only a critical tool in highlighting the normal pressures that all states experience, but also focuses on the pressures that push a state towards the brink of failure.

Over the past ten years, activists have been shouting, with great concern, that TT is fast heading to be a failed state. To their cries Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley responded that he does not see the country as a failed state. I agree with him. TT may be best described as a fragile or threatened (my description) state. I have taken this position because of the following trends:

Hydra-headed corruption; spiralling crime; widespread inefficiency; an economy characterised by low productivity and high levels of absenteeism; a culture weakened by a laissez-faire attitude to work and other economic indicators; an indifferent and weak social (except with respect to macoing), political, and economic consciousness; a low intensity of transformational leadership in government and non-governmental institutions; the abuse of social media; and too many people who promote their own selfish philosophy rather than rally around a core national ideology.

Recent developments in Parliament suggest that we may not be interested in the wider benefits of globalisation since we seem to be more concerned with the primacy of national laws over international law. Yes, TT, we must beware of becoming a fragile state.

RAYMOND S HACKETT, Curepe