“Thinking takes too much time”. What has that got to do with Hurricane Dorian?

This a follow-up to my recent post on Hurricane Dorian.

 It is not my point to nag on the Bahamas, I country I have never visited.

Nevertheless, I believe the Hurricane Dorian disaster is representative for many countries and cultures, whatever hazards they are exposed to.

Since I am curious, I started to see what I could find about the Bahamas, that could have a bearing on shaping disaster risk.

Domestic bloggers and writers have expressed a deep concern about the dominant anti-intellectualism in the country.

Apparently, 50 % of the students leave high-school without a diploma.  [2012]

We prize ignorance. To think critically, “speak smart”, or even dress smartly, is offensive to our very understanding of what it means to be Bahamian.

[Joseph Gaskins]

What has that got to do with Hurricane Dorian?

Anti-intellectualism leads to stagnation. If you do not value education, there will not be much room for forward thinking; or an ability to deal with complex causes and effects. Such as disasters.

In order to reduce disaster risk, you need an informed population. Citizens who have comprehended that you have to sacrifice something today, so that we are all better off, and safer, tomorrow. That you have a responsibility not just for yourself and for your family, but also for those around you.

One of the biggest problems in the Bahamas is some people want to be entertained, not informed.

[Latrae Rahming]

Education is not just about learning facts. It is also about learning to be critical, to seek information on your own and to reach your own conclusions.

If you do not do the thinking yourself, it means you leave it to somebody else.

Bahamians except without questioning. ; believe without weighing the choices; join the pack because it’s the modern or convenient thing to do.

[Latrae Rahming]

Bahamas is a democracy, and in a democracy the nation, as a whole, gets the leaders it deserves. If you have no interest in rational thinking, you will not vote for the most sound and level-headed candidate. Instead, you vote for the one who can promise you instant gratification. Alas, a global phenomenon.

If leaders give priority to short-term gains, then both they and their constituency will also be happy with an economy based on cheap labour, mainly provided by immigrants from Haiti.

The root causes and risk drivers of the Dorian disaster are, of course, more complicated than this. The Bahamas being a British colony until 1973, is, most likely, among them.

However, I am pretty sure that a culture where, allegedly, a “thinking-takes-too-much-time” attitude is prevalent, played an important part.