2. CONSERVATION VS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The tree which bore the seeds of socialism mentioned above, also harbored its friends and allies….extremist tree-huggers from developed countries who were gong-ho in saving the planet from capitalist pigs. They came with their extremist conservationist ideas…infiltrated our institutions and formed new ones where they were facilitated…which lead to the current situation where half of the country, and most of our natural resources, are under “protected areas” and “co-managed” large-tracts of real estate…and controlled mostly by foreign interests through their local “representatives”. BUT…the road to hell is paved with good intentions….and the abundance of natural resources of Belize have been kept sheltered from the “people of Belize”…not only from its development, but also from its knowledge. Hence, as the population has grown, so also has unemployment and poverty rates…even while “illegal immigrants” risk pirating the natural resources of the pirates of Belize…and mostly get away with it. This holding of our natural resources under “lock and key” for some imagined “future generation”…has not allowed for development that create opportunities for gainful employment and wealth creation….therefore, our people continue to flee at earliest opportunity….replaced by newcomers seeking to improve their lot. Hence, “the people of Belize” is a continuously changing demographic….far different from the time of Independence….and will be completely different 10-20 years from now….it is a transient population….only here for a time to enjoy the socialist bounty of relatively free education, health, land and conservation grant-money that we have created since Independence…mostly living outside the sphere of taxation….and then moving on to greener pastures as quickly as possible. Belize needs to swing its pendulum away from extremist conservatism, towards a more sustainable-development focus….so that the natural resources be developed in sustainable ways to improve the lot of ALL the “people of Belize”…and so that more people choose to stay here voluntarily to develop and enjoy the otherwise beautiful and bountiful country. While industries can and should be developed by importing raw materials and value adding them, the most of our wealth can come from sustainably developing our natural resources. The laws, policies and practices of the country needs to be modified in order to swing this pendulum….it will not happen on its own... Read the entire article, click on patrickjonesbelize/2014/07/16/enemies-industrial-growth/
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 01:42:48 +0000
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