The dog returns to its vomit
By the Thinking Citizen
The Propaganda and Disinformation Department of the People’s Action Movement (PAM) is the hardest working arm of the party as it works day and night to misinform and so fool and deceive the populace. No other party in St. Kitts or Nevis is committed to disseminating so much political propaganda as the People’s Action Movement (PAM).
It seems quite obvious to a great many persons that the ingenuity of PAM’s Propaganda Department far surpasses the ingenuity of the Propaganda Machine that existed in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 under the leadership and direction of Joseph Paul Goebbels
PAM was formed in 1965 and from that time the party devoted itself to letting-loose, series after series, of hollow but high-sounding and deceptive propaganda slogans. The aim of such slogans is to catch the attention of the ignorant and unwary among us and so fill their thoughts and minds with false, irrelevant and misleading ideas and notions.
The PAM party let loose (like the plague) upon an innocent and unsuspecting populace at least eight (8) such false, dangerous and misleading propaganda slogans as –
(1) PAM will introduce in St. Kitts a new brand of Politics”.
(2) “St. Kitts and Nevis are too small and too poor to go into Independence”.
(3) “The new PAM Government will be an honest, decent and upright Government”.
(4) “The abolition of Personal Income Tax has given the poor more of their own money to spend.”
(5) “The Social Services Levy is only a levy, not an Income Tax.”
(6) “PAM did not radically change-up the Electoral System. PAM revised the System with some very slight amendments.”
(7) “Social Security is bad for the workers and for the country.”
(8) “Democracy is dead in St. Kitts and Nevis.”
Slogan #1 (Comment)
We all remember how PAM propagandized the slogan concerning the party’s intention to introduce a new brand of politics in St. Kitts and Nevis. Like’s Caesar’s Gaul, PAM’s new brand of politics consisted of three (3) parts.
The first part consisted of a series of vicious, hostile and defamatory attacks on Premier Bradshaw with intent to dehumanize and demonize the good man. Unlike its predecessor, the St. Kitts Democratic Party, the People’s Action Movement (PAM) went straight for Bradshaw’s jugular. The leaders of PAM reasoned that if they were able to cut off the head of the leader of the Labour Movement, then they would be able to kill the Labour Movement.
Part two of PAM’s new brand of politics worked out to be an effort to block the country’s progress towards Associated Statehood and at the same time, split up the then existing “Trinity of Islands”.
PAM used every means available to separate not only Anguilla, but Nevis as well from St. Kitts. The fact that Nevis is still with St. Kitts is not because PAM did not try to bring about a separation.
The 1980 General Elections caused PAM to change its mind and forced the party to realize that it must do everything possible to keep Nevis from separating. PAM’s future as a viable party depends upon the presence of Nevis within the Federation.
The 3rd phase of PAM’s new brand of politics was simply a concerted plan to topple the lawfully elected government of Premier Bradshaw by fair means or foul. PAM tried economic, financial, political, industrial and diplomatic means. They all failed. PAM then resorted to military means. That failed as well.
Slogan #2 (Comment)
The PAM party fought tooth and nail against the move to Independence for St. Kitts and Nevis. The PAMites argued then, that St. Kitts and Nevis are two very small islands and are too poor and vulnerable to afford Independence.
St. Kitts and Nevis must have grown in size and in wealth and prosperity after the Labour Party departed from office, because as soon as PAM took up the reins of government, Premier Simmonds rushed the two islands head-long, into Independence with a flawed Constitution.
The real reason for PAM’s objection to Independence is that Dr. Simmonds wanted to be our country’s “First Ever Prime Minister”. Dr Simmonds and the Democrat were insisting: Independence under Labour, NO! Independence under PAM, YES!
Slogan #3 (Comment)
PAM fooled the country again when, after the 1980 General Elections, a spokesman for the party announced big and broad, that the new (PAM) Government would be “an honest, decent and upright government”. The country did not have long to wait to find out that that was not true.
For PAM, the guiding principle was – “All for self and none for me; All for me and none for thee”
PAM approved the operation of the short-lived international bank at the Circus in Basseterre. When the major players in the bank’s operation knew that they were wanted in Canada for fraud and racketeering the wanted men shut down the Bank and rushed out of St. Kitts.
The PAM Government by-passed the Caribbean Development Bank and obtained a loan from the Barbados branch of the notorious Bank of Credit & Commerce International (BCCI). The Bank was forced to collapse on July 5, 1991 and several of its senior managers ended up in prison.
Public Corporations such as NACO, CEMACO, the Frigate Bay Development Corporation and the St. Kitts Air & Sea Ports Authority were blatantly mismanaged and fully exploited to the advantage of the party.
Slogan #4 (Comment)
Contrary to PAM’s propaganda, the abolition of Personal Income Tax did not help the poor. The abolition of the Tax was never intended to help poor people. Poor people never paid Income Tax, so abolishing the Tax, which poor people never paid, could never, and did not, help such people.
The Sugar Estates lands were valued by an independent, overseas appraiser at $10 million. Premier Bradshaw offered the Land Owners $12 million. Dr. Simmonds and PAM paid the Land Owners $22 million, more than twice the amount of the assessed value of the Sugar Lands.
Then Dr. Simmonds and PAM went ahead and abolished Personal Income Tax. With a hefty windfall of $10 million (22-12), and no Personal Income Tax to pay, the Land Owners must have laughed all the way to the bank. The Sugar Workers received nothing.
This action of PAM reminds me of the action of the British Government at the Abolition of Slavery in 1838. The former Slave Owners received £20, 000,000 in compensation. The former Slave received nothing.
Slogan #5 (Comment)
The PAM Government imposed a new and novel form of Personal Income Tax upon an unsuspecting people and called it a Social Services Levy. The PAM Government Ministers fooled the populace by announcing that the new Tax was not a tax at all. It was a Levy, they said. I doubt that there is a government in the Eastern Caribbean that has perpetrated such a cowardly, indecent and obnoxious hoax upon its people.
PAM abolished Personal Income tax. This benefited all those persons who paid the Tax, including all the PAM Government Ministers. PAM imposed a Social Services Levy which made the poor, who never before paid Income Tax pay Income Tax. The PAM Government was advised by St. Kitts-born Economist that what it was proposing to do was wrong and would create hardship and suffering among the poor. PAM ignored and disregarded Dr. Somersall’s professional advice and imposed a regressive form of taxation on the shoulders of those least able to bear it.
PAM did a Robin Hood in reverse. PAM robbed the poor to satisfy the rich.
Slogan #6 (Comment)
Of course PAM will deny that in 1983 the PAM Government radically restructured the entire Electoral System unilaterally, surreptitiously and all in one day.
PAM restructured the System and in so doing gave the System the great power and potential to bar the Labour Party from ever attaining power in St. Kitts-Nevis. PAM forgot one thing however and that is, that people vote, and not systems and machines.
So far, PAM and the Democrat have published excerpts and sections of various Reports and Studies for the information and edification of the general public.
PAM is afraid to let the public see how the PAM Government savaged, ravaged and raped our Electoral System. That is why PAM had never since 1983, ever attempted to publish completely in the Democrat the full text of the party’s watershed legislation entitled “The House of Assembly Elections Ordinance (Amendment) Act, 1983.
Slogan #7 (Comment)
PAM sent its errand boys all over St. Kitts and Nevis to preach the party’s gospel that Social Security is a bad thing and that neither employers nor employees should participate in the Social Security Scheme.
Every Wednesday morning, PAM would send across to Nevis, a team of errand boys whose job it was, to discourage participation in the Social Security Scheme. The PAM errand boys told the workers that they must not allow their employers to take out anything from their money to pay into Social Security.
The PAM errand boys told the employers that they must not contribute any money to the Scheme, as Bradshaw and Southwell “gon tief you money”. The truth is that PAM was acting on behalf of the Big Business employers who were not in favour of making the 5% Employers contribution to the Scheme.
Banks and other Big Business places had hefty Retirement Schemes for certain of their favourite employees. Such Schemes was part of the company’s recruitment and employment policy. The middle and lower level employees however, had no such Retirement Scheme to fall back on. Social Security therefore was designed to correct this failure and short-coming. In spite of such a situation, PAM preached that Social Security was bad.
Last year, and the year before, PAM put on a hollow, empty and deceitful show of support for Sugar Workers. PAM was only playing politics with Sugar Workers and working hard to gain their votes. If PAM was truly and faithfully in full support of the welfare and interests of Sugary workers, PAM would never have worked so hard and for so long to deprive them of the benefits of Social Security. Thank God for the failure of all of PAM’s selfish and deceitful efforts.
Slogan #8 (Comment)
The mere fact that PAM and its allies can march up and down the streets of Basseterre publicly, proclaiming that “Democracy is Dead”, is proof positive that “Democracy is Alive and well” in the united states of St. Kitts and Nevis. This certainly could not have happened in Russia or Communist China or in Haiti, under “Papa Doc” or “Baby Doc” Duvalier. Neither could it have happened in Cuba under Castro or in Santo Domingo under Trujillo.
PAM is not interested in fostering Democracy. There is no need for that. PAM is interested in enforcing the demands of a selfish and self-centred and tiny minority upon a much larger, less vocal and more objective and progress-oriented majority. PAM’s actions, if successful, would only lead to the destruction of Democracy and the establishment of Mob Rule.
A mob is always reckless, ruthless and irresponsible in its demands. And will do its worst, come what may, though the heavens fall, until its demands are met or rendered unattainable.
The older ones among us will remember what happened here during the 1960s. The Labour Party won PAM 7 to 0 in the July General Elections. Then in May of 1967, PAM wrote a letter to H.E. the Governor, demanding that the government of Premier Bradshaw should resign. The Bradshaw Government did not resign, which resulted in the armed attack which was carried out on the night of the 10th of June 1967. For PAM and for its allies, Democracy proceeds from out of the barrel of a gun.
Propaganda has been the PAM party’s chief stock-in-trade from the inception of the party in 1965. The lesson that PAM has not learned so far is that in the contest for the hearts and minds, the whole broadside of propaganda put out by PAM has virtually lost its effectiveness.
When PAM built its vast propaganda machine in the 1960s, it was built at a time when so much education and so much public information were not so freely and easily available. We now have Cable Television in St. Kitts and Nevis, a number of private Radio Stations, several newspapers, including the Sun and The Herald, more Secondary Schools with Sixth Forms and the CFB College. It is virtually impossible for PAM’s propaganda to work as well now as it did in the 1960s and the 1970s.
The people, groups and organisations who support and finance PAM, do so, not because they have been influenced by the party’s propaganda, but because they are philosophically and ideologically opposed to the principles and values for which the Labour Party stands.
PAM and its allies believe that the government should not serve the needs of ALL the people or promote the best interests of the poor and the powerless, but should pass legislation and promote policies and projects that would ensure that the poor and powerless know and keep their place.
We all remember that PAM gave the Sugar Estates Land Owners a windfall of $10 million and on top of that, abolished Personal Income Tax.
One of our local newspapers in a recent edition rejoiced over the fact that PAM was able to lead a public march this month, on Thursday the 13th. The newspaper carried the following front-page headline “PAM Scores Big”.
Other persons and organization do not see PAM as winning anything or even scoring. They see the LABOUR PARTY as wining BIG TIME. We must remember that PAM advertised that its Thursday march was for Voter I.D. Cards (finger-prints PAM now calls it) which the PAM Party refused to consider and rejected in 1983. Even a dumb person knows that you cannot have finger-prints without Voter I.D. Cards.
It does not really matter how PAM describes its march. It was a march for Voter I.D. Cards, pure and simple and a march for the very same Voter I.D. Cards which PAM opposed, rejected and resisted from 1983 to 1999.
The Thursday march showed PAM, like a dog, returning to its vomit. Sir Lee must be laughing in his grave to see that PAM has come around to accept the very same Voter I.D. Cards which he recommended and proposed in 1983.
A rose by any other name, smells just as sweet. A Voter I.D. Card with or without a fingerprint is the same Voter I.D. Card.
PAM’s Thursday march demonstrated how easily PAM can fool its members, followers and supporters. The march was really in support of the Voter I.D. Card which PAM rejected in 1983. PAM fooled and influenced the marchers to believe that the march was really for “finger-prints” as if one can have a “finger-print system” without Voter I.D. Cards. Labour has won again, BIG TIME
A “Finger-print system” must be based upon a system of Voter I.D. Cards. You cannot have the former without the latter. You must put the voter’s finger-print on a card. But PAM rejected the use of cards
For the marchers who still do not understand the trick that PAM played on them, let me explain further: One can imagine that in 1983, Labour proposed a stick. PAM said that it did not want any stick. In 2007, PAM changes its mind and argues that it wants a RED stick. After all, isn’t a stick, still the same stick, whether it is coloured red, white or blue?
PAM want the same I.D. Card that it rejected, but with a finger-print on it.
