What is true independence

This is partly because the world of 2005 is very different from the world of 1962. It is also because Trinidad and Tobago itself is now significantly different in fundamental ways.

In the 1960s, political independence came as though it were the promised land. Having thrown off the yoke of British colonialism, it was felt that national pride would be the driving force that would create a prosperous, peaceful, progressive nation. Now, 43 years later, we have learned that pride is not enough.

Hard work, clear thinking, and principled commitment were also needed — and in all these areas we fell, and are still falling, short.

Back then, caught between the communist and capitalist ideologies of the two super-powers, Dr Eric Williams, the architect of our independence, opted for a so-called "mixed economy." The government instituted policies so that the State would control "the commanding heights of the economy." But, as happened in many other nations which took this path, from Africa to Europe, this only resulted in official corruption, a poor work ethic, and inefficient economies.

The effects of that unproductive era linger with us today. Even now, many people still conflate political independence with economic independence. Thus, people criticise our high food import bill, as though this is an ill in itself. But the real question is whether producing our own food would be cheaper than importing similar products.

If the answer is no, then reducing our food imports would benefit farmers but harm consumers. The mindset that sees food independence as real independence comes out of a failure to realise that there is no prosperous country in the world which is economically isolated. Indeed, the more inter-dependent a country is — that is, the more trade it does — the wealthier it tends to be.

Successive governments over the past 20 years have fallen in line with this thinking, although more because of the inevitability of globalisation than because of planned policy. But our failure to diversify the economy makes us, like all countries which depend on a primary commodity, dependent on the fluctuations of the world market. That is not inter-dependency, but simple dependency. And this failure has been largely a failure of politics to follow economic truths.

Nor has our politics served to make us independent in other ways. When we attained the status of a nation in 1962, it was in officialdom only. As Dr Williams famously said, a society still had to be created — and the core challenge in that creation was managing race issues. This our politicians failed to do. If we have not had racial conflicts here, credit must go to the average citizen, not to our political leaders. At the same time, the fact that appeals to ancestral identities have gained currency over the past three decades shows that we have not been able to create a dominant Trinbagonian identity that can be acknowledged even by those who consider themselves "Africans" and "Indians."

Still, 43 years is a relatively short time in the life of a nation. We have a long way to go in becoming truly independent, but there is no reason to think that we cannot reach this goal. What we must always bear in mind, however, is that true independence resides in our hearts and minds, not in the institutions we use to represent our society.