Now for 2010

Professional assignments have meant that it has taken some time for me to catch my bearings regarding the work that needs to be done in 2010 to continue promoting the notion that free societies are evidenced by social justice, equity and an absence of poverty and alienation. This, I suppose, is what people mean when they say they would prefer the freedom to speak their mind as a superior alternative to organised religion and partisan politics.

Everywhere we look in the Caribbean we witness the erosion of freedoms under the guise of development or the need to cope with the demands of growing chaos, social disorder and the violence that follows.

This year, we therefore probably need to keep a sharper eye out for national policy interventions in our countries that claim to promote social order but which at the same time take from us the right to speak, write and otherwise express ourselves freely.

A much clearer menu emerges: i. Broadcasting Policy; ii. Cultural Policy; iii. Trade Policy; iv. Media Policy. These are all traps and codes for censorship and official control.

Let's see what happens.