The idea of “the Commons,” which was articulated in 19th-century Britain, came to be understood as the shared resources of a community that existed outside of State control or market forces, or complementary to these, and which were rationally governed, for collective, societal benefit.
For a long time in Trinidad and Tobago, the Savannah in Port-of-Spain was like that- a prime piece of real estate, protected from commercialisation, and dedicated to public use and enjoyment- an open space, for sports, recreation, liming and just passing the time. A lot of that is now lost.
The concept of self-interest gained currency with the publication of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations in 1776; but Adam Smith’s notion of “self-interest” was not pure selfishness. A careful reading of Wealth of Nations will reveal his references to private interest, public interest and most importantly, the moral judgement of the community as a restraining force to rabid self-interest.
Many describe Adam Smith as a moral philosopher, and that moral aspect is important for understanding his economic and business perspectives. Smith also published Theory of Human Sympathy after Wealth of Nations, which elaborated on the extent to which shared human concern, putting yourself in the shoes of others, could serve as a restraint on human greed and the desire for exploitation of others. One might call this one man’s protestant Christian belief, in a built-in human capacity to support justice, reasonableness and fair play.
The execution of capitalist practice and its excesses did not always align well to Smith’s moral intent, and perhaps that is why Karl Marx and Marxism were so influential and, socialist thinking so persuasive, in the late 19th and some of the 20th centuries.
Most ex-colonial countries, from India to Ghana, to the Caribbean - saw virtue in a strong State with social welfare strategies as a replacement for colonial domination and laissez-faire policy focused on benefits for the metropole. Where Marx was not the dominant influence on governments, the Fabian socialists held the moral ground of influence. Fabian socialism is essentially democratic socialism, which works towards transformation to socialism of a democratic capitalist state—democracy with greater equality.
The Manleys in Jamaica, father and son, were heavily influenced by such thinking, as was Sir Grantly Adams of Barbados (although he was more driven to liberal ideas and had conservative instincts), who served as the only Prime Minister of the West Indian Federation for four years until it collapsed; as was Dr Eric Williams in Trinidad and Tobago. Dr Williams did not articulate
“Democratic Socialism” as Dr Rudranath Capildeo did from 1961, but the thinking was there in government policy. Free health, education; subsidised utility rates, expanded State employment.
It may well have been this thinking, of big State, and broad-based social welfare policies, that may have stymied the proliferation of entrepreneurship and small business development in T&T and, perhaps, throughout the region; and stifled business growth from an agricultural base for self-sufficiency, tourism sustainability and export growth. So, the end result of the big State with widespread social welfare has been suppression of creativity, entrepreneurship, business creation, growth and innovation and self-sustainability.
Another important concept is “public interest,” basically meaning servicing the welfare and well-being of the people. So good political representation is in the public interest. Looking out for the common good is in the public interest; so, for instance, protecting the quality of life of citizens is in the public interest.
Consequently, government giving a vast boost in income and benefits to the legislature, the Executive and Judicial branches of the State, while offering minimal increases in wages and salaries to other workers in the system, in a context of high prices and wages unable to keep up with costs through loss of purchasing power, plus widespread joblessness, could not be considered in the public interest. Especially in a context in which reduced State revenues are going to make it very challenging to provide public goods with the same ease in the immediate future.
This seems more like the use of public office for private benefit than for the public interest.
