Wastin away again in Magaritaville

“Yes, and some people claim that there’s a woman to blame

And I know it’s my own damn fault”

Count me among the many who have wailed this tune while over-imbibing on a breezy, summer day. My wife and I just enjoyed the splendor of near-perfect temperatures, scrumptious food, and stimulating conversations with travel companions on our two week trip to Florida & the Caribbean. On excursions to Dominica, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Maarten/St. Martin, we had the opportunity to observe island economics. Let me jump to my conclusion: there is no woman to blame, it’s our own damn fault.

Once again, I am not an Ivy League-educated, over-decorated academe; rather someone of little note to business media’s talking heads. Without presenting reams of supporting data, let me summarize results of a multitude of interviews conducted with the Caribbean “middle class,” heretofore defined as persons who WORKED, offering products & services in the islands’ largest revenue-producing business, TOURISM. While, it was easy to see the showy opulence of the rich & famous who owned the hillside mansions, after digging just a little deeper using unobtrusive dialogues with actual native islanders, it became obvious that the economic slowdown that both Europe & the USA are experiencing is having a trickle-down effect in the Caribbean.

Sadly, it appears that only the very rich are able to realize the dreams many of us have about a fairy tale island life…one that includes sleeping ’til noon, working only when necessary, Reggae music , plantains & rice, and plenty of umbrella-adorned alcoholic refreshments.  The reality is that many of the working Caribbean middle class are striving just to eke out a living. While we are reporting ~8% unemployment here in the USA, most of the islands are experiencing double or triple this percentage. These unemployed include two groups of people: (1) those who want a job and (2) those who are electing to NOT work as a life style .

We can all debate the reasons for higher unemployment and even chastise some of the non-workers in the islands: too-high VAT’s (less profit for earnest business people), low US dollar value (Americans buying less island goods), corrupt government (family politics), or too-high or too-low social security nets (a wide variation in this). Pick your poison and argue until you are blue in the face. The facts won’t change: a lot of people are disadvantaged by lower numbers of working middle class; both the people who elect to not work and the people who are trying to find a job. Less workers means less tax revenues to fund infrastructure repairs-advancements & social security nets and reduced total earned income for islanders’ life styes of choice. No one wins.

Let’s all hope our congress can find a balance that makes more jobs available here without resulting in creating more people who ELECT to be unemployed. Know that our decisions affect a lot of people in the world, not just our own unemployed and realize that if we continue to reduce the percentage of people who are productive in our society that IT’S OUR OWN DAMNED FAULT.