The POWER Identity

A Caribbean-centric Strategy for

Riding the Global Wealth Curve

Perry C. Douglas

 

It all comes down to what you own and control that determines your economic opportunities, nothing else.    

 

(note: this is the 'Introduction' to the book I'm currently writing)

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Power, the mainstay of humanity’s existence throughout time remains central to prosperity for any civilization, society, or group of people in the universe.  Knowledge, capital, and technology have driven power and prosperity throughout time, and history shows, through evidence and analysis, that those nations, peoples, that have focused on knowledge ecosystems facilitated by technology-led growth were able to thrive.  Today, the world is at another transitionary inflection point, a critical juncture, where many societies around the world are faced with fundamental economic decisions…where new transcending technology is becoming increasingly determinant to human existence.

 

For the Black populations of the Caribbean, 500 years of a history of subjugation and dominance must come to an end, mentally overcome—moving forward with self-determination.  

 

Europeans came, they took our resources, enslaved for free labour, used it to build their countries' wealth, and expanded it intergenerationally—economic power manifested into political power, and they now remain firmly in control of the global political economy. Through deliberate, purposeful, and strategic actions, they’ve also continue to secure the lives of their great, great, great, great, grandchildren, through multigenerational wealth transfers.  

 

The trade and commerce created from the slave economy…colonialism helped finance Britain’s Industrial Revolution, creating enormous wealth for the European continent, symbolized by the building of great castles as a show of extravagant wealth, statement of power and white supremacy.  

 

Still, in the Caribbean, we retain the same natural resources Europeans were able to extract and exploit to build their wealth over the centuries. However, as Black populations, we’ve not been able to figure out how to economically organize and use those resources strategically, enterprisingly, to move our societies forward to prosperity, and global relevance.  Even through the independence period, to the modern-day, the region remains stuck in a colonial past mindset; too timid to create empowerment structures of its own.  We are more comfortable with the dependency structures of the colonial past and relying on Eurocentric ‘development’ discourse to instruct us on how to build our economies and societies.  Wokeness is required, recognize that economics is not a morality play...do you expect the same people who have been systematically engineering the global political economy to their hierarchical benefit for centuries, will suddenly have a change of heart, and restructure global power systems to the benefit of Black populations of the Caribbean?  Do you believe that they will give up the power they worked for centuries to obtain? 

 

“… racism is not simply a function of individual attitudes, and it can’t be eradicated by changing hearts and minds. Racism is the social, legal, political and economic distinctions that mark and maintain unequal access and entry points to privacy, property, protection, prosperity, and personhood. It is embedded in structures, institutions and ideas, especially those about work, deservedness, representation, redistribution and even the proper role of government” Dr. Debra Thompson, McGill University, Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies.

 

Black populations of the Caribbean have not been able to break the mental slavery mindset Europeans have so successfully applied to our populations.  Many continue to aspire to European ideals, status, and the imitation of hierarchical socialization within their communities.  We are influenced more by what white people say and do, their standards, instead of trying to build prosperity through our own cultural economics and values.  European civilization is one of constant war and conflict, theft and dishonestly; why do we want to be like that?  However, we must still examine their economic game, purely from a strategic and realist perspective, to build our playbook to compete in an ever-changing technology functional world.

 

Time and time again, Black communities everywhere continue to express grand visions for the future; however, there is not often a real strategy on how to achieve those grand visions, nor adherence to economic realities of the vision?  As Lee Bolman once said, “a vision without a strategy remains an illusion.” Black people consistently engage in grand illusions—without a realist view of the global political economy, without bold, practical, and executable long-term strategies to execute upon—nothing ever happens except talk. The ‘Black-elite’ too often reacts by setting up organizations and foundations for the illusion of doing something but ends up doing nothing, failing exponentially because they don’t focus on the proven things throughout time that has delivered societies to prosperity and power, which are economics/investment!

 

Instead, they focus on social justice and politics, not realizing that power flows naturally through economics…wealth…which leads to political power. 

 

There is often no strategy, so we remain at the lower-income end of the global economic value supply ‘chain’, but the world rewards for the value you can create.  So, if you are not creating value, you are simply not valued, and society treats you as such.  Furthermore, with the ever-increasing pace of artificial intelligence (AI) taking over many jobs in the universe; if our children are not well prepared with the entrepreneurial, innovative, and creative power mindset, their value in society will be diminished, restrained, and so will their income and wealth outcomes.  

 

To change ones' circumstance, one must first see and understand the world for what it is, then develop a strategy to make it what they want it to be relative to your time and space in the universe.  Forget about changing the world, that’s a waste of time and energy, a distraction—concentrate instead on changing your existence in the universe.  Your quantum success frequencies will resonate, impacting your family, those around you, community, and ultimately the greater Black populations.  Your success frequency and mindset will inspire others with real economic support to it, spreading a positive energy function and utility.  You still won’t change the world, but you may just impact enough of your people, activating quantum reactions and forces, which will exponentially impact strong multigenerational outcomes.

 

Black people of the Caribbean need to become their own leaders, stop drinking the cool-aid that stale corrupt politicians continue to serve.  In much of the developing world, politics is only a path to economic enrichment of self.  Caribbean nations need to lead with their intelligence, education and take control of their own culture and learning, focusing on the economic landscape, the monetization of our natural resources for the people’s socioeconomic benefit.

 

Knowledge acquisition is central to growth, so how do we efficiently use knowledge to effectively leverage our resources, traditions, culture, and values, for socioeconomic gain is key? We need to escape from our catatonic state of relying on western values for our development.  We need to build a regional society that is entrepreneurial and can compete globally.  A mental-power revolution in mindset is required—changing the way we think also changes the actions we take, the outcomes we achieve.  One can choose to waste time and effort with the distractive fantasy of trying to change the world, or one can focus instead on changing their mind.  

 

Decisions based on real fact-based, data driven information, leads to optimal and intelligent actions, which are central to good outcomes. Focused thinking is paramount, and can become the genesis of a true Caribbean Renaissance…however, we must become realists first, adapt to the new digital economy with a prosperity and power seeking mindset. Building practical power-based strategies around ambitions is central to the realization of those ambitions.  We must work with sophistication and applied intelligence to dismantle the old legacy systems of the past, create new structures…the winning conditions, to underwrite the Power Identity.  We must awaken, with the “fierce urgency of now” to a higher state of consciousness, with honesty about our current situation, with focused energy on our future objectives.  

 

Clearly understand that our futures are not determined by our past experiences, but by the decisions we make instead, each day in our present life, so the history of our future rests firmly in the decisions of our present.  Move forward with purpose and courage, as no one is going to come and save us, time to begin to write our own story.