REPORT #417 August 2001
AUTOCRATIC CENTRALISTS RUTHLESSLY SUPRESS THE MORE SUCCESSFUL FEDERALISM !


Produced by the Belize Development Trust

You know, I spent decades on Caye Caulker along the Great Barrier Reef, in a wood house, by kerosene lamp light, reading the occasional donated paper back books and pondering different government systems and what would be the right thing for a successful Belizean model. I guess, this fisherman of lobster, snapper and conchs was basically self taught, without any formal academic learning exposure and came to what I thought at the time, as my own original conclusions regarding the more successful Federalism governing system, over that of the failure prone autocratic despotic centralized system.

But in recent years, now retired in South Florida, and with the opportunity to read many books from different libraries, I have found to my surprise, that others before me over the past few centuries came to the same conclusions.

It seems queer to me, to read historical treatises on Federalism versus Centralism, such as written by Cerbeleon Pinzon, of Bogota, Colombia back in 1829. Or the history of the CASTE WARS during, or after the independence from Spain with the wars in Mexico and particularly that of the Yucatan. And many others.

People have known for a very long time, that Federalism is superior as a governing method than autocratic centralism. It took me, 30 years to find that solution on my own thinking, without any feedback from the world available texts on the subject in industrialized countries at my call.

The civil wars between autocratic dictator type centralists and the looser more successful Federalists system is apparently an ongoing war. Unfortunately, the centralists usually win! Why is that, I asked myself? I came to the conclusion, it is because they are more ruthless. Federalism fights poverty, by making people find consensus. Thus they become empathic to other viewpoints and those with less than themselves. They share the wealth and education and assets and set up mechanisms that the minority get an equal share in both power and finances. This makes them vulnerable to ruthless greedy, selfish, power hungry despots. Usually Generals of the Army in Latin America. Like olden General Santa Anna of Mexico, General Pinochet in Chile, and many others like Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, the Kings and Queens of European countries, Communists everywhere who want to set up their own dictatorships.

In most Latin countries, it is the Generals using puppet freely elected political party politicians as front pieces, for corruption and rewards in graft from military contracts as a reward during their terms. In other Caribbean countries, like Belize, it is the tyranny of lawyers who cannot make a living in business and look to politics to get rich, controlling the country, credit and treasury through autocratic political parties dominated by them and one coastal old colonial capital. Lima or Belize, the story is the same.

The two major newspapers in the country of Belize, the Amandala and the Reporter who are in close weekly, if not daily touch with these aspirant political party leaders, often say that the elected party representatives are sincere in wishing the best for the development of Belize. I say, hogwash, crapola, PAH! That is obvious nonsense! No party representatives of any political party in Belize have ever lobbied their party comrades and put BILLS before the legislature which they control, to install the various Constitutional changes that would bring Federalism and de-centralization to Belize. They give lipservice to bettering Belize, but remain autocratic centralists in heart and action. Autocratic centralism history shows, both in other countries and in Belize; that GREED, SELFISHNESS and the hunger for POWER remain the dominant theme among the political party members of other countries in Latin America and Belize. The result is increasing crime, anarchy, disrespect for government institutions and law and widespread corruption as a pattern of accepted behavior. Nor do the governments and bureaucracies do anything other than act as parasites bleeding the rural masses.

I guess, concluding from Comparative Politics around the world, the ruthless patronage despots will continue to rule through centralist autocracy, or dictatorships and also in Belize; under the guise and lip service of doing their best to improve the country, rather than giving the political framework and tools of Federalism and decentralization to the rural masses, so they can do for themselves, much better in consensus seeking. It is a shame that the various types of autocratic centralists continue to ruin the countries of the world.

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