By Kimani Wiseman
Nobody likes to hear the word “hell on earth”. It should be “heaven on earth”. However, as we put on our earth glasses and read and listen to the local, regional, and international news, we would come to the conclusion that it is “hell on earth”.
In 2020, covid became a pandemic around the world. This virus restricted people from travelling and countries whose economy depended on tourism were seriously affected. Covid caused thousands of people from around the world to be locked out of their place of employment if they didn’t have a covid vaccination card. As a consequence of covid, a lot of people lost their job and were on the breadline. Vaccines were produced which never preventing you from catching covid. This caused citizens in a lot of countries to refuse the covid vaccines. In 2025, covid is still a mystery. It would be hell on earth if the world experience another pandemic like covid.
Countries are having a difficult time dealing with climate change and plastic pollution. Climate change is causing stronger storms and hurricanes and frequent droughts which would cause devastation to the economies of countries and it would also cause a lot of health problems such as heat stroke, heat waves, and mosquito borne diseases. In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, we must not forget hurricane Beryl which struck on July 1st 2024 and devasted the Grenadine islands. World leaders are using these climate change meetings for a vacation. During these climate change meetings, there are a lot of empty promises while citizens in every country are suffering as a consequence of climate change. The 2025 hurricane season begins on June 1st 2025. Would the 2025 hurricane season bring more devastation to the Caribbean? Plastic pollution is everywhere around the globe. It is in human stools, the rivers and the ocean, and also in marine animals’ stomach. It would be “hell on earth if climate change and plastic pollution gets worse in the future”.
Nations are fighting against nations. Have a look at the Russia and Ukraine war. Have a look in the Middle East and wars are every corner you turn. Wars bring higher food and fuel prices and more poverty on nations. It would be “hell on earth if more nations are at war in the future”. Another war is on the horizon, tariff war. The USA and China are having a trade war which can cause prices on goods to increase globally. Workplaces are getting extremely “toxic”. Workplaces have a lot of workers who has a snake in a grass mentality. Everybody is fighting and tearing each other apart for promotion and spreading commess. It would be “hell on earth if more work places continue to have snake in a grass workers”. The Caribbean is blessed with skilled and talented workers. However, unemployment continues to grow and cost of living is increasing every Monday morning. Regional leaders must try to keep their skilled and talented workers to grow their economy because it would be “hell on earth if massive brain drainage occurs in the Caribbean”.
Mankind’s heart has gotten extremely cold. Have a look at the type of crimes we have in our beautiful country St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the rest of the Caribbean. Crimes can affect the tourism industry in the Caribbean. It would be “hell on earth if the Caribbean don’t find solutions to alleviate crimes in the region”. The world is turning towards artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence can replace jobs that humans are currently doing. If countries are heavily dependent on artificial intelligence, it would be “hell on earth”. The Caribbean would encounter a lot of economic challenges in the future. The human resource is the Caribbean greatest asset for increasing productivity. Square peg in round hole should be phased out to increase productivity in the region. The Caribbean also need to find solutions to mitigate the importation of guns and drugs to alleviate crimes and violence. Regional leaders need to ascertain the reasons why a lot of young men are turning towards drugs and guns. I would strongly recommend that more creative educational programs be established to show the young men that guns and drugs are not the way forward. This would deter them from getting involved in gangs and a reduction of crimes. A vibrant agriculture sector is also needed in the Caribbean to increase food productivity. Regional leaders need to persuade locals to buy more local food and less imported goods. If Caribbean leaders don’t find solutions for a lot of these issues mentioned in this article, there would be more questions than answers in the future.
