The Bahamian people made it plain to their government that they do not want to join CSME. Yes, Bahamians expect the government to act in "their self interest" - and rightly so.

To describe such acts as "imperious" is a mischaracterization. It is better described as the "subsidiarity principle" working as it should.

Bahamians are willing traders with whatever/whoever they have to exchange and altruism is not, nor should it be a reason for joining CSME.

Rick Lowe
Nassau. Bahamas

Mr Hall's response:
I thank Mr Lowe for his comments on my PetroCaribe article. However, I feel obliged to make a few points of clarification:
 
If readers follow the link I provide in that article to my previous article  on the CSME, they will find that I describe the Bahamian government’s approach to negotiating this regional trade agreement, not the Bahamian people’s self-interest, as “imperious”. And I submit that the evidence I proffer in this regard makes my description unassailable.
 
Moreover, even though I appreciate the Bahamian people's prerogative to act "in their self-interest", the reality is that globalisation behooves them to join the CSME to further their enlightened self-interest. (Eg. Does Mr Lowe harbour any doubt that if The Bahamas were part of a fully implemented CSME that it and fellow Caribbean nations - as one - would have been in a far better bargaining position to prevent the OECD from shoving their banking rules down our throats?)
 
I think it’s instructive that Mr Lowe references the “subsidiarity principle”, which, of course, is the battle cry for “Eurosceptics” in England. After all, despite this principle, England is far more integrated into the EU than The Bahamas is in the CSME...
 
Finally, as much regard as I’m sure Mr Lowe and I both have for the intelligence of the Bahamian people, I was incredulous at his suggestion that they should be dictating foreign trade policy to Bahamian leaders.  But I was utterly nonplussed by his assertion that "altruism is not, nor should it be a reason for joining CSME".  After all, I am certain that our brothers and sisters in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and elsewhere expected The Bahamas to join as their partner (with all the rights, duties and benefits that entails), and not as their regional benefactor.

Together we stand, divided we fall....