Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I live in the Caribbean and have pondered the OP's question myself many a time.
People are so educationally driven here I don't know why that doesn't translate into more wealth overall. It's such a paradox. For example I chose a career path that is very difficult and it has been a real uphill journey for me as it entails a number of difficult professional exams. I planned at one time to drop out of it and told my parents so. Needless to say my dad called me a "damn fool and a jackass" repeatedly which made me cry in public (how embarassing..we were in a fancy restaurant when it happened) but he didn't care about that. An american parent would NEVER be like that to their child. In my view the American parent tends to have the attitude of " you're an individual..do what makes you happy". I ended up continuing with my exams simply because I got no support from my parents and their support is important to me. Now imagine a country FILLED with people just like my parents and that pretty much captures the entire English speaking Caribbean. It is not cool to do poorly in school, if anything I made more friends because classmates and their parents hoped I would rub off on their children lol. Doing poorly in school is considered a huge embarassment to your family. I really think the Caribbean takes the whole educational reverence a bit far sometimes. And from what I have heard from African friends I met in university that overall attitude is much more pronounced for them.
Anyways, as I said...I don't know why this sort of pervasive attitude doesn't translate into great wealth. I mean the country isn't poor...but we should be ballin'( to use such an American term lol).
My guesses are that lack of visionary leadership and too much conventional thinking and conformism to what society expects probably contribute. The same American "free to be me" attitude maybe is what fosters innovation, growth and wealth.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
