Founding Thoughts

The creation of the Saint Lucia Prosperity Party

Name of Political Party: Saint Lucia Prosperity Party (or SPP)

Type of Entity: A socio-economic political grouping.

Symbol: The Heart??? (Not official)

Color: Blue??? (Not official)

Slogan: For Prosperity! We are the Investors.

What is our founding principle? The key to a prosperous life is investing.

What are some general perspectives on investing?

National perspective:

A nation investing its time, money and effort in its own development, and not relying solely or mainly on foreign investment, will become prosperous resulting in a higher quality of life for its citizens.

Personal perspective:

To create the prosperity we desire, we have to be active investors turning opportunities into wealth both individually and collectively as St. Lucians.

Old adage perspective:

You reap what you sow. Or, you reap nothing if you sow nothing.

Objectives:

Our primary objective is to restructure the economic system to provide a high standard of living as a society and create new structures and systems that if followed will provide St. Lucians a measurable level of individual prosperity over the course of their lives. In essence, the formula for prosperity will be encoded into citizens’ daily lives which will in time become part of the St. Lucian culture.

Our aim is create individual and societal prosperity through new economic systems and governance that:

1. provides high-paying jobs via an online, high-tech, digital economy.

2. provides citizens a system to commence the prosperity journey via micro-farming.

3. provides affordable, high-quality healthcare with costs minimized by national investments.

4. provides all the societal necessities for a high standard of living.

5. provides a dependable and standardized public transportation system.

6. provides a fair and efficient judicial system.

7. provides zero-tolerance tools and methodologies to combat criminal activity.

8. provides quality public housing for new families and for those in need.

9. provides reliable basic necessities like water and electricity to all communities.

10. provides free basic internet connectivity.

11. provides an offline and online foundational education system up to tertiary levels for all.

12. provides the benefits of a mandatory national service system for young adults.

13. provides systems that create collective national investment opportunities.

14. provides systems to enhance agriculture, farming and the creation of new consumer products.

15. provides systems that develop and strengthen the family and national food security.

16. provides systems to develop the fishing, aqua-farming and aquatic industries.

17. provides systems to produce great teams supported by appropriate sporting facilities.

18. provides systems to support the arts, music and entertainment industries.

19. provides systems for better child-care and family support services.

20. provides a path to tech, trades, nursing: a technical school and university.

21. provides proper funding to cultural activities like carnival and Jounen Kweyol.

22. provides proper funding to recreate the magical atmosphere of the Jazz festival.

23. provides national investment strategies to reduce the crushing national debt being accumulated.

How do we achieve our objectives?

We develop our limited resources, our “gold mines”.

What are our “gold mines”?

Our “gold mines” are:

a) Our land.

b) Our beaches.

c) Our people.

d) Our culture.

e) Our ideas.

How do we develop our “gold mines”?

We develop our land:

a) by creating beautiful cities, towns and villages which will provide a higher standard of living, cause an appreciation in land values and thus create more wealth and provide more lending power and greater stability to the banking and financial sectors.

b) by focusing on effective use of agriculture to create national food security and export products.

c) by focusing on national beautification projects preserving the island’s beauty.

We develop our beaches:

a) for the maximum enjoyment of citizens.

b) for a hotel industry that includes a citizenry-collectively-owned national hotel masterplan development.

c) while maintaining the preservation of its natural beauty and shoreline.

d) while safeguarding the pristine waters of our sea and ocean for future generations.

We develop our people:

a) into educators, professionals, business people, investors.

b) into scientists, entrepreneurs, entertainers, athletes.

c) into high achievers and Nobel prize winning potential candidates.

d) into a prosperous, harmonious and vibrant society reaching for the stars.

We develop our culture:

a) into the magic that draws visitors to our island.

b) into the magic that makes us unique.

c) into the magic that drives us internally to excel on the global stage.

d) into the magic that generates true happiness and joy for living and life.

We develop our ideas:

a) into the systems that make entrepreneurial dreams a reality.

b) into intellectual property and long-term wealth generators.

c) into job creating, income producing and tax-paying companies.

d) into products and systems that can change the world.

What are St. Lucia’s current emergency needs?

1. St. Lucia’s current debt levels are skyrocketing uncontrollably.

a) we need an explanation for the need to constantly borrow at such high levels.

b) we need a strategy to put into effect a borrowing moratorium.

c) we need a strategy to generate the loan repayments without just rolling over into new debt.

2. Functioning hospitals and high-quality healthcare.

a) St. Jude Hospital needs to be completed and become functional.

b) OKEU needs to be completely functional.

c) Victoria Hospital needs to be integrated appropriately.

d) Soufriere Hospital needs to be functional and of high-quality.

e) Well equipped healthcare centers are needed to provide efficient healthcare.

f ) All hospitals must remain under the state’s control and definitely not privatized.

3. Better crime fighting systems.

a) we need cameras on major roadways and intersections.

b) we need cameras leading into and exiting towns, villages and the city.

c) we need computer systems for tracking known criminals.

d) we need better trained detectives for conducting criminal investigations and solving crimes.

e) we need better criminal lab systems.

f ) we need tech startups within this sector to create crime-fighting systems.

4. Citizens need jobs, jobs, jobs and better jobs.

a) because the economy is stagnant and the unemployment rate is extremely high.

b) because reliance on mainly low-wage hotel-sector jobs creates more poverty.

c) because reliance on 0% tax on hotels with 20 to 40 year tax holidays impoverishes the nation.

d) because for a better life we need to diversify the economy into areas with higher salaries.

5. Water systems.

a) we need a few small dams.

b) we need more reservoirs or catchment systems.

c) we need more home-based solutions.

What key structural changes or objectives need to be undertaken immediately?

1. The diversification of the economy towards 3 main pillars not solely tourism, which includes:

a) technology for high-paying jobs and modernization.

b) agriculture for the creation of products for local consumption and export markets.

c) tourism for revenue generation, infrastructure development and general social benefits.

2. A new financial and economic system because:

a) technology has made it possible to implement or use alternate monetary systems.

b) elements of the local economy must be merged into the greater online global economy.

What are the key elements of the 3 pillars for diversification and economic growth?

1. The creation of a new online or digital economy.

a) the pandemic has accelerated the need to move to a digital economy.

b) broadly available redundant broadband systems are needed.

c) more e-government services must be provided.

d) laptops are needed for students and the citizenry.

2. The creation of an agriculture-driven economy.

a) a startup ecosystem of agriculture-based companies must be created.

b) local and external markets must be created.

c) national food security must be a high order policy objective.

d) preservation of agricultural land is paramount.

e) citizens will engage in national micro-farming projects to build wealth personally and nationally.

3. The creation of a national tourism master-plan development.

a) tourism must remain a key revenue generator for the nation.

b) 80% of the hotel stock should be nationally owned hotels.

c) trades schools and nationally owned construction companies should drive this development.

d) tourism revenue will be used to lower healthcare and education costs and other social services.

e) every native-born citizen should have a tourism dividend bank account from birth.

f ) 10% of tourism profits from nationally owned hotels will be paid to native-born citizens annually.

The current pandemic has made the case that the economy needs to be diversified. The old adage of putting all your eggs in one basket should now be heeded. And this is a key objective.

The Big Picture:

What is the macro-level developmental roadmap (if elected)?

1. A 6-month plan on improving education for all with offline and online courses.

a) focus on developing a strong foundation in grade school to high school.

b) focus on post secondary with tech, medical, trade, service and small business schools.

c) focus on creating an online university freely available to all graduating high school students.

d) focus on the acquisition of laptops for all students.

2. A 1-year plan for creating a new economy and rebooting St. Lucia.

a) creation of a high-tech-based economy with high-paying jobs.

b) creation of a national savings plan based on micro-farming.

c) structure the society into investment clubs including children.

3. A 2-year plan for creating factories and large scale industries.

a) scale-up existing companies.

b) develop the large scale agriculture and farming sector.

c) grow bananas for local processing and creation of new products for exports.

d) create banana fritters, banana cakes, banana pasta and other derivatives.

e) create new consumer products from coconuts, chocolates and other fruit.

f ) create ready to cook or eat meals for local consumption and for export.

4. A 3-year plan for expanding the economy.

a) create a high-tech, high-finance, med-tech university town.

5. A 4-year plan for seeking and creating global investment opportunities.

a) link expatriate St. Lucian companies to the local economy via investments.

6. A 5-year plan for regional investments.

a) create companies in Barbados and neighboring islands.

b) the large Bajan population can be used in jointly-regionally-owned food factories.

c) engage St. Vincent, Dominica, Grenada as investors and suppliers too.

d) encourage the creation of regional jobs, commerce and wealth generation.

7. A 50-year plan for building a 80%-owned St. Lucia hotel industry.

a) create a citizenry-collectively-owned national hotel masterplan development.

b) provide time-sharing, village tourism, Airbnb rentals to deepen the offerings.

c) develop trades, hotel building and maintenance schools.

d) create systems for agriculture and hotel-food service integration.

e) create systems for hospitality service and hotel-school integration.

8. A 100-year national plan for creating beautifully integrated cities, towns, and villages.

a) create a high-standard of living for citizens.

b) create work-spaces for intellectual work and high paying jobs.

c) create large scale industries to maximize exports of local goods.

d) develop a startup ecosystem for creating companies.

e) create globally oriented financial companies.

The main objective with this macro-level developmental roadmap is to set a vision with a timeline so issues can be thought-over ahead of time, preparations made and decisions taken with minimal impact on the future and grander plans to come.

The Personal Level:

What is the micro-level developmental roadmap (if elected)?

The focus will be on turning homes into passive income producing systems where credits can be earned and paid quarterly on positive balances which can be used to offset monthly living charges.

1. Micro-farming for income generation.

a) A small gardening box for tomatoes, green peppers etc. will be encouraged.

b) A separate banking (credit union) system should be developed for this collective enterprise.

c) As an inducement members can receive loans with extremely low rates.

d) Agriculture-based startups will be the prime consumers via a marketplace for producers.

e) Startup companies can enter this market and provide the necessary technologies and help.

2. Pool mining and other activities in the rapidly growing cryptocurrency industry.

a) Become part of a distributed datacenter storage provider.

b) Invest in crypto and new finance projects.

c) Participate in crypto socio-ecosystems.

d) Startup companies can enter this market and provide the necessary technologies and help.

3. Homes can be solar energy sellers to be stored in battery farms.

a) Hotels, office buildings and other industries can be consumers of that energy.

b) Electrical cars and charging stations could also one day be consumers.

c) Startup companies can enter this market and provide the necessary technologies and help.

4. Homes can be water catchment systems.

a) This can be a solution to the island-wide water issues by feeding community reservoirs.

b) This can be a source of income and water for home-owners.

c) This can reduce demand on community systems.

d) Startup companies can enter this market and provide the necessary technologies and help.

5. Collective ownership of vertical farms for efficient land use and for financial gains.

a) Chicken farms, eggs, chickens and meat production can be owned collectively as a company.

b) Farms for meat production: pigs, goats, sheep and other cattle.

c) Collectively-owned farming companies should pay out dividends quarterly.

d) Individuals and families can have private vertical farms too.

e) Vertical farms for both livestock and agriculture-based products are amenable to technology.

f ) Tech startups can provide systems for monitoring, environment control and other purposes.

6. Collective ownership of fish-farming and aqua-farming companies.

a) Create experimental fish-farms.

b) Create sea moss farming for local and export markets.

c) Individuals and families can have private companies too.

d) Startup companies can provide the key technologies needed.

The main objective in these micro-economic strategies is to drive the daily cost of living for citizens to $0.00 dollars by offsetting the charges of monthly utility bills with passive income-producing strategies via home-based systems, personal investments requiring minimal costs, time and energy, and larger collective, national investment strategies. Basically, it comes down to a strategy of creating a system where one lives for free: in this system your monthly bills are offset by revenue from small home-based investments.

In a nutshell, the St. Lucia Prosperity Party’s roadmap to prosperity is to:

a) provide high-paying jobs for greater wealth generation, investing and tax revenues to the government.

b) provide home-based micro-farming, water-catchment and solar-energy systems to offset monthly bills.

c) provide national investments to increase personal and national wealth.

d) provide economic growth via technology, finance, agriculture and other industry startups.

e) provide an economic social safety-net based on a collective nationally-owned hotel master-plan development.

f ) provide low-cost but high quality healthcare funding via the hotel master-plan development and other investments.

g) provide infrastructure development funding via an airport tax to create jobs and a high quality of life.

h) provide local, regional, global investment opportunities for high-paying jobs and greater prosperity.

In summary, the financially astute employ multiple income streams happening simultaneously to generate wealth. This basic idea needs to be scaled-up across the society. It is only through internal investment where the profits remain within the society that prosperity will be achieved.

Scaling-up local companies or creating global companies is not an impossibility. A robust investment environment needs to be created so companies can sell their shares to an educated and investing public to raise the needed capital. A local stock market should be created for these micro-bootstrapping companies. This will expand the educational requirements, sophistication and job opportunities of the nation. As these startups grow they can trade on the regional stock exchange or a global stock exchange if need be.

From a governance perspective, increasing the number of wealthy citizens within a nation is the roadmap to creating a wealthier nation. Achieving that goal requires the proper usage of time and that must be optimized by starting the investing process early in the lives of citizens, meaning as children. Creating investment groups starting with children produces a lifetime of growth and compounding possibilities and immense wealth based purely on mathematics. With an investment culture beginning early in life, future large scale investments as adults via investment groups become part of the societal structure and psyche. Thus, increasing the awareness, of the importance of investing early in life, is of paramount importance.

Finally, greater wealth opportunities can be pursued with lower risk if it is done collectively. Wall Street is the greatest example of this. Large numbers of middle class people invest small amounts of capital to create new companies in new fields or scale up companies for global competition. These companies provide better products that improve the quality of lives while generating wealth for investors. This is the model that needs to be adopted in St. Lucia even if it is on a much smaller scale. Collective investment and personal participation is key. In essence, a nation investing its time, money and effort in its own development, and not relying solely or mainly on foreign investment, will become prosperous, resulting in better and happier lives for its citizens. This is the foundational principle for the St. Lucia Prosperity Party.

And thus our slogan, For Prosperity! We are the Investors.