Tolerance a plus for economic progress
THAT Trinidad and Tobago's first gay pride parade held on Saturday passed without incident is not only good news from the moral viewpoint of tolerance, but also bodes well for our economy. In fact, the two are inextricably linked.
The American sociologist Richard Florida has surveyed the presence of homosexuals in urban centres and found a correlation with creative products, technological invention, and economic growth. The key factor is not gay persons themselves, but the socio-political traits of tolerance and open- mindedness which foster economic progress.
In this context, religious beliefs are often an economic brake but, in seeming paradox, this issue can be resolved by more religion.
As far back as 1733, the French philosopher Voltaire in exile in England noted in a letter titled 'On Presbyterians' that 'If there were only one religion in England, there would be danger of tyranny; if there were two, they would cut each other's throat; but there are 30, and they live happily together in peace.' This is why the bigoted believers in T&T have been unable to get any traction for their anti-gay activism.
This is a natural outcome of capitalism, in which buyers and sellers put profits before prejudice.
As Voltaire noted of the London Stock Exchange, 'There the Jew, the Mahometan, and the Christian deal with one another as if they were of the same religion, and reserve the name of infidel for those who go bankrupt.'
Kevin Baldeosingh Freeport
