Marcus Garvey once said: “A people without the knowledge of their history, is like a tree without roots.” About two weeks ago, we saw the Scottish people determine via the ballot box the direction in which they wanted their country to go. What their referendum did was save Prime Minister David Cameron’s job while costing Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond his. The Scots obviously had knowledge of their history and chose to keep the tree that is the British Empire, deeply rooted into the ground.
Across the Atlantic some four thousand miles away, the tiny British Overseas Territory of Anguilla is still trying to figure out its history and the direction in which it wants to go. Just as the Scots took to the ballot box to determine their future, so too are we in the process of doing the same. While the Scots referendum dealt with the issue of independence, our election hinges on whether or not we choose to go forward with a whole new approach to government – one that will not only look at constitutional and electoral reform, but actually having the balls to do something about them – or do we just stay with the same old inept backwater political hacks who seem to not have a clue about what to do.
You can bet that the Scots will use their no vote to their advantage and one can only speculate that Prime Minister Cameron will accede to quite a few of their demands for greater autonomy, and rightfully so. After all, they just saved the British Empire and, for their part, you can bet that they will expect their wheels to be greased considerably. They had a better bargaining chip in that they have an established economy and the British stood to lose quite a bit, given that Scotland had the potential for being self-sustaining. We, on the other hand, aren’t as lucky, simply because our present government has had a very combative relationship with Britain and seems intent on biting the hand that supposedly feeds it.
It appears that no matter how hard we may try to educate our politicians as to what we expect from them, it all falls on deaf ears. Here we are struggling to make ends meet and instead of our ministers laying the groundwork for getting out of this death defying spiral that we find ourselves in they, instead, choose not to deal with the fact that LIAT is cutting back service to the island, that the airport needs to be extended to allow for direct flights, but they chose to revisit the very controversial Jet Ski issue, which has already been settled by previous governments, but for whatever reason, greed I suspect, it has reared its ugly head once more, with all the inherent problems that they bring onto our shores.
It’s really embarrassing to see where our priorities lie. As I alluded to above, LIAT, our ever reliable flagship carrier, just served notice that it will be cutting back service to our island to which our esteemed Chief Minister offered his solution and I quote: “We will now have to rely on St. Martin.” Our problems are not those of St. Martin. Of course our CM never misses an opportunity to lambaste the British for preventing him from allowing the French to build an airport out in Brimigen. I’m not sure if the CM even knows where Brimigen is, or else he would not have suggested such a scatterbrained idea.
Our country depends on tourism as the engine that keeps it running, and when we see the shoddy manner in which that engine is being serviced, pretty soon that engine dies because it’s not being replenished with the oil and gas that it needs. After being at this for almost forty years now, it is damn embarrassing that we still don’t know what the hell we’re doing. A while back the CM made the statement on record that we’re heading for failed state status, and a big deal was made about the context in which he made the statement. Context here is irrelevant. The fact that he had the audacity to say such a thing was irresponsible, and to have others come to his defense saying that former CM Fleming said the same thing, I thought was lame.
This is not the first time that the CM has made irresponsible statements, but we’ll concern ourselves with the more recent ones. A few weeks ago, on the platform at a political rally in East End, the CM lambasted two candidates. He referred to the female candidate from District One as “that cold hearted lawyer from East End.” Another time, he questioned her ethnic origin saying that she didn’t look, sound or dress like an Anguillian. I guess Ms. Webster does not meet the CM’s definition of Anguillian. I was happy to see that Reverend Niles demanded an apology from the CM for his disparaging comments where he accused the Reverend of trying to get a job in government after being a minister. Rather than badmouthing those not in agreement with him, he should be trying to do the job for which he’s being handsomely paid, that of saving our banks and putting people back to work. This sort of behavior is beneath the high office of the Chief Minister.
This year, or perhaps early next year, depending on the whims of the Chief Minister, we have the opportunity to right all wrongs, of which there have been many, that have been perpetrated upon us. We have the opportunity to take one giant step in the right direction – that of determining what sort of government we want going forward. The Scots made history in that they voted no on independence and on the same day voted yes to allow women to join the Royal and Ancient Golf Clubs, previously reserved for men only. So let us too make history by voting no on the present government and yes on a brand new and innovative government, one that will focus on every Anguillian, not just the few – a government made up primarily of our highly educated and divergent thinkers, some of whom are women.
As a country, we have come a long way and we still have a very long way to go, and that is why this time, more than ever, we have to choose the next government with discriminating taste. Last time we committed what Malcolm Gladwell, writing in “Blink”, calls the: “Warren Harding Error” (Warren Harding was perhaps the worst US President ever to be elected). We chose a candidate without fully vetting him and consequently we are now reaping the results. Of the Warren Harding Error, Gladwell says that: “It is at the root of a great deal of prejudice and discrimination. He says it is why picking the right candidate for the job is so difficult and why on more occasions than we might care to admit, utter mediocrities sometimes end up in positions of enormous responsibilities.” Need I say more? As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
As the upcoming election draws nigh, only the CM knows when the election will be called. Common wisdom would tend to suggest that he will abide by the constitution and possibly run out the clock, but that’s common wisdom. Since nothing positive is happening, one would think that a new government would be the order of the day, but we shouldn’t hold our breath. All we can hope for is that this hamstrung government does no harm. So despite what they’ve claimed to have accomplished, it is hard to stomach what has happened to us. We need to hold this government accountable for all they have wrought upon us. We’re a selfish lot and we tend to look out for ourselves. The bible does tell us that we’re our brother’s keeper. When was the last time that any of us felt that way? Think about it.
What has brought us to this place? What of our heroes? I was struck and impressed by an article written by DOVE candidate Sutcliffe Hodge in last weeks Anguillian in which he suggests that we give the Father of the Nation Mr. Ronald Webster his flowers, and all that it entails, while he’s alive. He goes on to say that for someone who has given so much to so many, the shoddy manner in which he’s being treated by this and past governments is appalling. There were days back in 1967 when the government did not have the money to pay the civil servants – when Mr. Webster paid them out of his own pockets, and to now see that this and past governments have fattened themselves to the tune of several hundred thousands of dollars in gratuities and pensions, while the Father of the Nation is paid a paltry $1000.00 a month which, by the way he has yet to see, it’s a bloody shame. Are we serious? CM Hughes I want you to reflect when you too walk away with over a half million in gratuities, and ask yourself where would I be without Ronald Webster? Without Ronald there is no you. Mr. Hughes, you and company ought to be damned ashamed of the crappy way in which you have treated this man. Osborne and Victor, and the rest of you, will have lined your pockets when you too ride off into the sunset. What about Mr. Webster? Without Mr. Webster, there is no Hughes. You’d be back begging Bradshaw for a job. Mr. Hughes, I’m putting you and the rest of your ilk on notice that until this injustice is rectified, you will continue to hear about it.
Mr. Webster is getting on in years and has had some complications with a back injury, and I apologize to Mrs. Webster if I shouldn’t have said this. Mr. Webster is not looking for anything from anyone. In fact if I were him, I’d tell you all to go to hell, but the fact of the matter is that there’s a principle involved here. Without Mr. Webster, none of you would be enjoying the fruits that you now currently enjoy while the rest of us are catching hell. Mr. Webster does deserve to get his flowers while he can enjoy them.
As Anguillians, we’re a selfish lot. We have to recognize and take care of our heroes. Given that Mr. Webster is getting on in years, he should be given carte blanche in anything that he wants. Not that he wants anything but, damn it, he’s entitled. How and when did we become this way? Are there none of you in government who sees the wrong in all of this? Ask yourselves: Where would I be without the daring and the wherewithal of Mr. James Ronald Webster? All of us should get on our knees, and thank this man for having the nerves and the stick-to-itiveness to stand up and say this is not right and we deserve better. Who among you will introduce legislation to right this wrong? Folks this is a no-brainer.
We are in such dire straits that it’s hard to know where to start. We have to give serious thought to what we’re going to do. It is obvious that those in power don’t know what to do. It’s embarrassing to see our lovely country go to pieces as those tasked with making sure that it doesn’t happen, just go to a neutral corner and cower like the cowards you all are. We have to stand up and be counted. Malcolm X said: “You have to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” The Mayor always likes to say that in Anguilla “We don’t know what we want until we get what we don’t want.”
We are better than this and we should demand better from those who would lead us. They act as though we’re irrelevant. After all, we’re the ones who put them in power and so help us, we can take them out via the ballot box. So whether it’s this year, or early next year, let us make this election count. We’re in the fight of our lives. We have to get this one right. This patient is on life support and those who would lead us are willing to pull the plug. We can’t let that happen and so I say to you my fellow Anguillians, to use a popular song title: “The Revolution Ain’t Done.” And until all of us can attain what Walter Hodge, Ronald Webster, Atlin Harrigan, Bob Rogers, John Webster, Collins Hodge and company fought for, we will ‘Never Say Fail.’ And so the struggle continues. So until next time may God bless us all and may God bless Anguilla.
