In 1936 Sociologist Robert K. Merton wrote an influential article entitled “The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action” which was his basis for the more familiar “Law of Unintended Consequences” which he broke down in five stages, the first two of which are ignorance and error. He further states that the two reasons why the law works is that the framers of a social change are either ignorant of the possible far reaching effects of the law, or that they make errors when developing a change that doesn’t have the effects they desired. Simply stated, the law of unintended consequences creates a perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended, therefore, making the situation worse.
In 2009 when the newly elected president of the United States, Barak Obama, had a majority in both the House and the Senate, he spent considerable political capital on trying to get his healthcare program done, a program that no other democratic president from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Bill Clinton was able to even come close to achieving. Consequently, the following year democrats, dissatisfied with the president, possibly thinking that he had not done enough, decided to stay home during the all important mid-term elections. As a result, the House was lost to the republicans who then proceeded to wreak havoc on the American people. The democrats miffed at the president, failed to come out and vote, not fully understanding what the effects of their actions would have on the political system.
During the same year, 2009, we also started to feel the effects of a failing economy, a government that was being blamed for all that was wrong regardless of what we as a people knew to be the truth. As a result, we seized the opportunity to do to the government in power, the AUF, what the American electorate had done to the president’s party. We voted for the other guys on the promise that they had a program to get us back on our feet again. Well, Merton’s law of unintended consequences states that ignorance is the primary reason that we make decisions that eventually have the opposite effect of what was intended, hence, the law of unintended consequences.
Given what has happened in the United States with the loss of the House to the republicans, one can safely assume that the debacle of the mid-term elections, which gave them the House of Congress, was the unintended consequence. The republicans then proceeded to oppose everything that the president and the democrats tried to do, from cutting food stamp aid for poor people to trying to repeal Obama care the sum total of 42 times. In a slightly different vein, we waited and waited for the new government that we voted into power to deliver on the promises they had made, to no avail. We started to see the opposite effect of what we’d hoped for. Instead of getting the country back on its feet, the exact opposite started to happen. This government consistently blamed the previous one for everything that was wrong. Just as the republicans blamed the president for everything that was wrong, so too did the AUM blame Osbourne and Victor.
More often than not, it is very impractical to act or make decisions when you’re angry or mad at someone, because chances are you are thinking with your heart and not your head. So because the Anguillian electorate was mad, angry or disappointed with the AUF, they were going to show them a thing or two, they were going to throw the bums out of office and that is exactly what they did. Osbourne and Kenneth retired from the government and Victor lost his bid to retain his seat. We wished for a new government and that is exactly what we got. Boy did we get a new government? Talk about the law of unintended consequences, we’ve seen it, and it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Anyone following Anguillian politics can’t help but wonder, what the heck is going on down there. Victor, in his column of the 22nd of November, said it best using the Chicago lyrics “Does anybody really know what time it is, does anybody really care?” I believe the answer is a resounding no. Because of the actions of a few, that is the only conclusion that can be drawn.
First there was the passing of the FFR and the Banking Amendment, both of which were rammed through the House in the most undemocratic fashion that anyone versed in the art of parliamentary procedures had ever seen. Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, the opposition took their turn to walk out, and thankfully, this time they did remember to launch an objection with the Speaker, thus bringing the procedures to a halt. Why did you all not think of this when it really counted? Some one needs to ask what was the purpose of going on the floor of the House? To get the Speaker to apologize because you guys blew it?
I think that the more serious business would have been to ask was, why was an amendment added to the banking bill and, more importantly, why aren’t we getting any updates about what is happening at the banks? Other questions that need to be asked and answered are: (1) why does it have to take 6 months to accomplish what needs to be done? (2) What happens after the six months are up? (3) Were 6 months an appropriate time for this action? (4) Are you, the members of the opposition satisfied with these actions? Has anyone seen the amendment and what does it say? I think that rather than trying to get the Speaker to apologize for your own shortcomings, you guys should be seeking clarity on the bill. It appears that you, the opposition, are our only chance, right now, to look out for our best interests, for the so-called government sure as heck isn’t doing it. Gentlemen, pick your fights carefully and don’t get bullied anymore than you already have. Here’s something to think about in the meantime.
What are you going to tell those shareholders, when their bank shares are devalued and they’re not worth the paper they’re printed on? Do you think they will remember that you all blew it, when you didn’t know what the Parliamentary procedures were, despite the fact that the government in name only knew what they were, recognized the fact that they didn’t have a quorum and decided to proceed anyway? Guys, when NBA sends me a statement apologizing for the fact that my money has vaporized into confetti, I will remember Hubert Hughes, a man who didn’t lift a finger in our struggles for a better life, but with everyday that he’s in government, he behaves in a way which seems to say, who’s got the last laugh.
He spends Anguilla’s money – money that I might add could go to kick start the economy – in ways that are not conducive to our well being. Everyone right now is jockeying for position to win a seat in the upcoming elections, whenever that may be. Hubert will decide. He will possibly pick a time when it looks as though he’s looking out for our best interests and he’ll probably say something like, “I think it’s time to take a new tack.” And I believe that he will use this tactic to do what Maurice Bishop did in Grenada. He will claim that he has a mandate and that the time is right to seek self-determination and it is at this time that I want us all to stand up and shout: “NOT THIS TIME.” It is time all right, time for him to ride off into the sunset. He has done enough. Just recently the lot of you went on Radio Anguilla and your only concern was getting re-elected. Last Saturday on the Mayor Show on Kool FM, we were reminded that your main concern was saving your jobs. No one discussed the crime rate and what was being done about it. No one talked about getting people back to work again, so that they can feed their families. None of you guys did any of that. Mr. Greaves, I understand that you are an employee of the Government, but you have to ask the hard questions, and when they’re
being evasive, come back with the follow-up. Your listeners will love you for that. Don’t toss these guys slow pitches. Throw an occasional one at their heads and make them duck.
The Government is spending exorbitant sums of money with very little return on investment. You know what I’m talking about. A million US dollars to a tourist agency to bring people in, Haydn goes to New York and allegedly spends $10,000 on a limo, Hubert claims forhimself $40,000 for a bill that was disallowed by the previous government and so on. Gentlemen this is not good governance. In Trinidad, I think they call it bobol. This is larcenous. It has to stop and it has to stop now. There needs to be in place the checks and balances to prevent a gaming of the system. We deserve better.
Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, the opposition took their turn to walk out, and this time they did remember to object to the proceedings. In the game of golf, there is a play called the mulligan which is basically a do over. It is agreed by both parties that the player in question, after possibly having wound up in the rough or a bunker, can replay the shot. Unfortunately, in the real world of politics there is no such play, but it was sad to see the opposition behaving like prima donnas. Guys, I hate to tell you this, but all of you are behaving like petulant children who have been called before the headmaster, and I honestly think a good thrashing, like we used to get before it was outlawed, is in order. Each group blames the other, and it’s childish and very unprofessional. Gentlemen, and I use the term loosely, you campaigned for the job and you were fortunate enough to join a select group of men. You are being paid a handsome salary, for which you do very little, so why don’t you earn your keep rather than going on the House floor and behaving like a bunch of idiots?
It is embarrassing to listen to what has been going on in the people’s House. You gentlemen go there and it appears that most of the time it is to take care of your own personal interests. You pass legislation without fully understanding the impact and long-term effects of it without even debating it. What kind of politicians are you? You stand on the House floor with immunity from libel or slander and lambast your enemies and political opponents. Guys, that’s like taking a gun to a knife fight. That’s not a fair fight. Your opponents and enemies alike ought to be able to hit back. You get on the floor and you carry on in a manner that’s unbecoming and, frankly, disgraces the great institution to which you belong. I say shame on you. Rome burns while Nero fiddles. Our young men are crying out for help, and do you offer up any solution? Have you introduced any legislation to try and get them the training they so desperately need and want? Do any of you jokers have a clue? How can you all, in all good conscience, accept a salary when families are going to bed hungry, when their children are going to school on an empty stomach? Try this a few times: Go to work, those of us fortunate to have a job, without having something to eat, and see how it feels. Now think of a young child, who goes off in the morning and is asked to do math, English and the rest of his subjects on an empty stomach. Gentlemen, it can’t be done and, frankly, it’s child abuse.
I remember the days when UNICEF sent us milk powder and we had to make powdered milk for almost three hundred kids on a daily basis. Of course, some parents did not want their children to drink that milk because they did not trust us to properly make and serve it. Some students became sick from drinking the milk and refused to drink it after that. You had to bring a letter from home stating your objections. Of course, the conditions under which we prepared the milk were not the best. I’ve no doubt that we took shortcuts at times just to get it done and over with, but that’s a whole different story. I brought it up to say that it at least got most of us through the morning. The afternoon was an entirely different story.
We’re not a third world country. We’re a British Overseas Territory and that should mean something. For a people who, just a few short years ago, were riding the crest of prosperity, to have fallen to where we currently are, the question one has to ask is what happened? In the meantime, the young men continue to go astray – no one tells them that they care, no one pulls the troubled youth aside and let him or her know that he’s or she’s not alone, that there is someone who cares. We’ve been told to stop talking, we need to act. I agree, we need action, but we also have to talk about what is going on. If someone had talked to those who are now wreaking havoc on the community then, maybe, just maybe, they would have taken a different tack for the better.
The police blotter gives us weekly reminders that our situation is exponentially growing worse. The perpetrators are getting bolder and more brazen. The CM leaves the country and leaves the job of informing the people to a couple of his surrogates. So what are we to think? Like the song says, “Does anyone really care?” When those we elect to represent us fail in their duties, then it’s time to seek redress. Sadly, I have to point out that there is no way to deal with an incompetent government except to throw their behinds out of office next time around.
Everyone seems to think that early elections will be called. The CM is being very tightlipped about his plans. He recently said that he feels like a young man, despite his 80 odd years. His actions though would tend to telegraph or tip his hand. He is really out of character these days. He has not raised a stink about the budget, he has not engaged the Governor like he did the lastone. He has laid off the British and, last but not least, he has not referred to self-determination in a long while. What does this all mean? Does he not care about self determination anymore? What will posterity say? After all, here is a man, who opposed the revolution – who publicly said in front of Mr. Webster that Bradshaw was a great man. This is a man who was nowhere to be found, when we were marching, flying the airplanes, playing the music Sunday nights to get money to help the teachers buy supplies and maybe put a little spending money in their pockets – when our fathers were being threatened – and this is the very same man who, more than anyone else, along with his cronies, have benefitted more than anyone else from what we did. How is that for irony?
There is no way in this or the next creation that Hubert Hughes should have anything to do with Anguilla. How could this possibly happen, not once, not twice but three times? What is wrong with us? Do we have so short a memory that we can’t remember anything? The CM needs to come to us and let us know exactly he has signed off on. We need to know what’s in the FFR, and the Bank Amendment. It is said that the Central Bank staff have immunity from any legal action that might be brought against them, so if they do something that we as shareholders disagree with – Mr. Hughes has seen to it that we can do nothing. Of course Mr. Hughes, allegedly has his money, not in either of the indigenous banks. He has his money elsewhere. How about that, and this is the guy that we elected to lead us. What were we thinking?
Talk about the law of unintended consequences. We are seeing them in spades. Read Victor’s column of the 22nd of November and we’ll see the result of ignorance on our part. It’s quite a shopping list of foul-ups. It was amazing to hear the CM criticise the opposition for not being gracious enough to let him speak first. I rather doubt that the CM even knows what it is to be gracious, given the way that he has behaved on a number of occasions. I find his statements to be disingenuous. He’s failed as a leader and if his previous times at the helm were a yardstick by which we measure his effectiveness, then not only did he fail us but we in turn failed our people.
Today we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. While it is not a British holiday, I don’t see how we can disassociate ourselves from it. Despite what has been happening to us, we still have lots to be thankful for. We’re thankful for life, for our families, for friends and, most of all for God, for without him, none of us would be here. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and pray for guidance. The late John F. Kennedy, whom we remember some fifty years after his death, says that “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.” Let’s look out for them. Let’s start being parents again. Let us think before we act, and let us use out brain when it comes to making important decisions. So I say again: “What have we wrought?” What do you think? Until then, if we are our brother’s keeper, then let’s start acting like brothers. May God bless us all and may god bless Anguilla.
