There is an old saying that says: “You can’t win for losing” (Unknown).
That would seem to be our motto in Anguilla, for ever since our inception some 300 years ago, we’ve been subjected to one form of loss or another. When does it end?
Anyone who can answer that question with any degree of certainty ought to bottle whatever it is that they do, sit back and watch the bucks roll in. Now some may question my fixation with money. It’s not that I’m fixated on it – it’s just a natural fact that having money allows you to do the things you want, build a nice house, send your children off to college and so on, all admirable traits.
Now that being said, doesn’t mean that only a few of the Diaspora or the privileged few should have access to the finer things in life, money included. Most of us who are old enough will recall the dog days of 1967 when we put it all on the line for a better Anguilla. Well, unfortunately, that better Anguilla was a short lived experiment for, as soon as we found out it wasn’t broken, we tried to fix it.
We are a people who when we were given lemons, made lemonade. When the disciples didn’t believe, Jesus admonished them in Mathew 8:26: “Oh ye of little faith.” We can’t be dissuaded by the naysayers who have already thrown in the towel. Anguillians are fighters and it pains me to hear the negative talk that’s emanating out there. Over the years, those who’ve been entrusted with out welfare squandered the opportunities. It’s obvious that this government holds us in contempt, and if we sit around waiting for it to come around will be an exercise in futility.
Appealing to Victor’s sense of common decency, in the hope that he will do the right thing, is about as realistic as excepting the offer made by the March Hare during the Mad Tea Party in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland: “Have some wine,” the March Hare said in an encouraging tone. “I don’t see any wine,” remarks Alice. “There isn’t any,” said the March Hare.
There is a lot more than meets the eye here and I’m not sure that we are sophisticated enough to see and recognize what it is. We are at a point and time when we can’t afford to not become involved, and I don’t mean the folks on the ground in Anguilla. I’m appealing to every last one of us from east to west and north to south. Our mother country is under a full scale assault from forces real and imagined, and the only way to defeat them is to respond in kind, mano a mano, fire with fire. Aristotle, in his ‘Politics’ saw extreme inequality as the fundamental cause of revolution. He argues that the rise of an oligarchic state (that is a state in which the power is shared by a few) leads to one of two scenarios. The impoverished underclass can revolt and overthrow the oligarchs to rectify the imbalance of wealth and power, or it can submit to the tyranny of oligarchic rule (Hedges).
The question now becomes what do we do? We are being told by a compliant media to cease and desist with our incessant bickering – that we are being undemocratic when we oppose bills that are being rammed down our throats much to our detriment. We are being lied to to our very faces when we know in fact that they are lies, so what do we do? Folks we do not have to reinvent the wheel. We have precedents. We cannot roll over and play dead. We’ve been dealt a very bad hand. Do we fold or do we try to finish the game? Don’t misunderstand me now. I’m not by any stretch of the imagination trying to imply that this is all a game. On the contrary. We couldn’t be more serious about our lot in life right now.
If I had to, I’d swim the seven seas to get to Anguilla. And if you know anything about me, you know that while I haven’t swum the seven seas, I’ve flown just as far to get there. We are in the fight of our lives and, while the saying is that Anguillians don’t know what they want till they get what they don’t want, we have to change that way of thinking. We have to let the powers that be know exactly what it is that we want. We will do so in due course.
We have sat back for far too long, much like the Rump Parliament some 400 years ago, when Oliver Cromwell told them: “You have sat for far too long for anything you have done lately.” We have to become proactive rather than reactive. We cannot waste another moment, for we have allowed a series of governments to come in and instead of looking out for the people’s interests, looked out for their own.
We have sat for far too long and looked on as our people were bullied into selling their land for pennies on the dollar, while deep pocketed developers and prospectors took advantage of our people. We have sat for far too long with our hands in our pockets, while the unscrupulous politicians bought or stole people’s land and then had the temerity to sell it for ten times its value – and in the process pricing out the natives who may have wanted to purchase a piece of land.
We have sat for far too long and looked on as government after government failed to protect our interests, all under the watchful eye of the British. We have watched as wave after wave of foreigners were allowed to come, in whether legal or illegal, much to the detriment of our indigenous merchants. How is this all possible? We have watched as the merchants whom we grew up with, the Lakes and the Proctors, are gradually being squeezed out of the action. Where is the uproar over this?
Marcus Garvey said “that a people without the knowledge of their history is like a tree without roots.” Do we not know from whence we came? How many times do I have to ask this question? Why are we even having this conversation, and why is it that I, being some several thousands of miles away from my homeland, have to be the one with enough balls to do this? Folks, you know what need to be done. We have walked this path once before. We knew who the enemy was then and we sure as hell know who it is now. We will fight them with every last drop of blood, wherever we have to. In the courts of public opinion, in the press, on social media and in the courts of law. We have just awakened a sleeping giant and woe be unto those who get in the way.
In today’s Anguilla, we talk a good talk. Boy are we good at talking! Last year, when the Central Bank held its 82nd Monetary Council meeting here, it was assumed that our Chief Minister (Mr. Banks) would use that opportunity to take the lead on his mission to rehabilitate and save the indigenous banks. In his acceptance speech to the Monetary Council he made the argument that “one size does not fit all.” Mr. Banks then went on to say that the top priority in the coming months was the need to relieve the region of the conservatorship. He further stated that this had to be done in a way that was suitable to the countries concerned with regard to respecting the interests of customers and depositors and with the sustained force of the need to nourish economic growth, vital to our collective wellbeing.
Mr. Banks then went on to say that the situation in his country, Anguilla, was unlike many other situations in the member states. He talks about the origins and memberships of both banks and the fact that the affinity for the banks is not based solely on patriotism, but based in the realities faced with development over 35 years. He further reiterated the reasons for the banks existence: “the loyal support of Anguillians who are not only customers but owners of these indigenous banks.”
So, based on the argument put forth by our Minister of Finance, one could safely assume that he was going to step up to the plate and lead the charge as our protector. So, based on what has transpired, one has to ask the question: what the hell happened? Where is our Minister of Finance, and what caused this dramatic about face? How could he go from saying that we were unique while extolling our virtues as a patriotic and proud people who built those banks and continue to patronize them despite the hard times. Your actions, sir, are not consistent with your words. What has happened to cause this drastic turn? What are you not telling us? Are we not entitled to know the truth, no matter how painful it may be?
Mr. Banks, you and your government have pulled off one of the greatest scams against the Anguillian people in the 21st century. Not only have you scammed us – you don’t give a damn. The Member of the Opposition was about to bring a Motion of No Confidence (MONC) against your government, and you walked out of the House claiming that you had more pressing issues to attend to and you didn’t have time to listen to any nonsense. How dare you treat the opposition in that manner? The fact that the Speaker of the House allowed you to behave in such a manner was despicable and, for that behavior alone, your behind must be censured – for you showed a lack of collegiality and downright common decency. But you know what? What goes around comes around. Maybe the MONC won’t be necessary after all. Time will tell.
Right now you are not working for the Anguillian people – the ones who elected you. We would like to know just who are you working for? Maybe you are, as some have suggested, a Manchurian Candidate: someone who is being manipulated by others. Can you, sir, with your hand on the bible, swear that you are your own man who is not obligated to anyone other than the Anguillian people, so help you God? In Judge Mitchell’s CAPE Law Series, he talks about the Law of Equity in which one of the Maxims states that: “He, who comes to equity must come with clean hands: A person who expects a remedy in equity against a wrongdoer, must not himself have done a wrong with respect to the matter before the court.” Can we without a shadow of a doubt expect our government to argue for equity on our behalf without recriminations?
Let us come together and fix all that is wrong with us right now. Let us not listen to those who have the audacity to paint the rosiest of pictures about our lot right now. To do that is not only dishonest, misleading and disingenuous. Our people may be a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them. They know that things are bad – that we are in dire straits now – and no matter how hard the powers that be, and those who should know better, try to convince our people that things are alright, that dog simply won’t hunt.
Again, I say we are in the fight of our lives and we are going to need all the help we can get. Our cousins to the south, whom we have always had a special place in our heart for the same as they have always had the same place for us – have got to be feeling really hurt, and when you hurt family members, they resent it and they do to you what you did to them. Think about that for a moment. The August Festival is coming up. Think about it for a moment. Remember the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Think about that. You guys are smart. You seem to know everything. Figure it out. We seem to be our own worse enemy. We can’t win for losing.
Let us all come together, though difficult as it may be, for that is the only way we will be able to save this rock we call Anguilla. So till next time, may God bless us all and may He continue to bless Anguilla.
