Change, it seems, tends to elicit a very non-cooperative and acrimonious reaction from those against it. For example, when U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt introduced his New Deal of Relief, Recovery and Reform, as a way of preventing the United States from heading back into the recession of 1929, he was vehemently opposed by the conservatives who saw the New Deal as an enemy of business and growth. Needless to say, FDR prevailed and the rest, as they say, is history. Fast forward to the 1960’s when John Kennedy’s New Frontier, and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, faced a similar fate. While Kennedy’s New Frontier dealt with space exploration and the Peace Corps, Johnson’s Great Society, was a means of eradicating poverty and introducing more liberal programs to try and help minorities and the less fortunate. They both faced the same opposition, but still prevailed. More recently, President Barack Obama had to withstand a barrage of attacks the likes of which no other president, before him and I suspect after, will ever see, with the passage of his Affordable Care Act better known as Obama Care. The United States Supreme Court, stacked with conservatives, ruled 5 to 4 that the Act was constitutional, and therefore was here to stay. Anything worth having is worth fighting for, and will be attacked at every turn with every reason why it’s not feasible.
A little over a week ago, November 12th, Anguilla celebrated the 30th anniversary of its Social Security System which should have been a happy and exuberant occasion. However, I can’t really say that that was the case. I was happy to see the Chief Minister, extol the virtues of the system. He very adroitly paid tribute to the Revolutionary Leader, Ronald Webster, “whose vision”, he said in part, “was to introduce a financial system to look after the interests of Anguillians. He further stated that “there was a need for a dependable institution which would be able to meet certain social and fiscal needs when they arose.”
The Chief Minister, continued to talk about the fact that we have to control our own destiny. It seems that even when the Chief Minister is in a celebratory mood, he can’t resist the opportunity to politicize it.
The more I read the article on Social Security in The Anguillian of 9th November, and heard what he had to say, the more it sounded like this speech should have been made by someone other than the Chief Minister. To listen to him tell us how personal it is, what it deals with and how we are each other’s keeper is the height of hypocrisy. The Chief Minister was being disingenious given that he opposed the creation of the Social Security System from its inception. That he now has the audacity to stand there and give laudatory reviews and applause to everyone connected, naming only Mr. Ronald Webster for having the foresight to create and shepherd the system from infancy to its present stage, who himself received some opposition from those in his own party, in my view was just unbelievable.
What the Chief Minister should have done was to have stood before the folks and “fess up” that he’d been very much against the creation of a Social Security System simply because he didn’t think that the island was ready for it. He could have then gone on and admit how wrong he was in his thinking and then he could have listed some of the accomplishments of the agency. Instead, he rightfully credited the Revolutionary Leader of the nation, Mr. Webster, and proceeded to give blanket kudos to the various employees of the Social Security Boards over the years for a job well done. The Chief Minister did not single out any one person whom he thought deserved honorable mention and that, to me, was very unfortunate because the system which deals with the life blood of the island’s retirement fund, cannot run itself. It needed a director who’s eminently qualified to oversee such a large fund. It is the director, Mr. Timothy Hodge, and later on with his supportive staff, who are truly responsible for the agency’s success. Instead, the current board, under the guise of austere measures and God knows what else, has operated in a way which vilifies the people who have been with the system from its inception. The Hughes Administration has acted in ways contrary to what’s best for the Social Security System and the people of Anguilla.
The Chief Minister talks about a Social Security Development Fund which invests in socially-desirable projects which benefit the community. He does not tell us about his attempts to use the fund as collateral for a 200 million dollar questionable loan which would have put Anguilla’s entire retirement fund at risk. He tried to borrow that much money from an unknown financial institution against present and future Social Security funds without the Executive Council’s approval and the required authorization of the House of Assembly. So tell me, where is the fiscal responsibility that the Chief Minister is tasked with? What happened to due diligence? Not only would this transaction, had it been allowed to go forward, would have put our entire fund at risk, but also the future of the fund. Again, I say that there’s a good thing that they’re mechanisms in place to safeguard against bonehead moves such as the one that the Chief Minister wanted to make. The Chief Minister has shown time and time again that he’s not ready for prime time. The mere fact that this is the same person that wants to take our tiny island down the rocky road to independence should make everyone pause and reassess this nonsense. Our leadership has proved that it’s not up to the task and is perfectly willing to run out the clock. Gentlemen, while you do this, please DO NO HARM.
Change, like the four seasons, is inevitable. Winter turns into Spring as Summer turns into Fall. The question that we must constantly ask ourselves is what does change entail?
The Chief Minister, in his glowing reviews of the Social Security System, is counting on the fact that Anguillians have short memories – and the fact that a lot of well informed and educated people choose to sit on the sidelines and say or do nothing, despite the fact that they see wrong doings going on. The fact that the Chief Minister opposed the creation of the Social Security System, and now that it’s up and running is willing to take credit for its success, I say again is the height of hypocrisy. Instead of having his people run roughshod over those who created and nurtured this agency from its inception, he should be thankful to those who are responsible for its success.
Social Security has reached a milestone for Anguilla, but isn’t it ironic that left to those absent of forethought, it would never have seen the light of day? Think about it. Again, I think the wrong person gave Monday’s address (5th November), but I’ll admit, it took some cojones to do so. The Chief Minister talks a good game because he’s an astute politician and, as I’ve said earlier, he never misses an opportunity to make his views known. I can just imagine what he prays for at night. The ears of the powers that be in England must be ringing non-stop at night. Chief Minister, let’s give credit where credit’s due, and until you do that your little congratulatory speech on Monday will smack of hypocrisy and you know it. Until then, may God bless us all and may God bless Anguilla.
