As interested as I have become in the affairs of predominately Black societies, for a long time it was my European heritage of which I was most boastful. Whether the lineage of my maternal or paternal grandmothers, Grant and McCoy of Scotland or that my grandfather while he carried the name Hall, was raised by his grandfather, Jimmy Wells of Long Island, somehow being able to point to White ancestry gave a sense of pride. When I speak therefore, of the UBP influence alive today behind the scenes of the governing Free National Movement, it is done so not out of some hidden anti-White racist motivation but because slavery, just as the discrimination endured by the ordinary majority in this Country pre 1967, was about economics/money and not about race. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil. It is that evil that worries me at this juncture in our development as a people, and that evil which causes my disappointment at the level of support won by the FNM in the past general elections. But money was responsible for that victory as well.
The allegations of conflict of interest surrounding the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Brent Symonette, son of Sir Roland Symonette is an indication of the kind of agenda men like himself are passionate about. And while at the end of the day those allegations may be dismissed as “small things”, what it all represents is the fundamental difference between the principles of Governance as espoused by the Progressive Liberal Party, and the principles that were embedded within the FNM when they joined hands with the fallen UBP.
As angry as so many may continue to be with the PLP because of the sins of some of the sons of the organization, you will find that the overarching principles of advancing the cause and championing the rights of the ordinary majority, whether through education, healthcare, economic empowerment or social welfare, remain paramount to the organization. This fundamental distinction is not so for the FNM. While the personalities of those selected to lead the FNM are sometimes more appealing, that very sinister motive which places things before people, that agenda which denied the majority political empowerment for as long as it could, still comes shining through as the primary thrust of the ones who call the tune of the FNM.
These are critical times for the ordinary majority. We are not as far along socially and economically as we should have been. Some indicators of our rampant deterioration as a society or network of communities is in our violent crime rates, our literacy levels and poor high school performance, and even in our risky and unhealthy lifestyles. On one hand the Country is poised to make a dramatic boom towards economic and infrastructural development, its entire landscape will undergo spectacular change within the next fifteen or so years. On the other hand there is the very real threat that its people as we are now defined, in the majority, will be left behind and relegated to a low waged working class. The potential of one day owning our economy is quickly slipping through our proverbial fingers.
The Party who was founded to go the extra mile to protect and ensure the viable future of our ordinary majority, the PLP who though not perfect, was committed in more recent years to bringing restoration to our communities, through initiatives like Urban Renewal and educational reform, and national health insurance and a myriad of second chance programs is forced now to be a strong Opposition in the face of an economic thrust agenda seeped in conflict of interest. But no greater conflict than this, that while the Deputy Prime Minister and his kind are out to make themselves even more wealthy, you will find that they have ordered that this Government is not allowed to spend money on “foolishness.” And when you examine what that foolishness really is, you will find that it is anything that gives that added compassion and inspiration needed to lift the ordinary majority to new levels of pride and productivity.
No! This is no era of “Trust.” We are stuck for a little while in a cold and unkind economic thrust. It is that damn love of money ……. Evil!
The allegations of conflict of interest surrounding the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Brent Symonette, son of Sir Roland Symonette is an indication of the kind of agenda men like himself are passionate about. And while at the end of the day those allegations may be dismissed as “small things”, what it all represents is the fundamental difference between the principles of Governance as espoused by the Progressive Liberal Party, and the principles that were embedded within the FNM when they joined hands with the fallen UBP.
As angry as so many may continue to be with the PLP because of the sins of some of the sons of the organization, you will find that the overarching principles of advancing the cause and championing the rights of the ordinary majority, whether through education, healthcare, economic empowerment or social welfare, remain paramount to the organization. This fundamental distinction is not so for the FNM. While the personalities of those selected to lead the FNM are sometimes more appealing, that very sinister motive which places things before people, that agenda which denied the majority political empowerment for as long as it could, still comes shining through as the primary thrust of the ones who call the tune of the FNM.
These are critical times for the ordinary majority. We are not as far along socially and economically as we should have been. Some indicators of our rampant deterioration as a society or network of communities is in our violent crime rates, our literacy levels and poor high school performance, and even in our risky and unhealthy lifestyles. On one hand the Country is poised to make a dramatic boom towards economic and infrastructural development, its entire landscape will undergo spectacular change within the next fifteen or so years. On the other hand there is the very real threat that its people as we are now defined, in the majority, will be left behind and relegated to a low waged working class. The potential of one day owning our economy is quickly slipping through our proverbial fingers.
The Party who was founded to go the extra mile to protect and ensure the viable future of our ordinary majority, the PLP who though not perfect, was committed in more recent years to bringing restoration to our communities, through initiatives like Urban Renewal and educational reform, and national health insurance and a myriad of second chance programs is forced now to be a strong Opposition in the face of an economic thrust agenda seeped in conflict of interest. But no greater conflict than this, that while the Deputy Prime Minister and his kind are out to make themselves even more wealthy, you will find that they have ordered that this Government is not allowed to spend money on “foolishness.” And when you examine what that foolishness really is, you will find that it is anything that gives that added compassion and inspiration needed to lift the ordinary majority to new levels of pride and productivity.
No! This is no era of “Trust.” We are stuck for a little while in a cold and unkind economic thrust. It is that damn love of money ……. Evil!
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