19 October, 2014

Dear Sir,

Turning my mind back to the country putting aside the hard jabs towards our politics, let’s consider a few basic and human ideas.

Not as abstract an idea as for us to consider the purpose of our society, but, should not one purpose be to promote or foster the well-being of all of its citizens?

I know the preamble to United States Constitution talks of things such as the pursuit of happiness etc. Really, what is being said is that each of us have our talents, and to express and develop those talents must be encouraged, and not dismissed for any reasons stemming from class, or bigotry in any form.

One of our political giants, Sir Henry Tucker, once said that Bermuda was like a frontier when he entered upon the scenes. He made those comments somewhat resigned to thinking, at that time in the late 1980s, he didn’t see the world before him then as so opportunistic, as he saw it back in the 1920s.

The thing is, he had his opportunity, and he used it, and so did many others. We all benefited from his genius and creativity. That’s the way it should be, a person has a vision, and we examine it, and utilise it if we can see the merit.

Without taking away anything from Sir Henry Tucker, let’s acknowledge at the very least that there was an expectation for him to deliver, he was not just any Joe Blow, he was Henry Tucker of the Tucker dynasty, cast from history. Providence supported Sir Henry Tucker, he was the man of his era.

Bermuda is evolving along with the complexities that are the make-up of the present world. The old vestiges of class, race, gender have all drastically eroded. Nowadays the success of companies, can almost be predicted by the level of diversity within their profile.

Barack Obama, a black man, is the leader of most powerful nation and economy in the world, and led his country from the worst deficit in the nation’s 300-year history. He, like so many minorities, are of a brain pool that was systemically avoided in the past.

So, now in our little Bermuda, when we think of moving forward, we must recognise that there is no elite group from where the light shines. Parliament doesn’t have all the answers, Government doesn’t have all the answers, but the answers are out there blowing in the wind.

The new frontiers are all there, and this modern politic must pride itself on catering to the new diversity of thinkers, and visionaries, or stagnate waiting for solutions coming from traditional and elitist sources.

Its either we foster the society that tells each of its members to dream the impossible dream, and then we go on to honour those aspirations and lift up those who dare, or we dwarf as a nation and retreat into the dark ages of privilege for the elite and suppression of the masses.

KHALID WASI