Dear Sir,

All over the world, and indeed Bermuda, we can see the evidence of failed ideologies.

We all know the tragedies of the distant past whether it was serfdom, child labour or slavery, which were all part of systems of an ideology that failed.

Monarchies and oligarchies all have come under the chopping block of progress and social evolution. Yet within our movement towards a better and more equitable world there are efforts which appear as benign in comparison to the tyrannies of the past but nevertheless has left piles of pain poverty and disempowerment in their wake.

A failed ideology is that which leaves its people or its adherents far from their stated goals and aspirations.

In many cases it puts them in opposition to their aims — like shooting off one’s own foot. The old biblical maxim “without vision the people perish” is a truth which can be spoken softly and easily but its resultant reality is harsh.

The concept of vision is easy — you just imagine or articulate where you are heading in the future. However, retrospection is helpful to what we prophesy, because after examining methodology and the efforts used over years, if no progress is made or worse there is regression, then the obvious thing should be to re-examine the methodology.

If you find yourself using a shovel to clear the deck, but instead end up digging a hole which is going deeper and deeper, the first thing to do is drop the shovel

This is the saga of the beleaguered people all over the world, including places like Bermuda.

Oppression is easy to identify and speak out against, however liberation is not so easy. Many people and organisations have risen to prominence through speaking out against oppression, but few if any have clarified meaning or appropriate ways towards liberation.

Firstly, the concept of liberation and what it should mean to the populace (apart from that which was articulated at the very least in the American Constitution yet denied for centuries) is scarcely articulate or even on the lips among most movements.

Unfortunately, too many people who came together to topple dictators to obtain power and shouted and sang “Power to the people”, gained the power but not the power to the people which they envisioned.

The power merely shifted from one oligarch to a new form of oligarchy. The powerful institutions and industries along with their monopolies remained, the new oligarch and their cronies got rich if not filthy rich and the populace — who were perhaps somewhat given more respect — remain as powerless as the day they began their marches.

How do we end that picture and this repetitive pattern. The first thing is to begin to understand what it means to bring power to the people.

The countries that have the greatest level of equality and have bought power among the people, which not by coincidence includes matters such as education, are doing the best in every way and have a quality of life far greater than those countries that don’t.

Khalid Wasi