Dear Sir,

We are now officially in silly season, or what is known as the run-up to a General Election, where for a period we seem to lose our grip on reality as any and everything can be spun to what under normal circumstances would be totally absurd.

Certainly, we would expect for strategies to be employed, as winning is what the whole exercise is about, but I must say that the theme of “two Bermudas” is about as creative as it is bizarre, given the fully loaded potential to divide this community for political victory at any cost.

If Bermuda is strictly divided into two sections, then what are they? Is it the so-called wealth and privilege versus the less-endowed working class who see themselves as poor? Or the haves against the have-nots, or the good, old reliable black versus white?

Exactly when did the genesis of the two Bermudas occur anyway? Was it from 1968 to 1998 or 1998 to 2012 or 2012 to 2017? By now your readers may see where I’m going. I simply do not recall this misguided, irrational and virally divisive initiative being employed heretofore.

The Progressive Labour Party trumpets the two Bermudas doctrine for election victory, hoping to get their Indians back on the reservation, but this sensational narrative ignores an island with one of the most successful middle classes to be found anywhere in the free world.

It is true to say that we do have the wealthy and privileged, but to imply and infer that our working class is made downtrodden by an oppressive administration that does not care for them is just ludicrous at best and full of hyperbole at worst.

Which Bermuda of the two generally live in good accommodation, have shiny cars fully pimped-out and ride the two-wheeled road missiles by the multiple thousands? We love to travel and, God bless, do we ever — all the while bragging about numerous cruises to which we have become addicted. The working class educate their children overseas while making mortgage payments and, of course, pay the bank for the most beautiful shiny rides that we love so much.

Let’s get back on track because this election is about who is best suited and able to manage this economy and attract inward investment to pay for all those goodies that not all, but most of us, enjoy. It is not my intention to paint my wonderful island as serially materialistic, but we do love those jumbo television screens that adorn more than one bedroom in homes of the working class.

We can do better for the people of Bermuda, says the PLP, and rescue us from the tyranny of the business-minded One Bermuda Alliance that governs for that group only to the detriment of the other Bermuda that languishes in the indifference of the OBA. Who makes this stuff up anyway?

Let me remind readers, the PLP had 14 years, which translated into three terms in office to turn two Bermudas into one Bermuda, but it did not seem to notice this terrible state of affairs then or even talk about it. This is nothing more than Madison Avenue-style politics to resonate with one group to win the election.

Remember, the PLP left office with the economy in shambles and disgrace because of its mismanagement and incompetence. The budget for 2013 had a $300 million deficit that the One Bermuda Alliance was charged with managing without wholesale redundancies and job losses for government employees.

A bloated government payroll that required borrowing was left in the PLP’s wake as it left a shameful legacy. Granted, no government in the world is perfect, but when you hear a disdain for investors and those with funds that can help to create jobs — and this takes time — why must we go backwards? Therefore, we need to continue the momentum and go forward; not retreat.

Let’s be clear, no administration that has governed this island is without its failures and successes, and the PLP did enjoy some initiatives of note for which it should be commended. Such an example being Future Care, which is a godsend of affordable health insurance for our seniors reeling under high premiums. But overall they did not do well.

However, the OBA needs and deserves the continued opportunity of a second term to accomplish a balanced budget and relief from the Armageddon of debt left by the green party. If the PLP had been thrown out after a single term, you would have heard from its supporters for five years of the lack of a second term to continue their work as they saw it.

Likewise the OBA deserve to win. We simply must not go backwards to the failures of the green party.

As a parting observation, we will be soon under the spell of Cup Match, where everything goes when it comes to gastronomic excess and showing off our watercraft.

Some professionals, I might add, are well equipped with the latest in camping luxuries, and just over that particular holiday, alone when the working class spend millions to meet or satisfy a need.

Let’s have some straight talk and honesty in the game. Drive around before and after the holiday, and you see the picture. I will not mention travel, but you get the point. Vote for the One Bermuda Alliance.

WAYNE B. SCOTT