Humble yourselves

October 15, 2010

Dear Sir,

Any fool can make war; sometimes just looking at someone can cause strife. Peace on the other hand; now that takes substance and trust building. I hear Doc talking about the races being able to come together. Makes one wonder if he has settled all his scores; or maybe now he's concerned about his legacy. I wonder how many people in the PLP leadership think Jesus was weak? Was his focus on deceit and settling scores, or was peace his interest? Woe the hypocrite! For years I've quietly and very successfully built social bridges between diverse groups without making a public display of the progress. All praises to the most high.

Doc wouldn't have known this when he asked if I could handle the Farrakhan visit in 2009. As much as he'd have liked to, he personally couldn't touch the Minister's visit because at that time he was already in very hot water over the Uighurs and the Gambling Bill debacle. What is interesting though is why he would offer me the undertaking when I've told him that our political views at the moment are diametrically opposing? What do you suppose was his motive?

For decades my team has fearlessly stood for "Unity in the community, fighting with peace, not for it", and in that light I took on the project based on two conditions: (1) that my team suffer no financial burdens, and (2) that I have complete autonomy over the project. He agreed. Doc's liaison, Rock Newman, in keeping with typical thinking, was certain the Minister's five- day visit would be completely racially and politically polarised. He was so sure that there would be rancour he promised to make me the head of his marketing team if it didn't go the way he was certain it would.

When it was decided things weren't going right – or wrong, depending on whose team you were on – we were told by Rock that the Premier sent us a "non-negotiable" directive that, on behalf of our Group Emperial, Senator Marc Bean was to be the spokesperson for the project – replacing Eugene Dean. How arrogant is that? Needless to say, it didn't happen!

Question: If Jesus says, "Forgive them for they know not what they do" what are we to do with our leaders when they do know they are doing wrong? In the case of the Farrakhan visit, why would "Doc and Rock" want to go in a direction that they "knew" would be antagonistic? Also, how is it that, in spite of the fact that all the signs suggested that the visit of the Minister would be controversial, it moved contrary to social norms and developed into an experience that was very healing and unifying for the country? My point: just because your leaders and "highly educated" elite can't get it right, doesn't mean you should block those that have an already proven way. Humble yourselves, and stop "denying the people for simplicity"! The people of Bermuda that carried the PLP to power expected a Government that would effectively improve the socioeconomic balance for everyone not just a chosen few. There will be no "peace without justice", and it makes no difference if our Government is "Black, White or Mixed"! Only the truth shall set you free! Running out of time, Doc...

GLADWYN S. SIMMONS

Sandys

UNITY IN THE COMMUNITY

FIGHTING WITH PEACE, NOT FOR IT

P.S. By the way Doc, why did you find it necessary to replace Jennifer Smith?

Truly astounded

October 19, 2010

Dear Sir,

I love Bermuda and my family and I now live in North Carolina. I'm a former patient of Dr. Ewart Brown. First I'm a retired employee of the New York Times. Prior to that and over 30 years ago, I initially became a patient of Dr. Ewart Brown while we both lived in Los Angeles. I'm a 63-year-old white female who would not be alive today were it not for the caring medical treatment I received from Dr. Brown. I have always considered Dr. Brown not just my personal doctor, but a close friend as well. Having known him for over 30 years, I'm truly astounded by what I regularly see portrayed in the Bermuda press of this person. The person often maligned in your daily press is not the person I've known for most of my adult life. As I write this, I'm practically in tears as I recall not only the medical treatment I received from Dr. Brown that saved my life, but also his overall kindness and empathy for me that literally changed my life for the better. He's an incredible person who always went beyond his medical obligations to patients. He never saw the colour of an individual. He only saw the person. I know Bermuda is a very beautiful and wonderful place to visit. It surely must be in having produced someone such as Dr. Brown.

B. KAYE SMITH-ORMAN

North Carolina

A political system for us

October 18, 2010

Dear Sir,

Your reformer columnist MP John Barritt notes (October 15) that in the case of the UK, "two leaders who fought each other in the Election have been forced to put their differences aside, both the manufactured and the real, and to work together for the good of the country – Labour has left them a government mired in debt … This having to work together has helped to spark a new approach to tackling some of the country's toughest and seemingly intractable problems''.

These are the very reasons that I have been urging the PLP to elect the current three candidates trying for the leadership role of this country. We have all had the experience of the success of "Committee leadership" as with the CUAS and the Progressive Group, the only time when the entire black community was being impacted and all felt involved and gave their support. I believe this "having to work together" would also result in a totally new approach which would benefit the country by making each of them able to commit their own personal passion and interests. It would increase the numbers of those who feel "on the inside", thus it would be far more democratic. There are many other advantages. It should not be dismissed out of hand because it seems so "out of the box".

Mr. John Barritt has also suggested that the deficiencies of the Westminster System should be addressed. But the question might be asked whether the Westminster System has deficiencies or is it out of context? The Westminster System is a political system that has evolved in Great Britain after decades or even centuries of trial and error. Consider some of the social and political evolutions. There was once a divinely appointed monarch with total power. Today the monarchy is a symbol with no political power but great prestige. Then there were nobles and an aristocracy with a tradition of "noblesse oblige" who gradually had to share status and power with a middle class that grew out of the Industrial Revolution. Of course there were many more changes and evolutions which led to their current political system which speaks to their social and political evolution.

How could we think that simply trying to impose it wholesale on a very different society with a different history, tradition, culture and geography would make it work? We did not have an evolving aristocracy and nobility with a strong sense of noblesse oblige; that is, a strong sense of obligation to the less fortunate. We were struggling to get over slavery and had just been acknowledged as citizens. We are still struggling to prove our own worth. We certainly do not have a tradition of obligation to the less fortunate. The Lodges were all about helping co-equals and trying to improve our own status. We have never had those who acquired great wealth from industrialisation, at best we have evolved from farmers. Race, not class, was our challenge, yet we followed Great Britain and formed a Labour Party, the validity of which in our circumstances was highlighted when all of the English people who came here from Great Britain promptly joined the UBP even though they were in the Labour Party in Britain. It is because a Labour Party was more irrelevant than a Party which spoke to race, a fact that the PLP, as such, has never dealt with.

Our geography ensures that our politicians are known to us in every detail and who and what they are is much more important than any philosophy they may profess to have – and for the most part they have not even claimed to be bound by a philosophy, despite the rhetoric of early PLP leaders who probably thought that they would never actually win! It took 400 years to be rid of slavery. It took another 125 years to be rid of public segregation and to gain the vote. Does it have to take another 100 years for us to work out a political system that is suited to our experiences and social condition and which in practice, not merely in theory, will be more democratic.

EVA N. HODGSON

Hamilton Parish

The veneer has worn off

October 16, 2010

Dear Sir,

As Premier Ewart Brown's reign draws to a close, I want to share with your readers an analogy regarding his premiership. When he first came to office Premier Brown held so much promise; a highly educated, highly intelligent, eloquent speaker, whom many of us, both black and white, viewed as potentially a great leader. He stood out as being exceptionally "lustrous and luminous" – just like our new bus stops! But almost as soon as the flashy new bus stop covers were installed we began to realise that their lustre and luminosity was nothing more than a thin veneer. The veneer started to tear, to split and to fade and it peeled back to reveal the cold unpainted neglected metal underneath. And so it was with our Premier. The veneer has worn off.

Bermuda has been fortunate to have some great leaders, from both the PLP and the UBP. I wish the PLP good luck in choosing our next leader. Bermuda is on the precipice of survival with all of our social and economic problems. We need, more than ever before, a leader of substance who can unite the whole country rather than divide it. The bus stops are in a terrible state but they can be saved by removing the veneer and having them freshly painted in pink and blue (perhaps by currently unemployed workers). Hopefully, the same can be said of our Government and our leaders?

OPTIMIST

Smith's