A warning about spending

September 1, 2005

Dear Sir,

As I look at today?s headlines, ?Driven Out by Wedco? somewhat late in the day, I cannot help but think about Yogi Berra?s famous statement ?deja vu all over again?. I am reminded of two things. The first is that Jamaica was a real home to me from 1962 until 1977. And again in 1989 to 1992. Being a white man, at least as far as I know, in a black man?s country was never a problem. I never ever heard a voice of discrimination and was truly included as a ?brother? in common problems that we all faced. In 1968 Jamaica switched from sterling to dollars ? and the Jamaican dollar was then worth about ten shillings and sixpence or $1.20 US. It continued to hold its ground until 1972 when Michael Manley came into power. Unlike our Premier, the prime minister of Jamaica, was a smooth, accomplished and absolutely charismatic speaker. By the time you listened to him through a two or three hour speech you were convinced that he was the man to lead Jamaica, even if it was only to mobilise ?broom pushers? to clean up Kingston.

And of course he had the interest of the Jamaican people at heart and wanted to do everything he could for them, including, but not limited to, bringing doctors from Cuba to treat the poor population. The building of schools by Cuban engineers and the borrowing of money from the World Bank, or whomever else he could get it from, to advance his social programs was a huge success. So successful that today about 70 percent of all government income goes to pay interest on the loans he was able to obtain.

He surrounded himself with a cabinet of political scholars, from the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) who were great teachers, but had no practical knowledge of how to run a county. He wasn?t too far into his first term when he decided to nationalise the cement company, the first of many nationalisations. Next was the flour mill, then the hotels, and on it went. Pretty soon the employees in the hotels began to complain about how visitors were treating them and how they should not be subservient to anyone. ?Its ?We? business and ?We? should be able to run it the way ?We? want.? Well it didn?t take too long before the hotels closed down and then government was desperate to sell them back to the private sector. Enter Butch Stewart of Sandals fame and find out how he gobbled up hotels at bargain prices.

By this time the bauxite business had been nationalised too! Manley, ?The Man With A Plan?, decided to form a bauxite cartel, like OPEC, but the US quickly found that they could import bauxite from Australia, through the Panama Canal to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the same price as that which they formerly paid Jamaica. End of bauxite cartel. The nation was in a shambles. The Jamaican dollar had tumbled to about $3.00 to one US dollar by 1989 and today the buying rate is $.06260 for one US dollar. That?s the official rate of course but the real rate is what you have to pay on the black market for a US dollar. So $100 Jamaican dollars now buys you $1.597 US dollars. Pathetic, isn?t it?

And yet Bermudians think that because our dollar is pegged to the US dollar this can?t happen to us. It can. And it will if the PLP are allowed to borrow more than the present limit and the Bermuda dollar becomes unstable because the PLP borrows more money to introduce social programmes that they cannot pay for and the interest on loans exceed ten percent of GDP. In addition we have the balance of payments to worry about and this is when we import more dollar merchandise than we have US dollars to pay for. Then they bring in quotas. And pretty soon you need money to buy something in the US but cannot get the funds through legitimate channels and you pay a little more for a US dollar on the black market. Not long after that we become a third world country with no tourism, the offshore companies having moved to Ireland in the first fifteen days and we are climbing coconut trees (I wish that we had enough) to sell coconuts to tourists.

The good thing is that by that time we have no hard currency to buy luxury items like cars and boats and pretty soon there is redistribution of wealth that heretofore was unimaginable. The real estate market will crash and since you can?t rent your condo or home you will ?give? it back to the bank. And then we start ?all over again?.

?We? or Wedco need to get into the cement business like we need a hole in the head. If Mr. Butterfield wants out then let some other entrepreneur get into the business. If the government takes it over you can bet your life that the price will quickly rise and those running the cement company for government will be supplying their friends and relatives with cement at half price. And the BIU will be calling strikes and cement will be in short supply.

I don?t happen to have a copy of Wedco?s Act handy but I would hardly believe that it would include the building of a factory and the distribution of cement as one of its objectives. People may not agree with my warning and claim that I am a doomsayer. Continue with the graft and corruption and the decisions being made by Cabinet in which we should all have a say and watch what happens.

RAYMOND RUSSELL

Pembroke

Honour Native Americans

July 21, 2005

Dear Sir,

I have been pondering the history and culture of the American Native Indians. In fact, I consulted Tall Oak, a historian known by many Bermudians. I asked him the question do the Native Americans engage in terrorism? Tall Oak replied the Seminoles who resided in the swamps of Florida for decades, fought for their land for many years. The Europeans and their modern weapons put a sad end to the Seminole Natives. Any human being who can trace their ancestry to any one of the 50-plus Native American nations, can hold their head up high knowing through research their ancestors are not terrorists. The earth is our provider, the Great Spirit, Creator is our spiritual guide and bond.

We all can learn lessons from a humble, spiritual and very creative people. Gandhi of India demonstrated that passive resistance can and did work in a world today. A world which should respect all strata of nationalities. There is no substitute for a.) Discipline and b.) Respect. We know religious wars, taking land from people who have lived on their land for up to 300,000 years leaves doubt. Fact an Encyclopaedia of American Indian contributions to the world 15,000 years of Inventions and Innovations by Emory Deane Keoke and Kay Marie Porterfield. My humble view of the Native Americans are they are some of the greatest peacemakers of the world. Remember, your ancestors? spirit will always be with you. Amen, amen.

St. David?s

Spend it elsewhere

September 16, 2005

Dear Sir,

The SLP would like to congratulate the PLP on its response to the collapse of the BHP.

Embarrassed by the plight the people, Ministers will be voluntarily giving up their brand-new $22,666 parking spots to poor families. With no walls, doors, windows or ceilings to worry about, the Government confirms that these dwellings come fully air-conditioned, hurricane-proof and maintenance-free. And, as one of the Ministers pointed out, they only get wet when it rains. In addition, we understand that the new luxury flower beds will be made over as multi-unit dwellings for Bermuda?s favoured sons of the soil ? its artists, musicians, and performers ? confirming Government?s stated priority to Bermuda?s cultural development.

Meantime, Casemates will continue to provide a fascinating long-range study into the effects of global warming and rise in sea level on Bermuda limestone. And the PLP will solve the rest of the homeless problem by floating them offshore, the mobile homes being placed on barges in Convict Bay, declaring them part of the World Heritage site, and so handing the Social Contract over to the UN.

$10 million a year on a new flag. Umm, we know we?re not supposed to actually think for ourselves, but why not use that $10 million a year to improve education and housing and capitalise on our enviable rights to study, work and reside abroad?

Millions each year go through terrible hardship, or die trying, to reach the benefits we take so lightly and disparage so easily.