Do you really think that we can have an honest chat? Will you allow me to speak honestly on race and not immediately condemn me because I used one "wrong" word?

Can I say something without you saying I am condemning black people and putting them down? Can I talk about the lack of values without you saying I am trying to be high and mighty? Can I ask questions about drugs without being made a target? Can I say that the lack of discipline in the home is responsible for a lot of the poor behaviour we currently see, without you saying I am middle class and do not understand?

Can I say that every day at least 30 young people congregate in a park when they could be at work or in school, without you saying I am putting them down for just sitting?

Can I ask why in a booming economy we have people unemployed and many others doing the extra work so that when the blizzard or drought comes they have stored something for a rainy day, can I say that without you saying I am elitist?

Can I say that those who call "talk shows" for help should also call their parliamentarian — after all we are paid to help you?

Can I ask you to see what is happening around you and to act when you see young men showing their underwear, a prison habit, we have been told, for when a man wanted to indicate to another man that he was available. Can I say that?

Can I say we used to care about having a clean country but now we just look at all of the bottles in the trees and expect others to pick them all up? Can we talk about enforcing the law and when it is done supporting the police and judges and not condemn them for being too tough? Can I ask you to check when I say there is a shortage of people entering the culinary arts and there is a worldwide shortage, or will you say I am doing nothing (actually in and out of schools on a regular basis) to attract Bermudians into the industry?

There are so many issues that I have raised and have been burned over the years for mentioning them. I have the bruises from tackling the issue of how we name our children. Oops, I should not have talked about that! On some controversial issues I apologised only to sit back and watch many seeds ripen and now they are in our faces.

Failure to discipline. Now the children are out of control and grow to shoot and chop one another.

Will you support a business that pays freight, taxes, rent and salaries if their prices are higher than the US, or will you condemn prices and see local businesses close and people become unemployed? Lack of attendance in Sunday school and church. Now they come to weddings and funerals dressed in jeans and show so little respect for the institution and tradition.

I could list many others but having stuck my neck out along with people like Dr. Eva Hodgson who repeatedly talked to us about "values" only to be slammed left right and centre. I will leave you to decide if we really want to make the tough decisions.

Current concerns are about speeders. If we impound the cars, cries will be heard that it was only speeding one mile over the limit.

If we stop every passenger entering Bermuda to search for drugs and weapons or if we stop every car on a regular basis and search for weapons, will you complain when it is your turn? And when our children are 16 and 18 and need an overseas education, can I tell you that finding $30,000 in August is not going to be easy because you really have to start with a scholarship plan at birth.

And if I say our "boys" are not doing well, will you condemn me because I did not say "black boys"? If we give fathers a warning to make child payments and finally lock them up for repeatedly failing to pay we say that is a waste of time. In or out of prison, if they cannot or refuse to pay, there are no easy solutions to the issue.

Most of us, in-spite-of the obstacles in our way, get on with our life everyday and most of us understand that life is not fair or perfect. But there are others who are dealt the same hand who give up or feel helpless. And in the mix, there are those who are warned about consequences but they ignore advice and when they have little to show or have to play catch up, blame life and blame their leaders.

And I thought we were told to work hard in our youth so we could cool out in our old age. Who changed the formula? Can I say it? We have an increasing number who are cooling out during their youth. Are they aware they will have to work harder in their old age?

Controversial statements like these should inspire us to do what was done in 1834.

In 1834, can you imagine that the owners of slaves received financial compensation but the slaves no remuneration when they were emancipated. At that point some of the Bermuda slaves complained that life was good under slavery with everything being provided but now they would have to fetch for themselves. But the majority rejoiced and went about implementing a plan. Nobody is clear where that plan came from.

Somewhere, somebody gave the call to save, buy property, build homes, build schools and lodges and get an education. Somewhere, somebody gave the call and in every home parents worked six and seven days a week for a pittance but with a determination to succeed. Why? First they believed that it could be done and second they had the conversation. Third they were in institutions like churches, lodges and clubs that reinforced good values and standards. It was hard to escape.

Race, discrimination and segregation, no matter how painful, they just tolerated it and kept their focus. Poorly paid jobs, outdoor toilets and obstacles to upward mobility just made them more determined to succeed. Now I ask you, if they could do it with so little and now we have it all, why are so many afraid to even try? Home ownership has always been hard and so they devised the "neighbourhood helping hand plan," with family and friends helping them every weekend.

Could it be that they confronted their challenges and decided to follow the leader as it were, as compared to now, when we have an issue a day and NOT a plan? Could it be that they talked in their churches and clubs and were determined to overcome any obstacle? Could it be that the majority of people were of one voice saying we can and will succeed but only if we do it without excuse and if we do it with confidence, regardless of what some might say about our "old-fashioned values" or high standards?

Can we talk or should we just sit and watch and say: "I told you so?"

Dale Butler JP, MP is the Minister of Social Rehabilitation, an author and a director of The Little Venice Group