of becoming a Country of spoiled complainers rather than a Country of thankful haves.

There seems to be a Bermudian tendency to be concerned about the future, to be unhappy with the present and to dwell on the past. How much better it would be if we could agree to "accentuate the positive''. There is, of course, a great deal that is positive about life in Bermuda today.

Is Bermuda perfect? No, it is not. Is Bermuda better than most countries? Yes, it is.

Let's just take a look at the economy. For a long time Bermuda took a beating from forces both within its control and outside its control. Yet we survived the recession in much better shape than most countries because successive Finance Ministers had prepared us to survive. The Independence debate was a damaging step as was the loss of three bases. Yet Bermuda is coming through with a strong economy. The test of that is that our balance of payments is positive.

We will never know how much international business ran scared of Bermuda because of the Independence debate but the fact remains that the international company sector is showing growth. International business provides good white collar jobs for increasingly well educated Bermudians.

Confidence in the future of Bermuda is demonstrated by the amount of building now taking place and scheduled over the next few years. These projects are a guarantee of employment and constitute something of a boom.

True, there are some problems. Bermuda is in a state of change which, as it almost always does, reflects the kind of changes going on in other countries.

Businesses from the banks to Trimingham's are restructuring. That will cause some employment problems in areas where we have not had problems for 50 years.

But the end result may well be a stronger local business sector.

Cruise business is healthy and on the increase. Regular visitor tourism is troubled. But the fact is that we are aware of the troubles and working to solve the problems. A few good things are happening like hotel refurbishing and staff training. Solutions are not easy but there is progress.

The visitor oriented retail sector is struggling but retail sales are picking up. Since before Archie Brown's failed the retail sector has been overhauling itself, cutting its costs and paring its inventory. There may yet be more failures but the end result may be greater health.

Bermudians have a history of going through trials and coming out stronger and that may well be the case once again. The United States economy is picking up and that is always good for Bermuda.