If name and Bermuda genealogy alone were the recipe for a winning partnership, Robert King and Scott Pearman have a couple of centuries of family legacy to lean on. Some in this cosmopolitan age may consider those remarks as antiquated. However, the issue transcends politics and becomes a battle for the souls of people, which is more of a cultural struggle.

Yes, there is the legacy of racism and the general struggle for civil and human rights and equality. That struggle is only part of the story. The grander reality is that this story is ours, and it has characterised our existence not as special but unique. The forces surrounding us have tried to obscure our uniqueness into a blur of otherness whose real causes are elsewhere. Whether it is today’s “wokeness” or yesterday’s “Black Lives Matter”, when will we stop to consider who we are or where we want to be?

I don’t dare say that either Messrs King or Pearman represents the answer. Unfortunately, I can say that David Burt and the Progressive Labour Party certainly do not edify or emulate what Bermuda is. Therefore, the answer may be as simple as reintroducing the concept of dignity into our political culture.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being better than the rest if being better means being good, honest, open or transparent. There is nothing wrong with being democratic and against the tide of authoritarianism, even though it is easier and fashionable.

The automatic tendency for these two new emerging leaders is to follow the trend of business as usual. But it is time they both looked at where business as usual has led the One Bermuda Alliance thus far. Look at where the country is today. Can we reimagine ourselves and think of where we could be tomorrow?

The cold reality is that Bermuda is being torn apart by centrifugal forces of competing interests, with no one at the centre guiding it towards a common good.

There are some obvious areas of concern — healthcare for all, proper and meaningful education, and affordable housing are achievable if there is the will.

Bermuda has become a partisan abode. But, while there is no need to destroy parties, we must stop being destroyed by parties. To accomplish this, we need to raise our ethical behaviour to favour loyalty to truth and principle first, our people second and party last.

If the party does not stand up for what is right, we stand alone. No more “united we stand” if the unity is not for a just cause. No team solidarity for the sake of the team if the team is heading in the wrong direction.

A democracy needs to be vibrant, self-critical and always vigilant. It is very tempting to look for harmony and agreeable minds — they call it like-mindedness.

Donald Trump has a lot of that going on. How does that look?

Mr King and Mr Pearman, the way forward is in front of you, and you can either look at the future as virgin territory or you can see it as lanes or roads already cut, upon which you can travel. The clock is ticking; your journey has begun. Soon we will know whether you build something new or archived episodes.

It is worth noting that the only success the OBA ever had was when it chose to be an “alliance” — when that was its strategy and perhaps the “enzyme” of its political success.

If you believe today that you have a winning team, that may be your own self-deception and ultimate undoing. The reality is that today you have a party called the OBA whose recent trajectory is coated in failure at the polls.

Enthusiasm doesn’t win elections; collaboration does.