I went to Cayman a month ago to watch our under 15 soccer team in the CONCACAF football tournament.They done brilliantly and seeing them would have made anyone proud.Aside from the hope buzzing in my head triggered by what I saw in our young men, curiosity took the better part of me.I could see that the economy of Cayman for the most part is new money pouring in from international business.I could see new neighbourhoods being built with new educational facilities nearby.I saw hotel after hotel lined up on Seven Mile Beach and even one new one under construction.This is Cayman’s off season but it was still too hot for me. I looked into the pubs and bars and they were chock-full of happy cosmopolitan party yuppies with their office attire filling these places like they once filled our wine bars.If these partygoers resembling those days of abundance in Bermuda not long ago wasn’t enough, to learn that many indeed were those that actually filled our bars but had moved to Cayman was an eye opener.Not surprising they expressed a nostalgia for Bermuda even preferred to be back but reality has changed.They offered us jobs in Cayman, which underscores another reality, that there appears to be more foreigners holding jobs than Caymanians.Looking back historically I could not imagine Cayman even as a banana republic it lacks soil and environment for major horticulture.Its current prosperity is based on its hospitable environment for international business.I don’t know if there is general unhappiness among Caymanians, I can’t say unhappiness isn’t there or doesn’t exist, it was just not visible and I could not sense any resentment or national resistance.This is the golden era for Cayman I don’t think it has ever been better.Although Bermuda is smaller, physically it has far more interest and natural beauty.Bermuda’s history is more colourful and far more complex than that of the Caymans.We have had our waves of prosperity and a social struggle of noteworthiness. We are victims of our success and unfinished social adjustment.We have unions and political institutions steeped in the struggle. It would be unrealistic to expect the Bermudian population roll over like in the Caymans.However will our success cause our demise in this competitive world? Can we recreate the happy hospitable environment?When we combine all our experiences and all the networks, bits and pieces that make-up Bermuda’s fabric, the big question is.Can we make it through the maze of conflict and maladjustments to arrive at a solution to move the country forward with consensus?That’s why I began to poke my head into politics; I thought we needed a zone beyond our conflicts, to bring people towards a common cause.Structure prevented me from making a political contribution, so naturally I question whether structure is set to predetermine our ruin.I am an optimist and continue to look for an opening and ray of possibility. I have to confess while I see the window of hope as narrow, it’s still there.KHALID WASI