Dear Sir,

Bermuda is not another world. Perhaps once upon a time we could think we were and we can sing a song about it. Even if we are not another world in some academic computations, we are sitting on top of the world. Yes, and in spite of independent and professional statistics, some people are in disbelief about a recent survey placing Bermuda at number 11 as the happiest place in the world.

It’s a bit more than beauty is in the eye of the beholder when you consider what data went into the hopper that formed the analysis.

It was so much more than a subjective opinion. Belying truthfully the conditions and the state of the world around us. I can recall a few islands, which I used to call second home back in the Seventies. Today we are told they have descended into such pitiful states, riddled with violent crime and murder.

Jamaica was once considered the murder capital of the Caribbean, but others have since come into contention. Look at the Middle East, many places in Africa and Eastern Europe; millions escaping, adding to the mushrooming refugee populations with numbers now exceeding that of whole countries.

The grim reality is that our troubles pale in comparison with many places, notwithstanding what we experience is ours and the responses we make are all relative.

The report did not remove our inequalities or any of our resentments. We must aim for an ideal world and not become complacent and settle for mediocrity because leaders have a tract of falling into the hands of special interest.

Just because no one has tried to build the ideal world is no reason not to dream.

There can be no vision of an ideal society without a financial vehicle to build it. There is no social agenda such as collectivism or the likes that can bring new wealth to our shores. The wealth we need exists in the broader world and we just need broader minds to attract it.

We suffer the syndrome of believing there isn’t enough to go around.

Therefore those who have hoard and suppress to preserve whatever leverage they have, while those with less hate to see others with more.

Never does it dawn to consider that more creates more, so rather than employ reductionist practices and behaviours, we can and should employ behaviours of increase.

KHALID WASI