suggested in a recent letter to voters, show our very best to each other and treat each other with respect.

We would add concern to respect because we believe that Bermuda needs united concern.

It would be entirely sensible for someone to lead in concern about teenage crime and violence. Harsh words have turned to illegal actions and recent outbreaks of violence are cause for grave concern. Much of the violence is part of a package of problems that is fueled by alcohol and drugs. There are very few violent acts of any kind, teenaged or adult, which are not connected in some way with alcohol and drug abuse.

The lessons not to show our best to each other and not to treat each other with respect are taught at the top. They are acted out in the streets and in the schools but they are learned from the behaviour of leaders who fight and argue and threaten and sting each other and anyone else who disagrees. The lesson to be learned is that political points, even hard fought points, can be made gently and without acrimony and will probably be more effective.

A good deal of the poverty and the homelessness in Bermuda also stems from substance abuse. People lose their jobs and become homeless or indigent or both because of their addictions. Single parent families struggle in poverty because a parent is addicted. National concern to control alcohol consumption and rid Bermuda of drugs is the only public way to help these people.

Poverty and homelessness is also an area where someone could come forward to lead toward solutions and create national concern. No matter how people become poor and homeless there is still a need to help. We must respect the fact that these are fellow Bermudians for whom we must be concerned. We should respect the fact that poverty is relative to the opulence in which it exists. The poor and the growing number of homeless people need a kinder Bermuda in which it is no longer acceptable to "let someone else do it''.

Respect for every person in this community can come from behaving in a moral way. As an example, laws must be just and evenly applied. The courts must be careful not to use different standards for the poor and the poorly represented. We must have justice with mercy but it must also come swiftly and without favour. Our behaviour toward non-Bermudians living in Bermuda has too often set immoral examples.

There was a time when there was a togetherness among Bermudians based simply on love for Bermuda and pride at being Bermudian. That togetherness was a victim of the divisions created by party politics and the preaching of those who would have us dwell on the mistakes of the past did a good deal to destroy our pride. Yet the hope for the future lies in unity and in a unified vision of the great Bermuda we can have if we will work together.

Recognition of our great success in creating the best of the islands and of the fact that we are a good people and not a bunch of idiots living in a fool's paradise, will go a long way toward restoring our pride. Concern and the hard work that comes with it will go a long way toward solutions to our problems. Respect will bring us together.