committed on Police officers. Most Bermudians think of both things as taking place somewhere else but not in Bermuda.

The truth is that Bermuda is surrounded by an increasingly violent world.

Bermudians know that in other countries more and more honest and decent citizens are locked inside while criminals fight the Police for control of the streets. Bermudians do not want that to happen to Bermuda. But, like its neighbours, Bermuda is also subjected to the social acceptability of violence.

Early movies set the example for gentle things like rural America and small town values and for love and dress and decoration and even emotion. But they did not glorify guns and violence. Today's movies and today's television set an example for violence, often accompanied by raw sex and drugs. There can be no doubt that people follow what they view as the way things ought to be.

People have accepted violence as exciting on the screen where it was non-threatening, until it has been transferred to the streets and to the home where it is threatening to life as we have known it.

Things often take a while to arrive in Bermuda because Bermuda is basically a decent place. Because Bermuda is small and has been well-managed, the outward manifestation of violence has been held in check. It may still be in check, Bermuda may still be a kinder, gentler place, and the criminal violence we are seeing may be only an isolated aberration. We can only hope so.

However if what we have seen lately were isolated incidents they would not be typical of the growing trend toward lawlessness in other places. Bermuda often mirrors in miniature what happens elsewhere and we fear that what we are seeing in Bermuda today may be samples of our future.

The causes of crimes of violence lie in a western culture which has honoured people for what they have and not for what they are. Too often in that concept the have nots have felt the anger of being left out and have decided that their personal solution is to take what they want rather than to earn what they want. Taught how to be violent by movies and TV, they have perceived that leaders get what they want and take what they do not earn, and have decided, probably unconsciously, to apply the lesson of violence to take what they want. Sometimes what they want is not material but what they see as an even score or an even playing field.

The solution for the problem of those who take is not to beat them and teach them more violence and then lock them up and throw the key away, but rather to teach them how to earn.

Too often we have glorified greed and taught only high expectations in this most materialistic of islands without teaching the skills or the ethics or the dedication needed to obtain those expectations.

We think that the Bermudian public is very concerned about crime and violence and it is also very concerned about practical education.

The UBP Blueprint says that the UBP mission is, "To provide all of our children with the resources they need to seize future opportunities.'' The Blueprint promises a new era of human and social advancement and it made the following commitment: "The United Bermuda Party is committed to a Bermuda in which all Bermudians share in full partnership.'' The Blueprint said the UBP's mission on crime and criminal justice was: "To make Bermuda the most safe and just society possible ...'' It sounds good. Please begin.