feeding at the trough of conspicuous consumption, we can somehow manage to mobilise at least a handful of Bermudians who will take seriously the implications of the fact that for far too many Bermudians, life is a mockery of what it could and should be.'' That is the rather disturbing view expressed by Mr. David Critchley at the end of his recent writings on the social state of Bermuda.

Mr. Critchley asks: "What catastrophe will it take for us to realise that, if we don't somehow rise above party and pocket politics, the bell that has long since tolled for our wayside brethren will toll for us and ours?'' He points out: "There is the overdue necessity of really coming to grips with the inequalities of income distribution and the absence of programmes and services to assure that all have some reason to aspire to the good life.'' What he points out so eloquently is, we think, exactly what the Premier has concerned himself with of late when he has has addressed the problems of young blacks. Mr. Critchley is also pointing out the problems that the new education system is designed to address except he feels strongly that the problems cannot be addressed by any school system without improved teacher effectiveness.

Mr. Critchley is concerned that Bermuda should "stop looking to and blaming our elected representatives for what ails us, although they are far from blameless and really seem to be out of touch with the basic unpleasant realities in a number of areas. Certainly, here and universally, politicians are held in low esteem. As unfair as it often is, I think this is a good thing because it throws the ball back where it should be -- that is in our own laps.'' Mr. Critchley feels strongly that the reality of solutions lies in small groups of concerned and committed citizens who focus their attention on specific areas of concern. He feels that these citizens must become knowledgeable about what occupies their attention so that when they seek change that they consider desirable, they know what they are talking about.

Mr. Critchley says of these groups, "... their commitment must be to human well-being, especially to those whose wells have run dry or who never had equal access in the first place.'' It sounds like utopia we know, but it is a personal and humane approach which might well work in Bermuda where people are so generous in giving of their time and effort.

It seems to us that Mr. Critchley has great faith in Bermudians as achievers and is concerned to get them back on a people oriented track from which they have been diverted by what he calls "frenzied feeding at the trough of conspicuous consumption''.