The opportunity to build a stronger and better Bermuda should never be quashed by those driven by egotistical and hidden political motives while most of the Island population struggles to climb out of the sinkhole of enormous debt and joblessness.As a people, we seem unable to learn from the mistakes of others, both here and abroad. Unless we can shake off emotional hang ups about this or that group, together we will sink further into that pit of disarray and despair which is another way of self destructing. Bermuda once took pride in success, despite challenging problems.These days anger and bitterness always seems to leap out in front, the moment there is disagreement over a sensitive issue, that with intelligent calm deliberations should be resolved without being allowed to threaten the stability of our infrastructure, by sudden work stoppages, that hamper growth at a time when it is so desperately needed to rebuild our economic base.We have a long hot summer ahead of us, and there is a growing perception that the Bermuda Industrial Union which appeared to be joined at the hip with the former Progressive Labour Party Government on too many labour disputes, could be positioning itself to make life difficult for the new Government, the One Bermuda Alliance.Although a perception, it should not be ignored by both the OBA and the PLP opposition, if we hope to improve industrial harmony. No one disputes that Unions have an important role to play in our society but with that role comes responsibility. Too often anger and disappointment can slip out of control which happened recently when heated exchanges in Parliament prompted the House Speaker to admonish MPs who allowed their emotions to overtake better judgment while addressing the House. He gave a stern warning that the House would not tolerate conduct that was not in keeping with Parliamentary decorum while conducting the peoples business.Make no mistake, heated exchanges occur in any democratic jurisdiction, and at times it can be healthy. However when respect for dignity and integrity are brushed aside in a moment of uncontrolled rage, it short circuits the role of adequately serving the people. Surely we can learn from the cooperation between two powerful countries that a few decades ago, were embroiled in a cold war that had many fearing that a wrong move, could explode into a nuclear conflict with unimaginable consequences.The United States and Russia eventually decided that rather than annihilate each other, more could be accomplished with cooperation in reducing their nuclear arsenal, while jointly focusing on the benefits of space exploration.Obviously there were many wrinkles to be ironed out, but cooperation won out in the end and today we have Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts conducting experiments on the international space station currently orbiting the globe.With America’s space shuttle programme now over the only means to and from the space station for the crew is via the Russian system of launching and returning which involves an intricate parachute landing rather than a craft touching down on a runway.Cooperation was a key factor when the Russian Soyuz space craft with two cosmonauts and an astronaut recently landed successfully in atrocious weather conditions, that resulted in only two Russian helicopters being able to land near the craft in order to remove the trio after a lengthy period in space.A meticulous operation in freezing conditions was flawlessly carried out by highly trained Russian technicians. It was truly a demonstration of cooperation at the highest level.The bottom line in all of this, is that Bermuda can do better with a higher level of cooperation from our leaders. Without cooperation a minor problem can become a major obstacle. The price of not cooperating is too high for this generation and generations yet to come.