As I walk the streets of this country, I am stopped by people from different walks of life, but their message is all the same … People are suffering emotionally, physically, mentally and financially.I want you to know that I am not just hearing you, I am listening. Bermudians used to hold their heads high with pride, now I see more and more people hanging their heads in despair as if they are carrying a weight that doesn’t seem like it is ever going to lift. What do you say to someone who tells you that their lights were turned off today or that they have gotten a call from the bank telling them that if they don’t pay their mortgage they are going to lose their home? People tell me all they have left is hope and they are waiting on a miracle, because like many others they don’t have anything else left to believe in.Many Bermudians have lost their jobs and as a consequence their health insurance and the means to pay their rent or mortgage. Those fortunate to be employed are plagued with the anxiety and the uncertainty that their job will be next or that their work hours will be reduced. Sadly their fears are all too real. Every day it seems that businesses are downsizing or closing altogether because of the lack of demand for their goods and services.As a result, as foreign workers leave, young people move back home and families move in with relatives, homeowners who have rental units cannot find tenants. The overwhelming majority of Bermudians rely on rental income to subsidise their mortgage payments, their children’s education and the care of ageing parents and relatives. We have heard the public outcry about seniors who cannot meet their healthcare or food requirements or are living in appalling conditions. I am told that the number of hungry showing up at churches is growing week to week. Some of those in need are those who just a couple of years ago had helped others in a similar situation. You can see the toll of this economic devastation in our young people’s eyes and troubled hearts. They cannot help but absorb their parents’ woes and worry for their own futures.We are going through the worst economic and social malaise in a generation.We have to stop this downward spiral. The status quo is no longer sustainable. Throughout the world countries are being forced to face their dysfunction and to change their national narratives. Bermuda is no different. We need to reboot and redefine what matters to us collectively as a country and as a people. Instead of being divisive, we need to be decisive. We cannot let ideological rigidity prevent us from working together for the good of the country. It is this corrosive mentality in North America and Europe that has compounded their economic and social problems. Let us not make the same mistake.Together we need to figure out how to grow businesses and industry for the demands of the 21st century and how to properly educate our young people and retrain older workers to fill those new positions. From agriculture, to shipbuilding to tourism to reinsurance, we Bermudians have always had to be resourceful and find new ways to meet our economic challenges. We are now being called upon once again to adapt to the world changing rapidly beyond our shores. We need to adopt new policies, practices and methods that can make Bermuda relevant to the demands and opportunities that are available to us. If we bury our heads in the sand, we will continue to let people suffer. Sometimes we have to make choices that are not always popular but necessary in order to restore Bermuda’s capacity to look after its people. I believe that now is the time to collectively do something to restore confidence in our people.