Recently, while talking to another Bermudian living overseas, they used the term “Bermudian diaspora”. The comment made the lights come on in my mind, triggered by the thought both of us like so many others have now adjusted to living in new environments worldwide.

The common link that binds us is family and a unique heritage as a people forged together to live on a remote island in the middle of the North Atlantic. A population that by the end of the 18th century never exceeded 10,000 souls compared with the millions making up the New World is indeed unique.

For this same country to emerge in the latter part of the 20th century as having the highest per-capita income in the world despite its challenges and disparities was enviable. However, this glow of prosperity hid the cracks that always existed but lay just beneath the surface.

The social contract was an unwritten discourse that maintained the “Landed Gentry” as the chief beneficiaries, but it slowly unravelled, almost in sync with the fall of the British Empire and was given an extension by the rise of postwar America.

The future will necessarily be a synthesis of all the past and present. To arrive at the best construct for the unveiling future, we need to have the best minds deployed — in short, all hands on deck.

One of the benefits of travelling and living abroad is one gains objectivity and gets the opportunity to become detached, where things can be viewed from a distance. This is another reason it should almost be mandatory for students to have a stint in an overseas environment.

To the local electorate, the political problem seems impossible to fix when, in reality, the solution is straightforward. The problem is the ego, where the government party, at best, enjoys 38 per cent, which means the 62 per cent who are against do not have a clear representation — rather, their options are divided between three entities.

The Mexican stand-off is silly to watch as each entity argues that it would win if only the others stepped aside. Unfortunately, even that assumption in the case of the One Bermuda Alliance and Free Democratic Movement is not true. Neither for different reasons would garner enough support to eclipse the Progressive Labour Party. Most definitely the same can be said for this latest slate of independents, which would be perceived as being not fully organised and as having an incoherent philosophy. Until they each realise that, they will pursue a course that will lead them to second and third places at the polls behind the PLP.

The way the political deck is stacked favours an opposition or alternative as a government-in-waiting. The real issue is how to attain one single option to vote for an entity with the status of the government-in-waiting.

Ideally, and precedent has been abundant, all seven of the OBA MPs should declare their intention not to run under the party in the next General Election and sit out the rest of this session as independent members. Allow for the formation of another organisation to contest the next election singularly. This would require the FDM and all the independents to consolidate into this one new organisation. From a distance, that would be the simplest strategy.

Less ideal, but nevertheless still effective, would be to slice the districts up between the three entities on a no-compete basis. For example, for the four seats in Sandys Parish, give two to the FDM and the other two to the independents. Then determine which of the three entities would be better suited for the rest of the island's districts. We may find the FDM more effective in PLP strongholds, while independents may be better in marginal districts, particularly those formerly held by the United Bermuda Party.

It is the lack of strategy that is causing the present political malaise. The leaders of the three entities may all have good intentions, but the wise saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” may be useful to consider.

Somewhere in the hearts and souls of Bermudians, they know the country is being underserved and possibly cheated. It may not be entirely the PLP leadership’s fault. There may be genuine incompetence, where the party inherited a position it was ill-equipped to handle.

The Bermuda political system was built off the back of an oligarchy where there was honour among the thieves. That honour was never transferred into any new political system, nor was a spirit of egalitarianism cultivated.

The sad story of impoverishment is that if you give a poor man a horse, he will always ride with a gallop. That is exactly what we have seen: the poor, disconnected from business or opportunity, took the reins and were determined to satisfy their needs first and did so with impunity.

Their rationale is, why didn’t the electorate complain when the other side did it? It wouldn’t look so bad if everybody benefited, but what we have seen is leaders coming from rags to riches and people and country going from riches to rags.

It dramatically tells the story of where the MPs and ministers can live and even thrive in Bermuda’s socioeconomic environment when the average Bermudian cannot, and too many have had to leave the country to survive. Then, to rub it into our faces, they seek to authorise giving themselves an almost 18.8 per cent increase while most of them have a regular job or business.

Looking back over the past 60 years, we saw a people fight to get rid of a merchant oligarchy, only to replace it with a new oligarchy — properly called a cleptocracy because they didn’t earn it from the marketplace through business, but rather exploited capital projects for the benefit of a few.

The old oligarchs knew enough to maintain the country’s infrastructure, while they capitalised the industry, but these new folks’ greed exceeded reasonableness to such extent that the roads, bridges and aesthetics were almost totally abandoned. The money wasted on the controversial Bermudiana Beach Resort project alone was enough to pave all the roads in the island. That’s without delving into the litany of capital project overspends.

Our system is broken. Political party memberships perform as vassals for the leaders, who are paid a lot, but the country has gotten so little in return. The way out of this quagmire is for people to insist on the various oppositions to unite. They either unite or forever accept the inevitable.