One of the greatest engines of prosperity is confidence. When individuals or society lose confidence in themselves, it is the greatest recipe for a disease that stunts growth and prevents everyone from enjoying a fruitful life.

I recall a Black activist and philosopher at the end of the 19th century who for a moment began to lament that he had yet to realise any of his dreams having reached the grand old age of 90. It then occurred to him that perhaps it was the dreams that had kept him going all those years. Then he began to be thankful for having the dreams.

Wisdom has given many indicators that we can live through almost any adversity when there is purpose and hope in life. We are alive as long as there is a dream of fulfilment; when that is gone, we are truly dead, even if it may appear otherwise.

Like all countries, Bermuda has its share of problems, which feels more acute because we have enjoyed a taste of relative success. The present mood is a blowback from a time when we expanded despite ourselves and when the ambitious could quickly recover from pitfall after pitfall. In some cases, not only did they recover but they thrived.

Yes, that was a time when confidence was high and the atmosphere was impregnated with its influence. There was investment where persons speculated against a future that in their minds could not fail to deliver success. To a large extent, it was a success that was truly mythical and a by-product of its beliefs. We believed it into our reality.

Leadership, in particular good leadership that is believable, is an essential component of having confidence in a society. When people believe their leadership is open, honest and can be trusted to give the proper service to the country’s collective resources, it is easy for people and businesses to invest in such leadership.

Where this idea of good leadership should be simply a rational debate, it has instead been hijacked politically — becoming a matter of “us against them”. A classic example is the case in Gaza where Israel is criticised for its crimes against humanity, which is a consensus around the world. Israel and its defenders say the criticism is anti-Semitic, but the criticism has been about their behaviour, not their race. That language is used locally in a similar fashion by calling criticism of government failures as bashing of the Progressive Labour Party. Either that or they will roll out the “Our founding fathers” line to justify wrongdoing and fortify support. In such cases, good healthy advice that may be critical will not be taken as such.

The truth is, when we analyse Bermuda’s innate potential, we can fix all of our problems because we have the means at our fingertips. It needs investment, but here again, we don’t need to go offshore to find it — innovating a kind of symbiosis between everything in our economy where it guarantees itself. Everything we need is already here but needs to be properly allocated to serve the best interest of everyone.

At the moment, we have a government that unabashedly says it must serve the party first. Sadly, it doesn’t even do that, as the benefit rarely gets past the front row. It was not necessarily better systemically with the previous governments, either, where the political snobbery was of a different kind in viewing dissenting or critical voices. These voices to them were just unintelligent, inexperienced and set aside as uneducated, emotional utterances rather than valid criticisms or observations. That was the residual conditioning left from the old days of segregation. The point here is, Bermuda is yet to develop an egalitarian dialogue within society.

The world changes and people and society are meant to evolve with those changes. But there is a concomitant cofactor, which is that there must be enlightened leadership. It should be that the leadership is ahead of the evolutionary curve. Leadership, in the best sense of the term, is a guiding light. That guide should lead the country out of its darkness morally and economically.

If there is any message this festive season brings, let’s hope it rekindles the idea of leadership and sacrifice for the good of others and the world. Thinking of helping anyone other than ourselves would be a good catalyst that encourages others to do likewise.

There is always lots to complain about — consider lighting a candle rather than cursing the dark. There is a bright world awaiting, but only if you see it. We have had enough of short-sightedness where there is the perception that there is not enough, and this disillusion causes theft and grab to get mine because there isn’t enough.

We must think big before we can grow bigger.