Countries that are setting examples we would be best advised not to follow

April 6, 2005

THE same week the United Nations' ridiculous Decolonisation Committee flew into Bermuda to lecture us on how to go about becoming a player on the global stage, many of its member nations were in the news precisely because their policies at both home and abroad violate so many norms of international behaviour.

These countries are setting examples Bermuda would be best advised not to follow.

In Zimbabwe, the gangster Robert Mugabe stole another General Election and immediately set about removing the last democratic safeguards remaining in his looted and ruined country's constitution. In Lebanon, Syria's colony in all but name, secret agents from Damascus embarked on a new bombing campaign intended to divide Lebanese Christians and Muslims and allow Damascus to continue ruling that country by default.

In Cuba, the dictator Fidel Castro embarked on yet another one of his regular crackdowns against dissidents, terrified their use of free speech will finally bring the crumbling walls of his decaying regime tumbling down. And China continued to bribe West Indian islands with promises of investment and loans in return for their votes in the UN against Taiwanese Independence (why do you think Beijing was so keen on wooing Tourism Minister Dr. Ewart Brown: it's got nothing to do with Chinese tourism and everything to do with lining up the support of a potentially Independent Bermuda).

Bermudians should be increasingly concerned about where the current Government and its cronies in the Bermuda Independence Commission are hoping to lead them.

DREADNOUGHT

Devonshire

A bad Good Friday

April 2, 2005

YOUR correspondent Veritas' comments about the venues selected for the Bermuda Independence Commission meetings are extremely well taken (Mid-Ocean News, April 1). The violence and criminality that is increasingly associated with these clubs is now no longer even confined to their properties.

On Good Friday, while returning home from a pleasant afternoon of kite-flying with family and friends, I drove into what would once have been described as a riot on South Shore Road.

Approximately 200 young men, drunk or high (or both), were engaged in knock-down, drag-out fights that had spilled out into the main road from one of these sports clubs. There were no police in evidence (I guess they are spending so much of their time these days investigating one another that they don't have time to respond to emergency calls).

There no reports on this mini-riot in Saturday's newspaper (at one time such a large-scale brawl would have been front-page news: now I guess they are so routine they don't merit any coverage at all).

I hate to think what would have happened if any tourists on rental bikes had accidentally blundered into the middle of this violent clash. Or maybe the wife or daughter of a re/insurance company executive.

But then again maybe we'll only get some concerted action from the authorities against this increasingly brutal, increasingly common type of behaviour if there is a replay of the Middleton tragedy.

FEARFUL

Smith's Parish

Fret not, Veritas

April 2, 2005

INDEPENDENCE: Being responsible for one's own decisions, one's own development, one's own attitude and approach to the outside world, is always fraught with doubts and vague fears. Most of us felt insecure and uncertain when we left home for the first time to become responsible for ourselves; just as most parents, aware of the lurking dangers and temptations outside, often try to defer letting go when the time comes for their chicks to leave the nest. The letter from Veritas (Mid-Ocean News, April 1), a reaction to Bermuda's interest in seeking Independence from Mother England, however, suggests a fear of Independence approaching hysteria.

The writer begins by vilifying the United Nations Decolonisation Committee and its mandate, goes on to hurl libellous insults at the leaders of certain Independent countries, throws mud in the eyes of fellow Bermudians (including members of the Government ) who don't agree with some of his/her views, then ends with a footnote revealing a morbid fear of the "hooliganism and criminality (which are) becoming pandemic in Bermuda's 'mobocracy'."

A dark, miasmic threat is here conjured up with no references or context of any sort. This is the familiar, undifferentiated, nameless fear of the Other. It is the fear that powered the apartheid policy of South Africa and still haunts the world's white bastions of power. One can sense this as an underlying motif in the writer's dismay at the prospect of Bermudian Independence.

It's one thing to dislike or distrust the setting up of a Bermuda Independence Commission to examine the ramifications of Independence and to invite other nations to share their experiences with us. It is quite another to revile several darker-complexioned, Independent nations of the world because they still have post-independence problems.

To call Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro "psychopaths", for example, or to dismiss Haiti disparagingly as merely "the poor man of the Western Hemisphere", is to misuse language and to show an astonishing ignorance of the background to those leaders and the countries dismissed.

But then Veritas isn't concerned with respect or fairness or history. These are cries from a heart paralysed by an unreasoning fear. An attempt is made, in one sentence, to sully both Cuba and Bermudians (including Government ministers) who find that island appealing: "Fidel Castro (runs) the largest state-sponsored sex tourism industry in the Western Hemisphere: maybe that's the appeal of Cuba to some Bermudians."

The fact that Cuba, still under an ongoing trade embargo unilaterally imposed by the USA nearly 40 years ago, in spite of the loss of Russian aid (can you imagine Israel without American aid?) in spite of attempts at invasion, destabilisation and several Central Intelligence Agency-inspired efforts at assassinating their leader, has survived and developed enviable standards of national health care, education, literacy, sport and cultural development counts for nothing as far as Veritas is concerned. Context, background are essential to understanding. There is a social, cultural and political hinterland even to the despotic, unlovable Mugabe.

The letter ends with an expression of deep-seated, generalised fear. Fear of the Other Bermuda, the (black) "mobocracy". This is what lies at the heart of the writer's alarm.

Take a deep breath, Veritas. Relax. Bermudians (white as well as black) are, by and large, sober, sensible people who aren't going to rush the island into any mortal danger any time soon.

They know that Independence isn't a panacea for development. But it's a necessary first step towards taking responsibility for ourselves, our own problems, our own future.

We have to leave the familiar but restricting ties of Mother's apron strings. Quo Fata Ferunt. Do not panic. No one's "out to get you". You're as safe here (if not safer) as you'd be in America, Britain or Canada.

That won't change with Independence, though you might find the new self-confidence shown by our darker compatriots a little disquieting at first. Bermuda's black cultural roots have been neglected for too long, and they'll need time and space in which to grow.

Be patient. The flowering that follows will be a good thing for us all. Remember that "Albion" too was once a colony. So was America. They had to wage bloody wars for independence. We simply have to make a sensible, democratic choice. There is no need for hysteria.

CARITAS

Paget

Trouble in Quebec

March 30, 2005

IN Alvin Williams' Commentary (Mid-Ocean News, March 25) he cited Canada and its Quebec province as an examples of multi-cultural unity. Apparently he was not aware that in the 1960s terrorists supporting Quebec's separation from Canada were a national threat.

The Front for the Liberation of Quebec, the FLQ, murdered and maimed postal workers with letter bombs, kidnapped the British Trade Commissioner, James Cross, and kidnapped and murdered a Quebec cabinet minister, Pierre Laporte, in 1969.

The then-Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, in 1970 invoked the War Measures Act to avert a revolution by the FLQ and there were tanks and troops in Montreal and Quebec City. that put an end to that era.

But in 1995 the separatists almost succeeded in a referendum to separate, missing by a few percentage points. There will be another such referendum with the next change of government in Quebec. At least the separatists now go by way of referendum, not violence.

I trust that Mr. Williams is not advocating civil unrest for Bermuda with his Quebec reference, but his past columns do cause concern.

OTS

Pembroke

Time for change, Alvin

April 4, 2005

I PERCEIVE something of an overreaction from Alvin Williams on the subject in my recent letter on reparation (Mid-Ocean News, April 1). Certainly his view of all things British seems somewhat personalised and jaundiced.

In addition to suggest that England (not Britain?) was inhabited by cannibalistic savages suggests that he should have been more attentive to British history when he was in school, as this assertion has more in common with whimsy, myth and opinion, than fact.

He further suggests, for example, that while I may not view slavery as a crime God certainly does. I hesitated to introduce a Christian, (which I am) viewpoint into the discussion but, as Alvin Williams did mention God, I think that it should be pointed out that it was William Wilberforce, an aristocratic English Christian and Member of the Parliament of Westminster, who laboured for over 30 years to overturn slavery in the British colonies and eventually succeeded. His Christian conviction was that slavery was an evil sin and a crime against God and man. Which it was.

But then God was well acquainted with slavery; having seen the children of Israel enslaved for hundreds of years. Very instrumental in my own conversion was the impression upon me of the dignity, strength and courage given to black people generally, and to people like Martin Luther King, Jr., by their Christian faith. And the dynamic contribution made to the Christian church in North America and the West, by black people.

However, I digress. Among the supporters of Wilberforce was the Rev John Newton (author of that wonderful hymn Amazing Grace) once himself a slave to a West African tribal queen and, later a slavemaster, before he became a Christian and penned that hymn: also evangelists and preachers John Wesley, founder of Methodism, and George Whitfield of whom it is said, saved England from revolution as a result of their preaching the gospel.

Times may be changing but some things, however, never change. Coupled to the greatest of Christian virtues love, is forgiveness. It was this quality of forgiveness, rather than revenge, that helped to heal the evil wounds of apartheid in South Africa by setting up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

It was this quality to forgive, probably more than any other, that allowed Archbishop Desmond Tutu and that giant of a man and outstanding international statesman and ambassador for humanity, Nelson Mandela, to transcend bitterness and hatred.

To forgive isn't to forget or to pretend that past wrongs have not been done. It is to open the way for reconciliation and to allow people to positively move forward. Unforgiveness is a destructive force and forever holds an individual in a bondage of bitterness. Another form of slavery.

In my view therefore not only is reparation unworkable, only creating a vindictive bureaucratic nightmare but it would only serve to perpetuate and pander to racial divisiveness. And Mr. Williams' citing of Bill Clinton, not renowned for his moral probity, like Richard Nixon, to make a point, seems rather odd.

Perhaps, like Nixon, his repentance should have begun with himself and the American people. Whether or not times are changing and the present cycle of Westernised world dominance is coming to a close, as other empires in world history have, I have no idea.

But the recognition that most African nations have failed miserably, catastrophically and corruptly in their ability to conduct their own affairs, as they have, is, in my opinion a recognised and indisputable fact devoid of any hint of the arrogance that Alvin Williams seeks to attribute to me.

They have also demonstrated in people like Idi Amin and Robert Mugabe and in places like Rwanda and the Sudan, that evil, tyranny, cruelty, corruption and the exploitation, dehumanisation and genocide of people, has no racial boundaries.

Can I also suggest, with respect, that it is my experience that most black people in the west have no more identification with Africa than as purely a matter of historical fact as to their ancestry. So, while there is much to be gained on both sides in a robust exchange of, I hope, informed and objective views I unfortunately get the impression from the views of Alvin Williams, however, that his emotions hold sway over his erudition and scholarship.

This might be fine for those who share like mind and the uninformed but not useful for informed and positive dialogue. So rather than waste his life consumed with bitterness and making a career out of negative thinking and retribution, I suggest that Alvin Williams looks at the examples set by blacks such as Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice and one-time US Navy Diver Carl Brashear.

And read the autobiography of one of the world's leading neurosurgeons, Ben Carson, MD or the biography of George Washington Carver who went from slave to scientist.

So c'mon Alvin Williams, if times are indeed changing don't you think that you should also? Just a thought.

BRUCE STEVENS

Reading, England

On a slippery decline

April 6, 2005

I HAD a terrible experience while driving on Sunday afternoon (April 4), which prompted me to write this letter. On approaching Scott's Hill Road, going north on Sound View Road, I was about to turn right when car GP086, going westward up the hill, sped right through the stop sign on the wrong side of the road.

Had my wife and I approached the corner a couple of seconds earlier, there would have been a serious accident and perhaps even a death. I followed the female driver up Scott's Hill Road until she stopped. Needless to say I showed my disapproval vehemently. She did apologise and seemed remorseful. This is another example of a Government car being used for private purposes.

Because of her remorsefulness and apology, I decided not to involve the police. I also didn't involve the police because they don't take senior citizens seriously and and usually don't respond to complaints.

Let me give you an example of police non-compliance. Every day a young man rides his scrambler out of Spring Benny Road onto the public road. He seems to own four scramblers - each a different colour - yellow, purple, green and blue. He rides these bikes on the sidewalk and road between 5 and 6 p.m., just about every day.

He has no helmet; he speeds; he does wheelies; he has no registration. I reported him to the Somerset police six times last week. Not once did they turn up.

Other concerned senior citizens have also reported him to the authorities, yet nothing gets done. This has been going on for two years now.

There is no doubt in my mind that this society is, and has been for a long time, on a very slippery moral and social decline. Bermuda and Bermudians in general are denying that we have a serious social problem. I personally blame most of this on the police for not enforcing all laws and for politicians for not setting good examples.

Heaven knows we have all kinds of laws - laws which are supposed to provide us with social order of pleasantness, goodwill and security. At present, and for years gone by, these laws have been on the book, but aren't being obeyed by the people or enforced by the police.

Politicians say Bermudians are law-abiding citizens. Are we really law-abiding? If the behaviour of drivers on our roads is an example of law-abiding citizens then the authorities have lost their perspective of right from wrong.

I try to abide by the laws of the land. I drive at or below the speed limit of 35 kph. I STOP at stop signs, I don't stop or park on yellow lines; I don't drive on the sidewalks; I don't have to overtake because everyone seems to overtake me; I don't tailgate; I don't have a dog; so I don't worry about breaking the leash law; I keep my music to myself; I don't steal farmers' vegetables or fruit; I don't enter properties where NO TRESPASSING signs are posted.

I know this for a fact. Only in Bermuda are law-abiding citizens not appreciated nor are they encouraged to abide by the law. On a daily basis, I have to endure the harassment, obscenities and physical abuse by the public, especially by the bus drivers - just because I abide by the law. Something is terribly wrong on this island.

But let me tell you this, I will continue to abide by our laws regardless of the public's harassment and vulgar comments and lack of support from the police and politicians.

Are the politicians, police, teachers, parents, clergy setting good examples? I think not. Each has their own agenda - not the welfare of all Bermudians.

There are some very good, courteous drivers on the roads. Butterfield & Vallis and Belco are the most courteous drivers and cause me no concern. Those that harass and provoke me the most are buses, water trucks, Telco, Oleander, Pure Water and W&E drivers.

Commissioner Smith, the police in the West End are not doing their job adequately enough. They overlook far too many infractions of the law or they just don't know the law. I'm embarrassed by the way our social order is declining and at this stage in my life I'm not proud to be a Bermudian. Both the Government and the police embarrass me by their behaviour.

Mr. Editor, rightly or wrongly, this is how I view Bermuda today.

SENIOR CITIZEN

Sandys Parish

PS: If drivers would obey ten per cent of the traffic code, ten per cent of the time, and if the police would enforce ten per cent of the code ten per cent of the time, there, no doubt, would be a significant improvement in driver behaviour.