of the rest of the world. The very reason we attract so much overseas publicity, good and bad, is that Bermuda is seen by so many people as "paradise on earth'' which, naturally, creates a certain awe and a certain envy.

But let us make no mistake. Although we all may knock Bermuda and other Bermudians at certain times, although usually only at home, the truth is that Bermudians have done much that was right or else we would not be the success we are today. A great many people around the world would like to come here, to stay, to enjoy what we have and that's precisely why we need such tough immigration controls.

Much of what we complain about today in Bermuda comes about because the world is full of doubts. Because we have deep-seated social problems amid the opulence, we question everything, even the successful things.

Blacks are certain about the evils of the past and whites have grave doubts about the moral judgments of their ancestors, yet neither can change the past even though everyone might like to.

Because we can see the magnitude of the social failures around us, it is topical in caring countries today to give every consideration to the rights of the individual and to give concern to those groups of every sort which see themselves as hard done by. That is a credit to the sensibilities of the Country and not something to be demeaned, as it so often is, as being too little too late.

Some of us have doubts about the two planks of Bermuda's financial base. Black Bermudians often see service in the tourism industry as servitude and fail to find dignity in jobs which require them to meet the wishes of visitors.

Many people question the wisdom of staking half our economy on what they see as "suitcase companies'' which can easily leave if they are alarmed by our internal squabbles and see them as a lack of stability. Our discussions are too often taken as divisions. Yet these companies offer an alternative to tourism for our increasingly well educated young people for whom we work so hard.

Yet the truth is that these two economic platforms, and Bermuda's God given beauty and favourable position on the globe, have provided a lifestyle like few others.

It is healthy to question ourselves and our motives and our failures but we cannot put the genie of the past back in the bottle. We must guard against a misguided anger which causes us to damage what so many others envy.

The historic and present grievances of blacks, and whites, and Portuguese, and women, and single parents and gays and so many others are real but we have to view them in light of the facts and take comfort from reality. Nowhere else in the world would just about all of us have it so good. That's why so much of the rest of the world wants to come here. We are not just economically better but we are democratic and our institutions, like the law, the Police, the Civil Service, the arts, and, yes, even education, are healthy compared to most other places. We have our problems with race and with crime and drugs.

Bermuda is not perfect. It is not paradise on earth but it is closer to paradise than most people will ever get.

Yet there are some who would destroy it.