Dear Editor,
Anguilla’s politicians see us as a zero-sum game. They are self-serving and full of themselves. They are overpaid for the little bit of work they do, collecting a pension after 10 years of service from a system to which they contributed zero. Not only don’t they contribute to the pension fund, but they also collect a fat gratuity check on the way out. They drive around in a government SUV, not to mention that gas is paid for by the government. Folks, you must suspend belief to believe this sort of thing.
There are those gifted with alternative options, and then there are those who have only one option, living on the rock no matter what. It’s incumbent upon us to forget about the party system and heed the clarion call to defend and preserve Anguilla for future generations. We have come too far and have put too much in that beloved bone-dry rock to see lignum vitae and ground lizards take precedence over us.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Once again, we are hoisted with our own petard. Do we honestly expect the British to look out for our best interests? They don’t care about the BAMEs (Blacks, Asian) on their island, much less the ones on a rock some 2,300 miles away.
As it stands right now, the trees and lizards have it a lot better than us, for they are protected. The Brits will spend 285 billion pounds for an unusable airport on St. Helena, where it takes a jet three tries to land, while we, like the albatross, are straddled with a 500-million-dollar debt. They will develop the Falklands’ fishing industry but are happy to let others poach in our territorial waters. The last White Paper stressed the importance of partnership between the U.K. and its territories. Can anyone genuinely point to any association that has existed between us?
The late U.S. Congressman John Lewis implored us to get into what he referred to as “good trouble” His warning applies to anyone, anywhere, who becomes an agent for good. Whether it’s Myanmar, Hong Kong, China, or the good old USA, in his 1960 inaugural speech, John Fitzgerald Kennedy encouraged his people to: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” So, my fellow Anguillians, your country cries out to you, “What will you do for me?” Are you willing to fight for that which our forefathers left for us?
’Til next time, may God bless Anguilla.
Tyrone Hodge
