Hate the private sector? Glug, glug.

Is the only purpose of the private sector to “generate a tremendous revenues” for government coffers?

If so…then explain it to the folks who depended on the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino ferry service to get to and from Tinian. When the service stopped, it made it crystal clear to people that without a healthy business sector, transportation services will suffer, along with everything else. The ferries were a clear example of how the quality of life here can get squeezed if the private sector feels pinched.

Fortunately, that pesky private sector started providing very affordable air service between Saipan and our neighbor to the south (advertised at $18 each way in a joint effort between the Dynasty and Pacific Island Aviation).

Because of the way the economy is structured here, those doing the consuming (funded by government checks) and those doing the producing of what’s consumed (the “private sector”) are two distinct camps. There is, then, a disconnect between the conventional free market relationship in which the ability to consume is directly related to the amount produced. The result is lower economic production than a freer market would enjoy.

The business camp and the government camp seem to be eyeing each other over a widening gulf. And why not? It would be difficult–if not impossible–for folks who haven’t worked in a private sector business to understand what goes into the magic of “production.” It means risking capital, working late hours and on weekends, and often times not having a stable, reliable income.

We’d have riots in the streets if everyone had to live with the economic uncertainty that most business owners have to face here. A lot of us have taken economic haircuts in the double-digit percentages over the past two years. You don’t see that in the headlines, though.

You never see an article about Joe Private Sector, who had to absorb a 25 percent cut in income, had to pull his kids out of private school, and who is having to dig into his retirement savings to make ends meet. Little wonder that the suitcase squad continues to pack and flee.

Anyone who’s taken the time to study how “emerging” economies turn into “submerging” economies will see a red flag hoisted when the community turns against the business sector. It can take the form of looting, vandalism, or merely restrictive legislation and heavy-handed policies.

The hour is late for the Commonwealth’s economy, and unless the link between production and consumption becomes stronger, the economy will continue to suffer. Nobody will give it much thought until the boats disappear, the airplanes leave (remember when Marianas Air went kaput?), and the businesses continue to fold. If and when that day comes…who will be blamed? The private sector, of course–but it won’t be here to have to hear that gibberish anymore. And anyone wanting to get to Tinian will have to swim. Glug, glug.