It's Vision, Not Television, OK?
When you’re down with a serious flu contracting pneumonia along the way, your next pit stop is the Intensive Care Unit at the Commonwealth Health Center.
Doctors and nurses will work the clock to help you out of a fatal bind. If your body reacts positively to prescribed medication you will eventually rebound. If not, your family will be advised of your condition, accordingly.
This is exactly where we are today in terms of revenue generation. Investors have given up hope in these isles. We’ve been advised that most investors from the US and Asia asked to invest here have instantly said “no” and gone elsewhere!
Guess what? We’re here alone!
We must now deal with the fatal effects of protectionist measures that have done nothing but ruin future prospects for current and new investments. Any further slide of the two major industries (apparel and tourism) and out the window goes any future hope of reviving revenue generation for many years to come.
With the exception of a few proactive policymakers whose agenda have been derailed by dimwitted colleagues, one wonders just how much more are we willing to permanently turn these isles into ghost towns. Businessmen who understand that a healthy economy brings forth wealth and jobs creation for the indigenous people are basically tired of the politics of self-inflicted ruination.
Imagine how others see these isles whose forte, for the most part, is internal self-ruination. It had to be that grand Chamorro Logic that would turn Aristotle and Socrates every so often in their graves. I mean this is the only place on planet earth where we park common sense and reasoning in our back pockets. Or is it because the guys are tired of being told to face difficult issues and deal with them accordingly? Is there a subtle message in the lackluster performance of entrenched policymakers?
I quiz if the folks upstairs understand the essence of recently approved legislation on free trade zones. I thought revisiting it now ought to shed some light in that it reflects a positive attitude to spurring economic growth, yet dimwitted politicians take to the media to trumpet the exact opposite: anti-business sentiments! Or is it another unintentional shot at Chamorro Logic?
It’s really frustrating sitting down here at the grassroots level trying to understand why are we swimming in more misses than hits from the men of wisdom on Capital Hill. Are taxpayers supposed to acquiesce all these misses? Aren’t we paying for their salaries to do what is politically right?
However passive the electorate may be, I could sense their frustrations on leadership’s inability (going six to eight years back) to deal with issues of substance on a mature basis. It isn’t what you folks did that matters as much as what you failed to do to ensure that we mitigate external influences that take out the wind in revenue generation. But then you did nothing other than to royally fuel our own economic demise.
Or do we accept all these failures with that famous local excuse: “This is our island `nai?” It’s obvious our vision has changed to, well, television. Let’s live it up and combine it with our new found toy–potato couch culture–it’s gotta be grand mañana at its best. Seesuzzzz, paradise is really messed up, yeah? Si Yuus Maase`!
Strictly a personal view. John S. DelRosario Jr. is publisher of Saipan Tribune.
