Must reinvent old ways

I listened to several irate callers who think I’ve lost my marbles for dissenting on limiting voting on land alienation (Article XII) to people of NMI descent.

Evidently, the views of detractors were the same views I’ve held steadfastly 24 years ago. I need not remind my fellow Chamolinians that these isles are no longer under the old Trust Territory Government (TTG) when we can literally discriminate against others.

If I may reiterate, these isles are Americana because the majority decided in a plebiscite (78-plus percent) in the early seventies to join the American political family. It’s US Public Law that we can’t change like the usual whim with which we change boats in midstream in protectionist public policies.

There’s the supremacy of laws. In this case, the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits the denial of citizenship rights on the basis of race. This is exactly what we’ve done with Legislative Initiative 11-1. We again take cover under the cloak of being “locals” completely trashing the issue of citizenship rights.
This view, under the current relationship, is wrong! About the only time that this sentiment could survive legitimacy is when the NMI declares independence. I’m not sure we’re ready for sovereignty as yet.

We must also settle down to understanding and accepting basic American Values that are universally accepted anywhere throughout democratic societies. Take away all the labels like “American” and critically review “values” alone in that the principle remains the same. In other words, regardless of ethnicity, the right to own property is a basic right of every US Citizen.

I find it very unsettling that we give prominence to a boxed-in or scarcity mentality that displaces the very unit of society: the family. Why are we so insecure of decisions by fellow US Citizens (Filipino, Norwegian, Irish, Indian, etc.) to make these isles home for their families? Has any of us been denied their rights to own property in the US mainland? Why then allow a policy that serves as the very source of discrimination or the “Us vs. Them” mentality? Did any of you learn this in civic courses in high school or college?

Perhaps we need to probe why the persistent warped understanding of Citizenship Rights often confused with our self-serving local definition of indigenous rights. It seems our memories are so short as to forget that we overwhelmingly decided to be a part of the greater American community. Under the Covenant Agreement, land alienation is as iffy as a dry and crispy bamboo reed that crumbles when the breeze whips up.

Furthermore, through the years we have been and still are out of focus of the real issues at hand. In fact, we’ve adopted the “political patronage” system that at best, breeds false hopes and unproductive people in a landscape that is supposed to reward those who have in fact, sacrificed personal comfort to attain degrees in formal education. For instance, a teacher with a degree (even a masters) in a specific field is paid half the salary of a certain semi-autonomous agency employee (without formal education) who rakes-in $50,000 a year. Are we saying scrap education altogether?

It’s sad that over the last two decades, we have been out of focus as to neglect instilling a better sense of understanding of time honored values that remain rock solid throughout democratic societies regardless of ethnicity. In the process, this insecurity has funneled most of our energies into trivia where building mountains out of molds has become ingrained in our way of doing things. No wonder we’ve missed the boat completely on qualitative issues to improve the livelihood of our people. There’s an obvious need to transcend all these with new mental dexterity to deal with real issues however difficult they may be. Si Yuus Maase`!