Transforming the CNMI

Daily we see our beloved islands besieged with problems as failing businesses, government’s failure to provide satisfactory basic utility services to many of the people, high rate of indigenous unskilled workers, inadequate medical services, depressing drop in tourists, deep resentment of the garment industry, the only viable industry contributing a large amount of money to our failing economy.

Accompanying these is a breakdown in our culture and beliefs. Liberal theology has undermined our faith and destroyed the traditional role of churches; liberal education policies have ravaged our public schools; liberal social policies have sabotaged our families; liberal public policies have fostered welfare dependency warping the work ethic. These are a few of the problems we face. Though they appear rather daunting and insurmountable, we can resolve them.

All of the above problems were caused by people, not by natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, tsunami, typhoons or even war which is man-made destruction. Therefore, because people caused them, people should be able to resolve them. Here is where the difficulty lies. We know the problems and we know the solutions, but we lack the will to correct them. How much more social and economic disintegration are we going to allow before we begin our transformation back to a better society?

I recall reading a philosopher who stated that man seems to have a natural perverse streak in him. Perhaps we are letting this perverseness part of our nature dominate us. We certainly are allowing greed to control our nobler emotions quite often. No one will deny that greed has caused us much grief. But an even more important fiber that holds our society together has been ripped apart. We are in the midst of the disintegration of the family unit. And our children are caught in the midst of the furor like bits of straw in a windstorm.

Ironically, to solve all of our problems we turn to the government, the very one who created most of them. We demand more legislation to regulate our lives, not realizing that we are also giving up our hard-fought freedom in exchange. We demand more money for more social programs to revitalize our sagging social structures, failing to realize that reforms must start within each individual.

Real change must come from the transformed hearts and souls of individuals. True change will not come from casting a vote for the right people and promoting conservative public policies. We must not expect to sit back and watch these people write new laws, correct faulty policies to get our islands back on track. When one looks back at major cultural shifts and social reforms in history, they were usually started by one person, or a small group of people.

We need to make a personal contract with the CNMI. The motto today should be what can we do for our islands, for our community, and for our family. Accept President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Let’s not wait for political change to occur. Only by embracing our core beliefs and working for change in our lives can we truly see cultural and economic regeneration.

As Kay C. James, former Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Services, stated in a recent speech, “We need to get out of our easy chairs—love and discipline our children, be involved in our schools, be faithful to the call of God in our lives, be ethical in our businesses, and be involved in our communities.” The real solution to our problems lies within each of us. A single “you” can start a revolution.

Strictly a personal view. Anthony Pellegrino writes every Monday and Tuesday. Mr. Pellegrino can be reached at tonypell@saipan.com