True growth comes from within, not from without

“YOU ARE WHAT YOUR DEEP, DRIVING DESIRE IS,
AS YOUR DESIRE IS, SO IS YOUR WILL.
AS YOUR WILL IS, SO IS YOUR DEED.
AS YOUR DEED IS, SO IS YOUR DESTINY.”

—From the Upanishad

Give us casinos! GIVE US CASINOS! Give us marijuana! GIVE US MARIJUANA! So the cry goes. It gets louder and louder daily. We constantly keep looking for freebies and ways to sell our souls for a few measly dollars to outsiders. These are the cries of desperate people ready to sell their souls. When are we going to grow up?

Yes, I am angry and upset at what we are trying to do to salvage our economy. No, I am not pointing fingers at anyone for I am a part of my society. All ideas should be explored and discussed. So let’s explore and discuss the two repetitive ideas that supposedly will lead to an economic recovery.

Yes, casinos make money, but not for you and me. They make money for the investors and certain other people on the inside. But the man on the street does not benefit. Will casinos reduce the line-up at the food stamp office? Will they create jobs for the citizens? Will they bring pride and dignity to our community?

Here is another question? Is everyone in Las Vegas wealthy and does everyone possess a good job? I know several people from Saipan who live there and are barely making a living. They work hard and long hours. They tell me the cost of living is expensive also. Check out what is happening in Las Vegas in its real estate market and to its economy. Horrible situation!

Are the people in Tinian wealthy, and do they possess good jobs after having a multimillion dollar casino for 10 years? Are the casino owners happy also? If casinos are so lucrative why does the Tinian Dynasty owe the government over $30 million? How could that happen? Will we ever see a penny of it?

Has Saipan become a better place to live because of the poker machines? Why don’t the tourists play them? Have we become prosperous because of poker machines? Why are they slowly being phased out?

Have any of us ever seen the accounting needed to investing and operating a casino on Saipan? Have any of us seen the spread sheets that reveal the expected amount of money to be earned by the government? Do we know how many players are needed to make X amount of dollars just to amortize the investment let alone make a profit? Where are these players going to come from?

Before any business is started numerous studies must be made and figures estimated showing income, expenses, risk, and profits. Where are the numbers pertaining to any casino operation intended for Saipan?

Please, let’s see them. If they are so good and show profits, I will shut up and vote for a casino. But if we are expected to just nod our head in agreement that automatically a casino is a gigantic money maker, than I cannot go along with the idea. We need hard facts and numbers that can be substantiated. Please, let’s not put our heads in the sand with our butts sticking out. They will be soundly kicked.

Okay, let’s grow marijuana for medicinal purposes. Yes, doctors will give prescriptions to needy patients and—wala!—the patient will quickly recover. As a result of this magic, the CNMI will receive millions of dollars while saving thousands of lives that conventional medicine cannot save. Thousands of tourists will flock here seeking the miracle drug. Wow! Just think of it! We will alleviate suffering patients’ pain and give them back their healthy lives with the miracle drug called “marijuana!”

Has anyone ever done a study to see what the marijuana situation in the CNMI now? I have spoken to teachers and principals who have told me that students often come to class stoned. Are we aware of this? Who will control all the marijuana that will be scattered around the islands farmed by local people? Who will monitor the sales and collection of taxes? The questions go on and on.

Why not include opium from which we can make morphine and codeine? The list goes on if we want to make medicine from drugs. Please, stop insulting our intelligence with all this garbage. Yes, we may be 80 percent stupid, but not 100 percent.

When we open the casinos and plant marijuana for medicinal use, let’s also auction off licenses for houses of prostitution. Hey, the heavy rollers need some relaxation and we want to accommodate them. I want to be one of the first to apply for a house of prostitution. Why not? What’s wrong with that? It will bring in millions of dollars along with our other ventures. As we go along we can find other money making ventures just as sleazy.

Let me stop joking and get serious for a moment. The above ventures are parasitic and demeaning. They pander to the lowest emotions of people. And with them go our last ounce of pride and dignity. But why do I sound so upset?

Let’s sit and think about what we are about to do. What incentives do the above ideas offer our citizens to become engaged in rebuilding our economy? What does the man or woman in the street have to do to become a productive member of our society with these ventures doing it for us? Will it encourage us to learn a trade, to take over our mom and pop businesses? Will the number of people in the food stamp line be reduced? Is this the society we are going to give our children? Or is it another hole in which we keep digging deeper and deeper by asking outsiders to do for us what we should be doing for ourselves?

There are so many ways to regain the economy if we truly wish to. I am willing to stick my neck and my tongue out to discuss the opportunities that await us with anyone who wishes to.

For starters, let’s plow our fields and grow food for local sales and for export. Secondly, let’s operate our own grocery stores and restaurants. Let’s operate our own beauty shops, repair shops and barber shops. Let’s join the construction companies and build our own roads and buildings instead of using nonresident labor. We have given away all the small businesses to outsiders and now cry poverty. Instead we should be operating these businesses ourselves.

People, true growth can only come from within. It does not come from outsiders. Until we begin to till our soil and operate our own businesses, we will always be second-rate citizens in our country. As I repeatedly state: A country is only as strong as its trained, skilled, and hardworking citizens.

All of the get-rich-quick schemes will only destroy us more. We need to become workers in our country. Prosperity does not grow on the backs of others. We must create it. Read the history of successful countries to learn their secrets. And read the history of nations suffering in poverty and learn what is causing it. As you read the news daily about some countries struggling to survive, the loudest cry is from its citizens searching and begging for work. Yet we cast away our opportunities to work.

How fortunate we are in the CNMI to still have opportunities staring us in the face. But how sad that we cannot see them. Do we truly believe that casinos and cultivation and sales of drugs are our panacea?

What we create with our own hands cannot be taken away. If we are ever to regain a solid economy and create decent jobs, we must create them ourselves. Let us not sell our souls for a few pieces of silver! True growth comes from within, not from without! Let’s begin that growth now!

AS OUR DEED IS, SO IS OUR DESTINY!