Fresh blood

If we could recall in our U.S. History classes, during the Depression in the United States (1930’s), many suffered and many were forced to resort to the food line in order to get a decent meal. We should learn from the past to move forward and benefit from our learned behavior. Our father always said to us: “My children if you earned a dollar make sure you put away $0.60 cents for the rainy day.” Such mentality was stuck or embedded in our brains and one should always be prepared when the rainy day comes. Also, based on our observation in our lives, suffering is good for the soul. One may not appreciate things if he or she does not earn things or suffer in life.

The problem in the CNMI is not the elected officials, the problem started way back during the Trust Territory era. Our people were entitled to USDA rations, money after typhoon, people were being hired based on family ties and the entitlement system was conceived during that time throughout the island chain. In order for us to break such cycle, bring in fresh ethnicities to our island chain, let them participate in our political system and create a check-and-balance in our society or let those other ethnicities who left our islands for greener pastures to participate in our election process. We have run across other ethnicities who were born and raised in the CNMI living throughout the United States. These are the individuals that needs to be encourage to participate in our political system, for they do not hold any family ties to the people who are running for public office in the CNMI. If we can recall, the last general election in the CNMI, majority of the candidates won from the absentee voters.

Also, it is good to have a bad economy in our island chain, because our people need to understand that things in life need to be earned and the mentality of “give me, give me, give me” is not the way.

The sad and good part of the world’s economic downturn at this point in time is that poor people like us can easily buy multiple houses, farm lots for the penny on the dollar in the CNMI and in the United States. So, our economic despair throughout the world is a blessing in disguise for some of us and we look at the bottle as half full rather than half empty. In other words one should take advantage of our present situation in the CNMI.

One more thing, it is better to give than to receive and you would always get back thousand-fold indirectly in life. We need to understand that giving is more fulfilling than receiving.

Segundo Castro
CNMI Absentee Organization in the United States