Being bitter is not better

Frederick Douglas, a slave during the time of the American Civil War, taught himself to read and write and was chosen by President Abraham Lincoln to be a personal adviser on issues surrounding blacks. During the lifetime of Douglas, he made numerous public speeches. In one of his speeches he said, “If there is no struggle, then there will be no progress.”

There is clearly a struggle going on in the CNMI simply because the government is broke and without a robust cash flow and reserves to rely upon to take care of the financial obligations that need to be met on a monthly basis, e.g., Retirement Fund. Along with the struggle to deal with limited resources is the pain of trying to make the necessary adjustments while painstakingly striving to get back to being in the black, as opposed to being in the red.

In a letter to the media by Roselle Calvo, she appears not to believe in the struggle to remove the CNMI from the economic turmoil left by the previous administration. Her expectation for the Fitial administration to provide an instant remedy to the multitude of economic problems is unreasonable. Progress will not be instantaneous and to think that it should be reflects naïve reasoning.

Ms. Calvo seems bitter about the adjustments made by the Fitial administration but she does not appear to offer any recommendations that would effectively counter the changes that have been made for the sole purpose of removing the government from insolvency. And because Ms. Calvo has not been able to counter any of the adjustments made by Fitial, then perhaps she should consider establishing a philosophy of: “it is better to not be bitter if you cannot offer better alternatives.”

In addition to being bitter about the new governor’s adjustments, Calvo mentioned the last names of Tan and Delgado and appeared to be disgruntled about the fact that Jerry Tan, a longtime CNMI resident and currently president of the NMC Foundation, was appointed by Gov. Fitial to be on the Marianas Visitors Authority board. Why does Roselle Calvo have a problem with Jerry Tan being on the Marianas Visitors Authority board? Perhaps she can explain that in her next letter to the editor.

The problem that Roselle Calvo has is not with what she thought she heard Gov. Fitial say during his quest to become governor, but rather with what she wants to think he said during his campaign. If she continues to view what was said by Fitial and the adjustments he has made since the inauguration through a distorted lens, then it is inevitable that she will remain bitter and not fully grasp the better times that will follow these necessary adjustments.

Dr. Jesus D. Camacho
Delano, California