Excuse me! Where are we going?

Imagine sitting in an airplane and the pilot announces he has no flight plan. He is just going to fly around until he reaches somewhere—where? Anywhere! Or imagine getting on the freeways in Los Angeles and just driving around until the gas runs out. No destination—no direction. Just anywhere!

This is exactly what we have been doing for several years. When the garment industry was at its prime, no one planned what to do with all the revenue it generated. We just spent and spent. When the industry began to falter, did anyone begin planning what to do next? When Japan Airlines stopped their flights to Saipan, what plans did we make to overcome the disaster? Has anyone drawn up a plan to fix the CUC problem? Has the Administration clearly shown us its plans and goals? Where are we heading? What is expected from us? Does anyone have any plans and goals for where we should be heading? Or are we just like pieces of wood floating in the ocean bobbing up and down with each wave aimlessly drifting?

I challenge the Administration to talk to us directly and explain its plans and goals so that we may better understand. I strongly urge the Governor to talk to us directly and frequently, not though his press secretary or brief news clips. We want to hear from him directly that he feels our pain and apprehension, and we want him to hear directly from us that we feel the pain also. We want to hear what plans he has for resolving our problems. In this manner we can better understand what is happening.

Once we understand the direction we are heading, I am confident we will cooperate better and even sacrifice to achieve the goal. Instead we now remain divided—the Administration in one corner, the Legislature in another, and we the people scratching our heads wondering where we are headed. How often does the Administration and the Legislature talk to one another? Do they respect each other and how do they act toward each other? When people are sincere, any disagreements are a stimulus to cooperative action. This is called the art of negotiation.

I challenge the Legislature to show us their overall plans and goals for reviving the economy. Almost daily they meet in committees and in sessions, but we get little report on what they are planning or what goals they have set for us. I realize that getting 29 people, some with different agendas and ambitions, to agree is difficult. But if one loves his country, he will put his personal ambitions aside and strive to heal his country’s wounds.

I challenge the CUC to show us what will happen in 10 months after the Agreeko contract expires. There are only 10 months left before a major decision has to be made. Are they planning for it? What can we expect? I challenge any government agency to meet with us and explain what each of them has planned or what goals they have. Or are they just fumbling around in a darkened room?

In these trying moments, we need strong leadership that knows how to bring us together. I am sorry but I fail to see this happening. Yet I know that there are capable people who can do this. Why are they not setting the plans and goals?

After all, this is our island and we all are feeling the pain. We must unite and share our problems. Why is it that once we elect representatives, they stop talking to us? But during election time they certainly are talkative.

Unless we do some serious planning quickly, something awful will happen to our already sagging economy. We haven’t really felt the economic crash that is taking place in the United States and in the rest of the world. But it is coming to our shores like a tsunami. Unless we plan now, we will be wiped out.

The U.S. government must be invited to sit down with us and help us get our house in order. They and we together must set realistic goals supported by plans. The answer is not to beg for more money. Throwing money after money doesn’t solve any problem. Intelligent actions do. By bringing in experts from the United States, we can do realistic planning together. The United States can share its experiences with us. We cannot do it alone.

For example, why haven’t we called in the Department of Energy a long time ago and asked them to show us how we can resolve the farce we are having at the CUC now? Is it pride or ignorance that is preventing us from doing so? Meanwhile we sit in darkened rooms even though we are paying over $500,000 per month to rent generators.

Leaders must explain what their plans of action and what their goals are. As a result, we the people will cooperate better once we are included in the overall plan. It seems that there is no accountability in whatever they do. Why do we accept this? Demand answers!

I try very hard not to be critical because I know that doesn’t solve problems. It merely angers people. I am urging us to think and express our thoughts. But I have come to accept the fact that actions speak louder than any words. And the negative actions I see are disheartening. How can those actions be denied?

I am not criticizing any individual, but I am criticizing the system that lets this happen. How can we develop our future if we don’t put competent people in the proper positions? Why do the same individuals rotate from position to position? Why aren’t we using the young men and women who have come back from their college education ripe with fresh and innovative view points?

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, why do we refuse to make plans and set goals? Why do we fail to put competent people in the right positions? Why don’t we bring outside experts to help us solve our problems? Why do we fail to agree among ourselves on some of the basic ideas? What can we expect from the future if this is the attitude we insist on? Unless we answer the whys and the whats, we cannot solve any problem. So we drift!

Ironically, to solve 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 of us.

Real change must come from the transformed hearts and souls of each of us. The changes will not come from waiting for others to implement them. We must involve ourselves. We must not sit idly by and watch the administration and legislators quarrel over laws, expecting them to correct faulty policies.

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 set goals supported by realistic plans. By agreeing on them, we than must work hard to achieve them.

Our motto must be: “What can we do for our islands, our community and for our future?” Political change alone will not bring prosperity or happiness unless we agree on what that change is to be. If we love this country as much as we say we do, then we will have no problem finding solutions and making sacrifices to achieve them. Think about it!

We need to get off our “buts”—excuses—and become involved in our communities. The solutions to our problems lie within each of us. Let our voices be heard. Let us set a course and work hard to achieve it. If we do not, we may not like where we end up. I ask again: “Excuse me! Where are we going?”