Responsibility, trust, faith and the Good Society

This morning I must be blunt and honest in my remarks. Please prove me wrong. But unless we understand what has happened to us, we will continue to become poorer and poorer. We must stand up and take control of our destiny by ourselves, not by someone else. Yes, by us—ourselves!

It appears to me that we do not understand the necessity and value of work. Instead we prefer to beg and ask for handouts while nonresident workers do the work that we should be doing. Why is it that none of us demand jobs that have been given to others? Do we prefer to line up for food stamps and other freebies? Is this the future for our beautiful islands and our wonderful people?

Please, let us wake up and pick up our picks and shovels and begin to rebuild our economy. Yes, you and I working together can jumpstart our economy. Stay with me as we probe how we can do it.

Many of our citizens have simply packed up and left the islands in despair. Many of us have become desperate in trying to make ends meet because we cannot seem to find work or are not willing to work. Workers’ hours in the public sector have been drastically cut. We in the private sector are seeing our companies either closing down or on the verge of bankruptcy. Daily the situation worsens.

Increasingly I see our society coming apart. But the saddest of all this is that we citizens have lost our way and no one knows how to guide us back. Instead of looking inward to see if we are a part of the problem and seek within ourselves a solution, we keep running to the government hoping that it will solve the problems we are facing. But is the government the one who can solve our problems or are we the ones that must start the solutions?

What unusual experiences or skills do members of the government have that we do not possess? What is their previous work experience and training? Aren’t they also trying to keep their jobs and will do almost anything to retain them? So how can they help when they are as desperate as we are?

While government spending can be a stimulus to economic recovery, it is not the final solution but only an impetus. In our economy, we must realize that the work each of us does is something we do together and for each other as much as for ourselves. Everything we eat, wear, use is made by the collaboration of many workers.

Doing work that is challenging and cooperative seems to fulfill a deep human need. If we feel that the workplace as well as our home really belongs to us, and contributes to the good of all, we must demand jobs and work toward a good society. In our small islands we must create work activities that will produce income as well as satisfaction.

For over the past 25 years we have gradually developed a negative attitude toward work, preferring to have others—imported labor—do our jobs. As a result we have forgotten the meaning and value of work. Part of this is our fault and part of it is the fault of the U.S. government for handing us food stamps and other benefits for free. As a result we are in a state of confusion at this time. We are being forced by the same government that allowed us to develop this negative work attitude to deport the nonresident workers. Meanwhile we are doing little to prepare ourselves for their departure.

Let us start with ourselves. We cannot change anything but we can change our attitude of expectation. We must take responsibility for what is happening to us and why it is happening. Responsibly must begin with attention. To act responsibly we must ask: What is happening? What is calling us to respond? It has been said that all our action is a response to action upon us. We are caught in an inescapable web of relationship with other human beings.

To put responsibility into action, we must approach the leaders that we put our trust into and begin questioning what are the actions they are taking and why. We must make them talk to us and help us find ways to create jobs and rebuild our economy. Instead we have become dependent on them to give us gas money, pay our utility bills, take our garbage away, and do other things instead of focusing on the role we elected them to do. For some inexplicable reason, we are neglecting our responsibility.

In addition to not practicing responsibility, our trust is being turned into mistrust. Trust is always in conflict with mistrust. Because of previous experiences a degree of mistrust is usually realistic. Yet if we become dominated by mistrust we cannot attend or interpret adequately. We cannot act accountably. Think about this: Who do we feel to be trustworthy at this time? To whom can we go to and feel that that individual will act responsibly toward the problems facing us?

There is another element that has suffered and deteriorated along with responsibility and trust. Faith in ourselves has also fallen. When I speak of faith, I refer to the strength and power we muster in ourselves as we wrestle with our problems, along with the belief that our fellow citizens will also act accordingly.

Therefore recovery must consist of us citizens acting responsibly, with trust in ourselves and in our institutions and faith in our abilities to improve them. We must take action into our own hands and demand that jobs be given to us. Not only will we be able to earn a living with our hands but the money earned will stay and circulate in the community. When enough of us join hands and practice responsibility, trust, and faith, there is a good chance to achieve a good society. Yes, it is difficult to conquer ourselves, but when that is conquered, everything is conquered.

The simple solution to most of our problems lies within us. As Shakespeare once wrote in his play Julius Caesar, our destiny does not lie in the stars but in ourselves. In other words we control who we are and where we are going.

No, I don’t exclusively have the answers, but together we do. Look around and see the potentials and the wealth that God has provided us. Let us recall the days when our fathers and grandfathers built all the houses and roads without foreign laborers but with the sweat of their own hands. Let us recall when our fathers and grandfathers provided most of the food we ate from the labor of their hands in the farm lands they plowed. These opportunities are still waiting for us.

As I have previously mentioned on numerous occasions, I see today many opportunities for us to better ourselves that I saw 28 years ago when I first came to Saipan. I am willing to sit and discuss them with anyone who is interested. Call me and let’s talk. My email is tonypell@pticaom.com. No, I don’t profess to have the answers, but together we can find them.

Let us work together to create a society filled with responsibility, trust, and faith to make a Good Society. I believe we can do it if we screw up our determination and courage. Come, believe with me. Let us do it together! Have a great week.