Year 2012: The road taken or the road not taken

As the last whisper of 2011 sounded at midnight and melted into the hopeful New Year, 2012, I was reminded of one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost:

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”[/I]

As the person in the poem, you and I are standing on two roads and wondering which road we shall take. Which road shall we take to recover from our ever-worsening economic picture? As I look at one of the roads to travel down this 2012, I ask us to see the resources we possess under our feet. Our bountiful land on all the islands is waiting to be planted and harvested by us. We have acres of diamonds under our feet that we fail to see. We have markets close by who will take all and more than we can produce. And the most wonderful thing about this is that we will not add any pollution to our islands. Instead we will foster a greener environment. All of this can be done with pride and community effort while recovering from our economical depression. It’s called the economics of happiness!

The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands is blessed with so many natural resources that we have the potential of becoming a virtual food basket for Asia and other parts of the world. Think of the mountains of fruits and vegetables that Saipan, Tinian, and Rota could grow should we begin working our plows and shears. Think of all the livestock we could raise on these three islands plus the Northern Islands.

Think of the bountiful sea surrounding us that is sparking clean without pollution. Consider the multitude of fish in the bountiful sea that could be our catch. Not only do we have a clean ocean with almost unlimited fish to feed us surrounding our blessed islands, but we can also become farmers in the same waters. Think about cultivating various aquaculture species such as shrimp, abalone, groupers, tilapia, sea cucumbers, seaweed, and many other aquatic animals. All of this is well within our reach and can be done with our hands and hearts. We will be kings again.

Lying before us is another road that we are considering. So where does this other road lead us to? It leads to more dependency and more loss of pride and dignity. We become parasites. Shall we plunge into a madness called casino fever and feel that outside investors are our only saviors? Shall we continue to depend on outsiders, including the United States, to throw us any crumbs? Or shall we take the road less traveled and begin to help ourselves?

In panic we are considering a casino industry composed of foreign investors along with the usual associated businesses—more bars and more prostitution. Do we really feel that by pandering to the whims of wealthy customers we will prosper? Does it matter that our children will refuse to stay here because of no opportunities for them? Does it matter that our local workforce will remain untrained and jobless? Does it matter that we remain as beggars hoping that the foreign investors will throw crumbs at us to quiet our grudging attitude? Will we keep begging the United States for more handouts and more food stamps while whining that they aren’t doing enough to help us prosper? What will happen to our pride and dignity as we travel down that road?

During the past months, I entertained several Chinese investors who visited Saipan. They marveled at Saipan with all its beauty and potential as a fruit and vegetable garden paradise. They asked me why we haven’t cultivated the land to produce the fruits, vegetables, and flowers that are lying under our soil waiting to be harvested. They marveled at how clean the waters around us are. I had no reply but stood amazed that they saw so quickly what we fail to see daily.

Are we so immersed in a state of helplessness that we cannot help ourselves? Are we gripped in fear of what has happened to us? If so, let us be careful for fear inevitably brings violence in its wake.

The answer to a feeling of helplessness and fear is awareness. Once we become aware of our problems we begin to conquer. Problems arise when we don’t take responsibility for what we are doing. If we want to change anything, we must increase our awareness of what we are doing. Consider carefully which road we should take.

Instead of telling us what we can do to improve our economic and social life, I am asking us to consider our attitudes toward our current problems. How did they come about? Didn’t we collaborate with our leaders, perhaps unwittingly, but nevertheless, we did collaborate to create them? Aren’t we part of the problems? If so, then we can undo them.

Simply put, in order to live well and happy, we must work for what we believe. We languish and die when our beliefs are gone. The famous poet Robert Browning stated: “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for.”

As former Supreme Court chief justice Jose S. Dela Cruz wrote recently in his letter to the editor: “Politics and the political process in the Commonwealth… have become petty, personal and vindictive over the past 30 years. …Unless our leaders begin to respect one another and the general public once again, and unless they begin to understand that public service means to serve each member of the public fairly and responsibly again, the future of the Commonwealth will continue to be bleak. …Commonwealth self-government is indeed tipping toward failure and total collapse.”

We, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands, must take action to change this course of self-destruction. Let us take the right road to prosperity. We know which road to take, but do we have the desire, determination, and courage? Basta! Enough is enough!

Let us choose the road to success and happiness that is paved by desire, determination and discipline. Harness them and the world is ours. Looking back on our history, we tilled the land and harvested its fruits. However, in recent years, we have strayed from that course. Is it any wonder that we are lost, struggling to find our direction again?

So we stand at the two divergent roads as the New Year begins. Which road do we take—the less traveled one or the more heavily traveled one? What will we be saying somewhere ages and ages hence? Do we help ourselves or do we continue relying on others to do for us?

In closing, remember even if we don’t wake up to dreams from God, every day has to mean something to us, and if it does, the battle is won. Keep smiling! It is one of our most valuable assets. May the New Year 2012 bring us the blessings we seek! Happy New Year, everyone!!!