The devastating hurricanes of 2017 were a gift to the United Kingdom.

Think about it for a moment! Imagine yourself as the parent of a recalcitrant young adult, living in your house, doing what he wants, saying whatever comes to his mouth, and thinking that he has the right to say and do as he might please, although he can barely “piss clear of his legs,” as the older folks used to say. Still, if he gets himself into trouble you are left “holding the bag.” Rightly or wrongly, wouldn’t you welcome the opportunity to humble his “lil’ backside?”

Sometimes young people have to learn the hard way. As soon as they get a little job they want to buy all kinds of stuff that they don’t need. Tom, Dick and Harry have it, so they must have it too. They won’t listen to their parents when they are told to put away something for a rainy day. They are young and strong. They can walk and get much-needed exercise. They can take a bus or a train. But no! They must have a fancy car. They won’t save a penny. Maybe just enough to let the bank seduce them into getting a car loan. Next thing you know, the car “mash up” and they have to borrow bus fare from their parents. Their parents make sure that they only give them six dollars at a time, and they have to pay back all at the end of the month if they have anything left after they finish paying the bank.

 

‘Good-for-nothing’

In this situation, you would think that this “lil’ good-for-nothing” young fellow would humble himself and accept the help his parents are willing to give. But no! Every day he is abusing his parents. He takes no responsibility for his situation. He accuses them of favouritism. If it were the older brother, they would even buy him a new car because he was always the favourite. And the parents have to put up with this, because if they throw him out of their house some neighbour who doesn’t know what they have to put up with will be telling everybody how terrible they are.

And the neighbour may have a point. Who knows what the relationship between this young lad and his parents has been? Who knows how they came by this house that they are using as leverage to control the behaviour of this young person who just knows that he wants to have the things that others do? Who has given them the right to say, “Do as I say and not as I do?”

 

Financial services

So there are at least two ways to look at this controversy between the Virgin Islands government, with regard to the financial services, the so-called primary pillar of the economy. The UK has pulled the rug out from under the VI by forcing them to implement public registers of ownership of companies registered here at a time of our greatest vulnerability. There must be at least one person dancing to the song “I got you right where I want you.” What a gift!

Now, I have to admit that I come down on the side of the UK. I’ll tell you why. If the VI government had made a habit of involving the people in the decision-making process, every man Jack and woman Jill would know that we were building on sand, and that a time would come when that pillar would crumble. But most of us did not know. We just knew that money was flowing and it was there to be used. Had we known and had we decided to look at it as some kind of reparation for injustice done to our forefathers, I would have had no problem with it. Life is what it is. But if we had been knowledgeable about the nature of this industry, we would have been more aware of the need for greater modesty in our approach to development and we would have been better prepared for this day that has caught us unawares.

But no! The people were not involved. We could not walk on this hallowed ground. I believe it was in the 1990s when the sector came under attack that a meeting was announced and held at Prospect Reef.  I didn’t know that it was not for lesser mortals such as I, so I had the audacity to show up and ask a question. I was summarily dismissed by the good gentleman who was chairing the meeting. So I went home with my tail between my legs, determined to lose interest in it.

 

Answers, finally

But some years later when the financial services division announced an open house, I couldn’t help myself. So I showed up and had the opportunity to speak with a gentleman whose name was Mr. Baker. In short order, he was able to put the crux of the matter in a nutshell, masterfully. Of course, I had to ask the right questions.

That’s the kind of education that should have been provided to the people in general. Don’t just invite people and wait for them to come if they choose. If this is such an important matter, bombard every captive audience and let them decide how they want to use the information you provide. Isn’t that a part of the democratic process?

So now we are where we are: devastated, broke and vulnerable but still recalcitrant. We want to march. To go where? We should be sitting down together and trying to figure out how to start over and how to avoid the mistakes we made in the past. I was appalled to hear someone suggest that the premier should be the only person to speak about the matter. Isn’t that how we got to where we are? We need to humble ourselves, accept responsibility for the errors of the past, recognise that everyone has a part to play in the process of rebuilding, and recommit ourselves to the Christian values that shaped our behaviour in the past and provided the firm foundation on which we built.