Our first goal is survival

THE EDITOR: The first goal is not to be first world by 2020. The first goal is survival. Public servants and teachers still suffer from Government’s confiscation of monies from hard times in the 1980s after the ‘dose of salts’ oil boom of the 70s.

The middle class still has not recovered. The underdogs are even more frustrated with the good things they see everywhere but cannot have. Schools are still trying to catch up. The University and other research groups may profitably research the effect those years of suffering had on increased youth crime. We survived but we suffered through our ignorance and shortsighted optimism that the good times would ‘never’ end. Will OPEC survive? Will a USA Iraq considerably reduce the price of oil? Will Chavez pull a Castro on the world and point other directions in oil? Will the research on wind, tides, batteries, hydrogen, biogas etc make oil practically obsolete for vehicles? There are worse possibilities.

Will it not be the ‘height of ignorance’ and the depth of criminal stupidity on the part of Government, private sector and ordinary citizens if we are not committed to vigorous action now? It’s a case of ‘Save Now’ or go through another hell later. Are funds consistently deposited in Oil-stabilisation or similar Fund? Are Government borrowings, both local and foreign, closely monitored and controlled in the interest of survival? Are Government and private sector working diligently, jointly and separately to generate sustainable employment and self-employment opportunities for our people? Will tax and interest reduction mean increased wealth for relatively few, reducing national wealth and employment? Will real estate managers hustle prices upwards with tragic consequences for the country, like last time?

Will Government and private sector encourage workers, in their best interest, to spend carefully and save vigorously? (An interesting exercise with workers’ views of managers’ salaries!) No sector was wise enough last time. We suffered and we saw others suffer. And IMF demanded its pound of flesh. With hindsight, we cannot let it happen again to us, our children and our grandchildren. Many of us won’t give a damn. It becomes the responsibility of everybody else, in all sectors, to ensure we survive.

VAN  STEWART
Diego Martin