Powers of Observation
I am very thankful for my experience as a naval officer. The US Navy took me on many adventures and challenges for which, as I look back on that time has turned out to be a gift.
Why do I say this? Through my service, I’ve observed many cultures and civilizations; some to be envied and others with such abject poverty it makes you wonder how the inhabitants make due. Overall though, once you get past the language barrier, you tend to find that people are generally the same wherever you go.
What struck me as a Virgin Islander, in these many and varied lands, is how my home and standard of living compares relative to these far off places. Back then as a younger man, I was proud to note that our home & standard of living was generally similar to or sometimes superior to many of the places my Navy career took me. There are other places, though, to be envied, and at first, I made the decision to stay in the places that are far superior to my beloved home.
Some of you reading this, can relate, some of you cannot.
Similar to the First Law of Thermodynamics, overly simplified, people tend to flow from impoverished or corrupt societies to more affluent and efficient societies in an effort to have a better standard of living. As in nature, heat flows towards cold seeking equilibrium as work is done. The societies that are better have one thing in common; ensuring that the basics are taken care of is a given.
The necessary work gets done because it’s expected. How do we compare? What do I mean? Look around; generally, you see places of private business that are in good order, yet they are set in the midst of poor public infrastructure. Look closely; bad public roads are leading up to, in many cases, well-groomed businesses. These businesses adapt to maintain their good order with emergency power installations so they can ensure that the basics are reliably covered.
We all take steps to protect our investment in the things we spend the hard earned disposable portion of our income on; uninterruptible power supplies and PV Solar power come to mind to protect electronics from all too frequent power failures. The quality of the public water supply is such that businesses & individuals alike take extraordinary steps to adapt; look at how well the bottled water business is doing.
The public endures many wasted man-hours simply getting to where they want to go. As we look at the many unfinished, halted, or slow public projects, and public work that needs to be done, it doesn’t take a government insider to deduce that our Virgin Islands government is poorly managed and broke. The things we’re all doing to maintain good order in our personal & business lives despite government ineptitude essentially amounts to an additional tax for what we’re already paying government, via taxation, for.
The reasonable question to ask is; when is the bottom going to fall out? Are we connecting the dots yet? In my not so humble opinion, the quality of the government any society relies upon is directly related to the condition of the basic amenities common to all, and we expect to be properly attended to, with the many & varied taxes, fees, and tariffs levied upon us as constituents.
What do the tourists our economy rely upon think of what they see? Are we getting what we are paying for? Are we really paying attention? Do we even really care?
Perhaps since many of us are not well traveled, we simply don’t have a clear perspective on what should be expected for our society from our government. We complain of the brain drain of talented young people leaving our home, but are we really observing why this is occurring?
It is said that the definition of insanity, is doing the same thing over & over again, while expecting a different result. Are the priorities of our government really in tune to the basic needs of our society? Do any of us really know what the priorities of our government really are? As we go through life as Virgin Islanders are we really observing our surroundings & the impact our government is having on our private lives?
Perhaps the ones who are leaving, not intending to return, are more perceptive than those of us who choose come back home, or to stay and, in most cases, seemingly endorse the inefficiency, waste, fraud, and corruption that government continues to inflict upon us... the status quo.
Food for thought.