J. J. ESTEMAC- PERSPECTIVES: March 10, 2010.
By admin ~ March 10th, 2010. Filed under: Civic responsability, Criminal activity, Cultural, Family Affair, Good Governance, History, Human Service, Journalism, Law Enfrocement, Leadership, Legislative, Local, Morality, Politics, Security, Work ethics, civil rights, criminals, delinquency, education, elections, homicide.
What Is Our Vision For The US Virgin Islands?
I have been observing the direction that these Virgin Islands have taken. Among my observations is the general deterioration of the fundamental fabric of our society. Our society which has been developed on the basic tenets of the Judeo-Christian philosophy or moral values, as interpreted by the church fathers, theologians and other philosophers. Generally, most of our legal and moral code is based on what is commonly referred to as the “Ten Commandments”. This body of precepts summarizes our moral code which has been used in our legal codes as well. This code has been the moral cornerstone of the so called Western civilization, which includes our geographic area., the Americas. We here in the US Virgin Islands is an extension of the United States of America, a possession, an unincorporated territory of that great world power in the North, and subject to its laws and culture.
I have been for some time suspecting that there is an element in the Virgin Islands society that not only do not want an effective criminal justice system, they have been doing everything within their powers to restrict and reduce the effectiveness of our law enforcement agencies. Whether it be the collection of taxes or the enforcement of our laws and regulations we have not been as effective as we can in fulfilling the mission of these law enforcement agencies. Today we see the escalation of violent crimes as well as “white collar” crimes. Of course the constant increase of homicides in the territory, is alarming to some and not to others. Do you see or hear any of our elected representatives in either branch express their consternation on the wave of homicides in our territory? Have any of them rally the various agencies to address this epidemic? Are they really that indifferent to the crime wave in our community, or is it too much for them to handle?
It is said, and I agree, “without vision the people perish…”and we are perishing only that so many pretend not to be aware. Is it because they do not have a clue or the vision on how to address the social ills that afflict this community? There is no worse condition or circumstance than when good people, law abiding people refuse to be involve in addressing the ills that afflict their community. When good people allow evil to pervade our society without resisting it, cynicism sets in. Is it cowardice, cynicism, lack of faith, or lack of vision? Maybe it is a bit of all of the above. I know that there have been prophets who have predicted that certain things will come to pass, such as the many anomalies we are experiencing. I believe it does not take a majority to turns things around or at least to improve the status quo. I believe, and history bears me out, that a small committed and spiritually strong group with the right vision can help turn things around or at least slow down the downhill spiral.
When we fail to search for the best amongst us to represent us, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, religion, or place of birth we condemn our government to the fate we are now experiencing. Notwithstanding the facts of our demographic, a population of less than 200,000 inhabitants, and a serious “brain drain”, the selection process becomes even more challenging. But select we must before we elect, if we are going to arrest the downward spiral of our society.
We must muster the energy and the will to do what is needed to improve the quality of our representatives in government. Personal integrity should be a non-negotiable standard.
We also need to promote equal standard in all three branches of our government when it come to term limit. The executive branch has term limit, the judicial branch has term limit but the legislative branch does not. To the me that is not equality amongst the three “equal” branches as it is suppose to be. With term limit in the legislative branch we will reduce the notion of entitlement and the opportunities for much corruption.
In our senate we need a better mix than we presently have, when we check the population we will note that females make up the majority of the population and the electorate. Of the 15 senators in the 28th Legislature only one is a female. Businesses is the engine of our economy, yet we have no representative that is a successful business person in our senate. We are a multiracial and multiethnic community and our legislature should represent that diversity. For our community to be stronger and more progressive we need to practice not only preach, inclusiveness. All legitimate Virgin Islands residents who pay all their taxes and meet the basic criteria to hold elective office should be allowed to represent their constituency. Any native born who does not pay their fair share of taxes and other obligations should not be eligible to hold elective or appointed office in our government. To permit otherwise is folly and is to the detriment of our government, and it establishes a bad precedent. In a democratic society the people gets the government they deserve, they elect them.
I exhort all people of goodwill, young and the not so young, senior citizens to join forces to save our community from the self destructive path it is presently on. Many of us know what is going on in our community, all the wrong doings, all the immorality, all the illegal activities all the corrupt individuals in our government and outside out government. Take a stand, if you believe in good government, in law and order, in a moral society, take a stand, resist temptation, resist greed. Seek righteousness and justice and the grace of Allah-God Almighty will shine upon us all. Let all those who believe in a fair and just society resist those who seek to destroy ours. Stand up, speak up, join up in a movement to save the Virgin Islands. It is later then you think and we may not have another chance at saving what is left of the Virgin Islands as we have known it. The VIRGIN ISLANDS, if you love it, SAVE it, the time is NOW!
J.J. Estemac
CCBG
St. Thomas, VI
10/3/10







