Forthright and Frank Observations Of A Desperately Fed Up Montserrat Citizen

Forthright and Frank Observations Of A Desperately Fed Up Montserrat Citizen
Author

Desperately Fed Up Citizen

Release Date

Saturday, February 7, 2015

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I have been watching and listening to all that has been going on in the political arena here on Montserrat, and like so many of us who live here, I am fed up! We are not the minority, we are the majority, and woe to the political party who does not heed our complaints. Woe to they who brush off our plight as self inflicted and unimportant. Politicians consistently forget that we are their boss, they were hired by us! WE ARE FED UP!

It has been 10 months since the last election and we are just as badly off as before. The swift turnaround promised by the PDM "People's Party" has not materialized. All we can hear from PDM is how badly RTM ruined everything, what a mess RTM made of everything, blah, blah, blah! ENOUGH!!

If you cannot give us concrete plans to fix the situation then you need to sit down. We don't need to hear anymore about all the things RTM did, we don't want to hear that as an excuse anymore. It is time to move past that and start fixing the situation ASAP. So far we have heard all sorts of hypothetical possibilities but zero concrete plans to remedy the poverty the poor are facing. Not even the implementation of price control that would keep the supermarket price gouging in control! ZILCH, NADA, NOTHING!!

And you all should rein in some of your so called advisors from talking to the public because they are downright insulting and condescending. They are telling the people that they have short memories and lack common sense when they criticize the lack of job creation 10 months into PDM's government. I know many in PDM are business owners and might be used to talking to employees like that, but this is a different world you are in now. We voted you into power, we are your boss and when we give you an unsatisfactory job performance review you do NOT insult us and talk down to us if you want to keep your job!!! YOU WILL BE FIRED!!!!

Mr. Meade, we realize that you are hurt and angry that you lost your seat of power but quite frankly, this is not about you, it never was. Get over yourself and think of your people. Work WITH instead of against the current government to make things better for us all. Imagine how good you would look and how far your image would be repaired if you genuinely stepped up for the good of the nation. And when I say that I don't mean in your usual snarky, condescending manner, but humble and honest. NO MORE EGOS!!

People cannot continue to live like this. The squeeze right now is too great. The voting public has to take some responsibility too, We as a country do not stand up for ourselves very well. We sit around the office or the local rum shop and complain and complain, but we never get organized and march unless it is for church. We need to get better at voicing our displeasure in an organized way. UNITY!!

Those who have so much can never understand how hard it is for those of us who have nothing or next to nothing. Their lack of understanding causes a severe lack of empathy on ALL of their parts, both PDM and MCAP. Many households have only one working person to support an entire family. There are men who have not gotten work for the year other than the odd day here and there. Families are struggling so hard that they have to choose between food and medicine every day. The physical and mental health of many is in jeopardy because of the inability to afford a fruit and vegetable rich diet and the high level of stress everyone is experiencing trying to make ends meet. People are drowning in debt. The supermarkets are charging outrageous prices for healthy foods. Even the costs at casualty and the hospital pharmacy have gone up. I would be interested to hear how many people had their light and water disconnected for the year, and how many have applied for social welfare. FOR SHAME!!

I think it is time for us to move away from the mindset that only wealthy "high society" and business owners are fit to run this country. We need to be more open to voting for people who have struggled with us because only they understand what we have been through and know what we need to get to a better place. I believe that someone who has felt the pain and frustrations that we have felt will be more likely to look into projects and programs that will help everyone instead of just looking for angles where they can enrich themselves. We have created a sort of aristocracy of the social elite families and that is dangerous for the rest of us. They will always gain positions of power based on who they are rather than how competent they are. Their children will always fare better than ours simply because of who their family is while our kids will have to leave the island to gain any opportunity. They feel that the governance of this island is their God given right. And yet I am constantly observing my fellow proletariats bowing before these undeserving oppressors and kissing their rear-ends in the hope that their favor will gain them some measure of reward. DOWN WITH THE ARISTOCRACY!!

So in summation I am;

1. Asking that PDM stop with the blame placing and excuses and get some concrete job creating plans off of the planning board and into real seeable action.

2. Asking RTM and MCAP to put the egos aside and show your mettle in helping PDM help us (the poor and unemployed).

3. Asking the citizenry to show some unification and start effectively demonstrating their dissatisfaction.

4. Asking for those in power to come to grips with the unpleasant reality the rest of us are living in and do something concrete about it.

5. Asking the citizenry to embrace the idea of a true people's party made up of people who have been in our shoes and understand what we need.

I would be happy if even just one of these could be realized!

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