When people ask me if I am Pro or Against Article XII I tell them YES to both and they wonder how can that be until I explain. To date, EVERYONE I have done this with is in total agreement that finding the middle ground for both sides to come together is the best solution to Article XII — diplomacy. Fighting and building arguments on fear is not the solution as we have nothing to fear but fear itself FDR. Diplomacy is the best tool in the political toolbox for fixing Article XII, especially if you want it fixed right or this issue could haunt and continue to hurt the CNMI’s economy and the quality of life for who knows how long.
Most of the Pro-Article XII concerns are actually based on pure fear. The Pro-Article XII people are afraid the people in the CNMI will end up like many Hawaiians who now can’t afford to live in their own city. Fear that outsiders will come in and buy up everything. Fear that somehow the culture is going to fly away because there are different land owners. Then there are the complaints that Japan and other countries don’t share their land
with outsiders and a list of other nonsense concerns that are based on self aggrandizement for locals only which Social Scientists have labeled Social Imperialism.
The solutions to all the fears of those who don’t want to change Article XII is education. Article XII clearly implies the local people are not smart enough to manage their own land, which is why the decision was taken away by Article XII. Education has proven to be the most influential force in the arsenal for countering bad choices and the power of greed which is one of the most deadly sins in the devil’s arsenal. If we are truly an educated people and know about Hawaii then we should learn how to deal with a Free Enterprise System of land.
It was not investors who took advantage of the Hawaiians it was GREED with no vision of the consequences and the inability to put money aside and invest for the future when they made the land deals.
The Hawaiians weren’t educated about the dynamics and economics. They didn’t realize that with the sale of land they had a responsibility not to spend all those millions at one time and save or invest the money for their future generations in the absence of land. This lesson in responsibility should have been learned from Hawaii and from recent mega sales in the CNMI that made people millionaires over night. None of these millionaires tried to make more millions which violated the rules of a Capitalistic Free Enterprise System. They ended the flow of continuous returns by not investing to continue making money — either you work or you make your money work for you in a capitalistic free enterprise system, it’s a basic economic law.
The concern about outsiders owning land won’t make any sense if the people are educated. Outsiders can’t come in and buy up everything if everything is not for sale — duh! But private landowners’ rights to free enterprise and the right of every citizen to buy must be granted if Article XII is to stand the test of time. The indigenous people just need to be educated about the Free Enterprise system and the horrors of GREED. Greed is the true enemy of the people when it comes to the selling of land, not teachers and professionals who only want a house lot and maybe a business to fulfill their American Dream in the CNMI.
I have heard people and some of our political leaders saying the “culture will die if the land is sold to U.S. citizens.” That is the most ridiculous statement ever made about Article XII. The preservation of any culture is education with practice and it has very little to do with the land. Indigenous people on the mainland have continued to practice their culture and language even though they are on the other side of the World. Our politicians even visit these groups of indigenous people to get votes when they have their annual get-togethers that are centered on the indigenous cultures coming together. If the indigenous people can continue to preserve the culture on the mainland then certainly it can be done in the CNMI regardless of who owns the house lot next to you — duh. Don’t fall for this out-right lie anymore as it is merely a ploy to play upon the passion you have for your culture — it’s called manipulation.
The comparisons made about Japan and other countries who don’t share their land are very misleading. If you examine the details you will find that Japan, Malaysia and the other S.E. Asian countries don’t share the land because they don’t have to. The size of the workforce in these countries is more than adequate to fulfill the workforce needs unlike the CNMI which needs other people from outside to have a completely functional workforce. The CNMI needs the help of other U.S. citizens like me and we know it is wrong to ask for a person’s help and in the same breath discriminate against them in our laws. If all the outsiders were NOT citizens then Article XII might have more validity but we know that is not the case. So we can’t compare apples and oranges which is what we are doing when it comes to the CNMI and other independent nations.
Finally, there are the personal fears that somehow a son or daughter is going to be left out and won’t own any land. Well, that is a personal problem and not a problem for everyone in the CNMI. Parents leave things for siblings all the time hoping they will hold on to it but that’s all you can do — hope. You can’t take the land with you and watch over it once you are dead — so educate your children on what you want and expect and then pray. If you can’t manage your property and manipulate it to your satisfaction for the present and the future needs then you should get educated or see a professional for help. But don’t try to make a blanket law to make decisions for everyone like Article XII has done. Presently the indigenous people are being forced to marry within the culture to keep their land and to only sell within the culture — the absence of choice. Choice is the ultimate expression of freedom. One people one direction for equality, free enterprise and FREEDOM of CHOICE.
AMBROSE M. BENNETT
Kagman, Saipan
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