This is a follow-up to my letter on conservatism v liberalism. Determining where you are on the scale of politics is one of the most important things and decision a voter can make regarding political issues and political decisions. I hope that some readers will be able to appreciate and respect this Social Science lesson coming from a Social Studies teacher of 21 years.
It is vital that someone educate the masses as our leaders are tooooo busy fighting loosing political battles. In fact, the art of persuasion is the preferred form of political combat in the CNMI opposed to the intellectual approach with logic, reasoning, facts, principles, reality and common sense. The sad part is toooo many voters are now falling victim to the persuasion of our politicians that is often filled with false rumors about the culture being jeopardized, their opposition’s faults and anything they can think of to get your vote which is only broadcast over the coconut wire – not in the news.
The solutions for political decisions have five basic paths to follow. Voters will find themselves in different places on the scale of politics depending upon the issue but some will remain steadfast in their school of thought and that is the true danger in our politics. Balance is everything in nature and life and finding the balance on political issues is the key to having a successful government when the people are willing to find the balance in our political decisions. Just saying NO is not going to cut it anymore in this day and time. We must offer a solution or compromise with our responses for a democracy to move forward on issues or we remain stuck in time – a phenomenon that we are presently experiencing. Where are you on the scale of politics for issues like Article XII and the Interior’s Report?
Some readers may not know this but the real political power in America belongs to the “moderates” who often called the “swing voters” because they usually determine the outcome and they shift back and forth between parties and independents. Moderates are the most open to both sides of political issues, they are usually the most educated on the issues, and usually base their decisions on facts and reality. Any political scientist will tell you the political voting power of America to influence most elections will remain in the hands of the moderates and not the Democratic or Republican Party. But here in the CNMI there is no clear philosophical line of demarcation between the political parties and the independents. In fact, many of our politicians are saying the same thing and our vote boils down to “whom do you trust” and not necessarily who has a plan to get the job done. Too many of our leaders are also playing it safe when we elected them to take risk and lead. I can count the number of politicians on my fingers that are willing to go public and take a stand on controversial issues, which is why we (the people) don’t get real leadership on controversial issues and we end up going nowhere FAST!
But just to give you an idea of how the art of persuasion and the Wall of Social Imperialism is protecting and ruling over political common sense in the CNMI. You only need to recall how politicians in the CNMI have used culture to persuade and even scare voters into supporting them. But you will never hear culture being on the agenda of Congress, the Whitehouse or any federal official. Culture is a “personal issues” that is confined to education with no place on a political agenda. A culture lives and dies on an individual basis, one person at a time.
The sad part is the leaders who keep invoking culture for obvious political reasons aren’t doing anything to save the culture just scaring people. Where is the ultimate leadership on preserving the entire cultures of the two indigenous groups? There has been no attempt to create a Chamorro or Carolinian Nation within the Marianas with a supreme chief or leader and subordinate leaders or chiefs. No one is keeping the language up to date even though we have a Language Commission. The funny part for me to keep from feeling so sorry for the local people is that I am the ONLY one pushing for a Cultural Curriculum with all the indigenous customs and tradition so the cultures can be preserved and even taught for all time but no one is listening to this scientific approach simply because of my race an origin – what a shame or should I say NOT ASHAME to let racism overrule logic, principles, values and basic common sense.
The art of persuasion worked to get the Covenant and membership in the American family and it even worked for awhile with bringing in Alien workers. But persuasion can’t sustain us and now it’s not working anymore with the Feds. The persuasive arguments about the CNMI’s uniqueness and the rude comments we have made about federal officials in the past have now become the proverbial tiger that has turned on us. From the very start the fatal flaw in the persuasion to allow the CNMI to bring in alien workers was the unrealistic intent and belief that the local people would prosper at the expense of alien workers. By design, alien workers were to remain at the bottom of the social ladder while locals improve their quality of life, which is the main reason minimum wages were never raised as most locals wouldn’t work for minimum wage until recently and they had to.
Now the intervention of federal authority and laws making everyone EQUAL in this part of America has finally caught up with the false persuasion. Reality and facts are now overtaking the persuasive arguments founded on racism and discrimination and replacing it with principles and values that we must live up to regardless of how difficult the challenge. What really gets me is that some local people don’t seem to understand that it is indeed a disgrace and dishonor to local fallen American heroes when they invoke their racist and discriminating preferences. Locals have died fighting to give people they never knew the equality and freedom that everyone living in America should process regardless of their race, creed, color, sex, Religion or origin yet their sacrifice is not being truly honored and respected to the fullest extent by some of their own people. What a shame.
The CNMI is part of America and either everyone (locals and non-locals) in the CNMI will find prosperity together OR no one will find it at all. We need conservatives and liberals to come together as moderates to find real solutions to the political challenges we face. I think it is fair to say we need each other and we are all (locals and non-locals) suffering together so why can’t we all work together find prosperity as One people?
AMBROSE M. BENNETT
Kagman, Saipan
