I learned many things at the feet of Mrs. Ingah Smith but two stand out.  She always remarked that:

“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty.” (King Solomon)

“ Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” (Alexander Pope (1688–1744))

On Tuesday 5th November, the world will change regardless of the candidate that Americans select.  The stakes are high.  

The BVI economy is fueled by the Americans and we know that when the US economy falters, we fail.

At a mere 60 sq miles, a population less than 40,000 (30, 000 at last count) and an annual budget in the vicinity of $400M, BVI should have been a centre of excellence for many things.  It is not.

Part of the problem is that we are not interested in record keeping, analysis of our policies nor advice.

For decades, the government has invested heavily in training and education.  We are ‘paper qualified’ to our eyeballs and yet our progress is stymied.

Huge trust issues exist between elected officials and the civil service and suspicion is high.  So, we move around in circles instead of moving forward.

Once elected, politicians seem to believe that they are above advice and there is less dependence on the civil service.

That may be why we got the greedy bill and the stimulus for farmers and fishermen handed out to people who are neither and paid from a heist.

Larceny on a different scale.

The Attorney General is the government’s chief legal adviser.  By virtue of office, the post holder is a member of the Cabinet; A member of the House of Assembly and; A member of the National Security Council.

Regardless of the way an individual AG may perform in the post and discounting the contributions that legal makes to the territory’s race to the bottom, it is the post that is of significance to us.

For now, the post holder has been unceremoniously removed from sitting next to the Premier to offer advice.  

The next move, certainly, will be to get the AG out of the House altogether, unless the position becomes an elected one.

But they will not stop there.  They will not rest until the AG’s seat in the Cabinet is also overturned.

And with that advisor of significance marginalized in the system, we would have approached our comfort zone.  

The opinions of elected members will hold full sway, unchecked, without even the benefit of advice that may help the decision-making process.

And the deeper they dive into folly, the louder they will call for independence.  But they dare not put a referendum before the people.

For the people believe the words spoken by Alexander Pope even if their leaders do not.  

And they also subscribe to Aristotle’s famous quote that “All knowledge should be subject to examination and reason.” 

We subscribe to it on Fridays.

Happy Friday!