Dear Editor,
10-10-10 is fast approaching. It is less than 70 days away. Processes that are underway will run beyond that magical date. Both papers carry daily information pertaining to 10-10-10. What we miss and haven't seen any report on so far is the way in which social cohesion can be brought about. Humanism can be helpful in this regard.
Humanism is a philosophical approach which starts from the assumption that people seek self-actualization and self-fulfilment. Self-actualization is found at the top level of Maslow's pyramid or hierarchy of needs. Self-actualization is more than the theory that states that the highest good of human beings is the development of their emotional and intellectual potentials.
It is more than we first think, because if it is shared and brought about in others, it will impact society positively. We seek self-actualization not for selfish reasons, but more as a tool, a vehicle to bring about transformation. It is like the old man said: "Help is a prayer, inner dialogue and transformation away."
Without proper inner dialogue, 10-10-10 will lose its intrinsic value. We need to guard against this. As an island we are working hard to put things in place to carry the future status of country. It is also equally true that a man who never reflects is not all that mature. Similarly this concept can be applied to where the island territory of St. Maarten finds itself today. For years we have neglected to develop institutions like right and wrong, fairness, respect, self-respect, integrity, compliance, a sense of justice etc.
These deficits are clear today. We have become a society of associations - if not gangs. The lack of the fabric to develop a cohesive society is felt today more than yesterday. Politics and business were not interested in social cohesion. They were both doing well. The pending 10-10-10 has brought us back to level one - reflection time.
The ordinance regulating the rules of good governance was introduced. There are so many more ordinances to be made for compliance, integrity and transparency. Why are some businesses and government allowed to procrastinate on decisions they have to make? Why is mediation not recognized and promoted as a way forward? Why is our judicial system clogging up more and more on a daily basis?
We think that it is fair to assume that our leaders are self-actualizing persons. If this is true then where is the intellectual potential that comes with self-actualization? If it is around, where is it and how is it been used? So far, the decisions that took place in St. Maarten over the years have been mediocre at best. Mediocre, because knowledge and transparency which would have served the general interest were conveniently discarded.
Country St. Maarten, come 10-10-10, will find itself on the threshold of a new beginning; a new beginning, in which knowledge is going to be the key. Not only knowledge of what is going on locally, but also what is happening in the region and the world as a whole; knowledge that would allow the captain and the officers to plot the best course forward, keeping the laws in mind.
The Truth and Integrity will be looking on and what is a non-issue today might very well become an issue tomorrow. Backroom dealings have to be a thing of the past. The processes that have to take place are too important to be left up to politics and businesses alone. We need to see more people being brought into the overall discussion. This is needed to bring about a sense of direction, a sense of being, a feeling of belonging and in the end a sense of togetherness.
It is better to have the support of the mass than that of a few, no matter how powerful. What might seem alright today, in time to come will come back and haunt us; we will have to deconstruct and reconstruct. For us it is cheaper to build well the first time than to have to break down and rebuild. Remember, construction-cost is soaring. Maintenance is cheaper.
As stated before, there is no social cohesion. We are an island of associations. All associations have some other place to go, where will we go who are association-less? Who is representing this minority? How can we make our voice be heard? If one of us is wronged, where do we file our complaint? More interesting, what is done with our complaint? In one of the daily newspaper one could read that there is a complaint regulation in the making for country Curaçao. Where is ours?
All the complaints that have been lodged over the years, what did they yield? Did those complaints lead to St. Maarten being better prepared for the coming challenges? We believe that great opportunities were missed, because in the fray of things complaints were never taken seriously.
How ironic, today we are paying the price. 10-10-10 is an administrative decision. It will take place, but the scope of the work to ensure that 10-10-10 is a success is not known. No one knows, because no one wants to put a model together which will measure aspects like macro and micro economy, physical, emotional and mental stress factors and finally the level of spirituality in country St. Maarten.
Effective leaders have the following in common: They are warm, they provide unconditional, positive regard for the other (builds self-esteem), they are genuine and honest in expressing their feelings and they show an accurate empathetic understanding for what people are going through, what is in the outer world and the way forward.
Leaders like this will help the people of St. Maarten to explore the meaning of their existence and face with courage and determination the great questions of life, such as death freedom, free will, integrity, compliance, transformation, loneliness and meaningless.
Such a leader would also believe that our lives are not inevitably determined by our pasts or our circumstances. Such a leader would show us that we have the power to choose our own destinies.
The old lady explained it this way: "The crucial first step in change is for the person or persons involved to acknowledge a need for transformation."
In other words that person has - or persons have - to come to the conclusion and admit that things could have been done differently. That person is - or those persons are - to blame. Let's decide to do things differently.
We call on our leaders to put self-actualization to work differently.
John A. Richardson,
on behalf of the Pythagoras Group
