When someone has a choice.....

[yogz]

To choose between:

1) The opportunity to improve themselves and their family and

2) The status quo

They will almost always choose status quo, as it takes a strong individual to stand up against their peers and family and say "no" we deserve better. Strength from within each citizen can be gauged by the strength shown by the society as a whole. Not much strength is shown when integrity, morals, and a degradation of values are shown to be weak in every page of the newspaper. When murdering, stealing, cheating, alcohol abuse, and adultering become part of your culture, there is weakness in your society, not strength. I think Trinidad needs strong leaders, and if they don't have any, then the people need to be the strong ones and choose the party that will give their family the best opportunity to improve themselves, if they want it. IF they don't then the populace has become weak, cowardly, and the most dangerous thing: lacking self worth. When a person doesn't feel they deserve to improve themselves then they are on the road to living like animals. So the choice is really: do you want to live in a jungle, or in a modern society.

Trinidad has the opportunity to be paradise on earth, a model of integration of cultures, tolerance and understanding. The only thing we are lacking is self worth. Want better than the crap PNM has been giving. Choose the lesser of evils, at least it is a step forward. Imagine a country where you "free up" for a month a year, and in the other 11 months live in a caribbean paradise. A country with enough education to tell your children that if they wanted to be an astronaut or research butterflies they can do it when they grow up. A country where africans, indians, and others are civil and equals. Where the best of each culture and tradition is shared to make the country better, and bring the people closer. A country that can be the "Dubai of the Caribbean". A country that can balance a prosperous economy, and human rights, that can break down barriers between rich and poor, educated and uneducated, artist and businessman, lovers and fighters, strong and weak.

It is not asking too much to take a step in the right direction. Look at the big picture.

[Falcon]

To choose between:

1) The opportunity to improve themselves and their family and

2) The status quo

They will almost always choose status quo, as it takes a strong individual to stand up against their peers and family and say "no" we deserve better. Strength from within each citizen can be gauged by the strength shown by the society as a whole. Not much strength is shown when integrity, morals, and a degradation of values are shown to be weak in every page of the newspaper. When murdering, stealing, cheating, alcohol abuse, and adultering become part of your culture, there is weakness in your society, not strength. I think Trinidad needs strong leaders, and if they don't have any, then the people need to be the strong ones and choose the party that will give their family the best opportunity to improve themselves, if they want it. IF they don't then the populace has become weak, cowardly, and the most dangerous thing: lacking self worth. When a person doesn't feel they deserve to improve themselves then they are on the road to living like animals. So the choice is really: do you want to live in a jungle, or in a modern society.

Trinidad has the opportunity to be paradise on earth, a model of integration of cultures, tolerance and understanding. The only thing we are lacking is self worth. Want better than the crap PNM has been giving. Choose the lesser of evils, at least it is a step forward. Imagine a country where you "free up" for a month a year, and in the other 11 months live in a caribbean paradise. A country with enough education to tell your children that if they wanted to be an astronaut or research butterflies they can do it when they grow up. A country where africans, indians, and others are civil and equals. Where the best of each culture and tradition is shared to make the country better, and bring the people closer. A country that can be the "Dubai of the Caribbean". A country that can balance a prosperous economy, and human rights, that can break down barriers between rich and poor, educated and uneducated, artist and businessman, lovers and fighters, strong and weak.

It is not asking too much to take a step in the right direction. Look at the big picture.

who is THEY??? sigh*

[yogz]

who is THEY??? sigh*

I deserve that for being unclear, and i understand how you took it that way, but by no means was my post intended to be a comment on the choices of only one set of ppl. Just the set of ppl that don't know themselves enough to know that they deserve better. In my own family, individuals suffer from this.

[Falcon]

Interesting hypothesis but always remember that choosing the status qou sometimes is THE ONLY OPTION for someone on whom an entire family depends.

For instance, in the Middle East where lots of Asians reside as migrant workers, they are the sole bread winners in their family. The alternative is to go back home and get paid many times less what they earn there. As such, they can be taken advantage of: abused, threatened, underpaid and overworked, and they will still prefer to live through that and collect the paycheck at the end of the month. Can't judge them for this, as in the end, they will live comfortably and the (hopefully) temporary 'inconvenience' will be forgotten. They are looking at a bigger picture than a here-and-now respect in the workplace. I read Kamla said it is better to do something standing than to crawl on your belly etc etc from a Ghandhi speech- unfortunately many people don't have the ability to do this at certain points in their life.

Standing up for what you believe in, is most honourable. Standing up for other people, and taking the fall for them in an attempt to help them is even more honourable. Standing up for your family, and making some very tough self-sacrifices is not dishonourable.

[Somebody007]

Lemmeh tell yuh something....the only way yuh could really make yuh life better is if yuh get up and work...and work hard at what yuh do.....I say this message to all the lazy people who expectin a free handout from the government or waiting for Patrick Manning to give them something and for those who prayin long and hard for ah car, ah house, land and money and aint puttin down any wuk or layin some sort of foundation for these things to happen.

If yuh want to climb up in the status quo, yuh must do the same.

[yogz]

Lemmeh tell yuh something....the only way yuh could really make yuh life better is if yuh get up and work...and work hard at what yuh do.....I say this message to all the lazy people who expectin a free handout from the government or waiting for Patrick Manning to give them something and for those who prayin long and hard for ah car, ah house, land and money and aint puttin down any wuk or layin some sort of foundation for these things to happen.

If yuh want to climb up in the status quo, yuh must do the same.


I agree, that being said, the question is under whose system will i benefit the most out of my hard work. Obviously the most fair and efficient system, with the most opportunity will be ideal. It starts with the use of money to create jobs, opportunities. Outlets for artists, innovators, entrepreneurs etc. Whoever and whatever you want to do is what should be on the mind of a government. They should provide the opportunity.

Below is an except from the Premier of Ontario , Canada, on his vision (taken from his personal website: http://www.dalton.ca/en/print.php):

My Vision

For me it's all about opportunity and being in a position to ensure that all Ontarians have everything they need to succeed. Opportunity is personal. Let me tell you just a little bit about my family story.

On my dad's side, my grandmother was married at the age of sixteen, she married a man who was about twice her age. I think the both of them managed to complete their elementary education. My grandparents had six kids, my father was the youngest of those six. On my mother's side, she was the second youngest of five little girls and one day when my mother was still quite young her father left and never returned. So my grandmother performed odd jobs in order to make ends meet. The fact that just one generation later I'm speaking to you now as Premier of, what I would argue, is the greatest province in the most blessed country on the face of the planet, speaks to the power of opportunity.

What's remarkable about my story is probably the fact that it's so unremarkable. And it speaks to this notion, this sense of shared responsibility we have here in Ontario, Canada, to ensure that the older generation always holds the door of opportunity open to the younger generation. That's what I want my government to be all about, I want to ensure that it doesn't matter where you start out in life, that in no way predetermines where you end up in life. It shouldn't matter where you come from, how long you've been here, who you are connected to, what your station in life is, or how much money you've got in the bank, if you live in this province, you're one of ours and you're entitled to all the opportunity you need to succeed. Opportunity, for me, that's what it's all about.





Does giving someone an opportunity mean giving them handouts and making them dependents? If so you can only rise as much as your benefactor is handing out. True opportunity is created by making a society tolerant, efficient, prosperous, safe and democratic.