Kudos to Frank Schneiger for his recent insightful article on the dismal state of fiscal affairs in the Virgin Islands. But as I read his analysis, I couldn’t help but ask myself, "so what’s new here?"
Every reasonably intelligent and informed individual in the VI should know by now that "the system" has stunted economic growth in the territory. The unique brand of socialism, which for decades has made the territorial government the primary employer, is slowly collapsing on itself. The fact that it has a long and resplendent history does not justify the crippling impact that its continuation is having on the people of the islands and their future.
Even the continuous bleeding of the revenue-generating private sector does not allow the government to capture enough money to support the ever-more costly public sector. Most of the phenomena which Mr. Schneiger observes, such as the inter-island and inter-group hostilities and rivalries, increasing corruption, continued dependence on the federal government, etc., are but consequences of a consumptive economy in which the government serves primarily as a re-distributor of income and, by so doing, promotes a vicious cycle of economic insecurity which spares no segment of Virgin Islands society.
Systematic reform, although painful, is always a possibility. But meaningful remedies are not on the table because of two chronic conditions.
(1) There are vested interests in the territory which benefit from a system in which financial rewards are distributed without regard to any objective measure of productivity, effectiveness or responsibility. This modus operandi creates the continuous feeding frenzy over the territory's limited resources.
(2) Because of a serious lack of real political leadership, there is no legitimate dialogue in the community on where the territory is going economically and what it will mean when it gets there. Politics in the Virgin Islands has evolved into an collective act of "deja vu." In this environment, the same arguments get rehashed, the same scapegoats get blamed and the same dead-end, stuck-in-the-box thinking goes on year after year and decade after decade.
The inability in recent history to produce local leaders who can command respect across economic, racial and ethnic fault lines leaves the territory’s ship of state in the hands of captains who are simply not equipped to create the kinds of coalitions needed and obtain the kinds of resources needed to support systemic change.
Mind you, there are people in the islands with the capacity to provide this kind of leadership, but the personal costs and the sacrifice involved would be extremely high. Absent a broad-based recognition in the community that economic salvation is critical and long overdue, there is little likelihood that more able individuals will take the plunge into the VI’s political morass.
Crises can produce leaders and meaningful change. The people of the Virgin Islands can choose to wait until things get worse (they definitely will) and such a crisis develops. Or, they can begin to hold meetings in a wide variety of forums (service clubs, nonprofit organizations, neighborhoods, unions, business associations ) in which the discussion focuses around identifying potential leaders with three abilities: the ability to communicate effectively across social fault lines to all people in the Virgin Islands, the ability to eventually garner the trust of a majority of the people, and the ability to understand the complex problems the territory is faced with and bring to bear the needed resources to address them Absent such leadership, the groan of a moldering economy will continue to bellow loud and clear. It is all the people of the Virgin Islands are likely to hear for years to come.
Former VI Senator Allan Paul Shatkin
