Dear Source:
Angelita Harrigan's statement that "we all know that Senators have a magic wand and can cover up anything. As usual, it's all about politics" is a sad statement for any Virgin Islander to make. It is a statement that has been echoing through our streets on a regular basis by too many Virgin Islanders. It is not only with senators but with many other officials and workers "abusing" their positions.
Our current day on-going corruptions will eventually take a higher toll on our economy, our people and our lives more than any other past events in our history. The real shame behind corruption is our own people doing it to our own people. We cannot blame others.
The "hush" takes place when it is our own people that have done things wrong. It seems like officials or those in position think, at times, that what they don't speak of will go away, as if people will forget.
We are living in a time of…it's who knows whom, who sleeps with whom, who will pay whom behind the scenes to get anywhere or anything done or to stop things from being done. Personal gains have become priority for one too many. Conscience does not exist for the effect it is having on the whole population, economy, and the attitudes it all fosters.
Corruption is showing our people and children, killing is OK, stealing is OK, and being crooked is OK. They hear it; they see it; they copy it. If officials and others can get away with the things they do, why not them too? If you know the right people or pay the right price you can get away with just about anything. If those in high positions show a "don't care for anything but yourself" attitude, why should those at the bottom show it? The growing attitude of "I am owed something too" is an alarming one we should all worry about.
The values of working hard to get ahead in life, integrity, caring and decency for others as a whole, are lessons that are slipping away into the cracks. Why work hard if you learn there is an easier and quicker way to get what you want by being crooked? Embezzlement is the quicker road.
While our government is being bled of its funds for personal gains, who suffers in the long run? We all do, every single one of us. The things that funds were meant for don't get accomplished. Threats and fears keep it alive and breeding.
Elections are approaching. I don't want to hear about empty promises. What I want to hear is: who has the guts to stand up to the corruption? When corruption stops, it is then; the rest will start to fall into place the way it should. Corruption is a mental slavery that degrades all of us.
Who will lead the road in putting "pride, decency, and hope" back into being a Virgin Islander?
Carol Berry
St. Thomas
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