Other nouns for mediocrity are amateurishness, indifference, inferiority, insignificance, lightweight, ordinariness, poorness, lack of quality, lack of critical mass and unimportance.
In this age of information all information is available to make inform decisions. Mr. Stanford and Mr. Madoff had to know that eventually they would be caught. Research has shown that Pyramid / Ponzi schemes appeals to our greed. With the help of electronics, internet, global positioning satellites, integrity and compliance the world is nothing more than a large village. When we look at our society today, the inability / the poorness is visible in many areas. Crime, unemployment, education, non-coaching, non mentorship, complacency, injustice perpetrated by government etc. are just a few examples that come to mind. You may create your own. We talk about creating wealth but wealth for many of us is based on our material possessions. What about emotional, mental, intellectual and last but not least spiritual wealth? Can the physical or material wealth replace the other aspects of wealth? When we look government and its purchasing policy we cannot help but notice that the concept called "ideal complex" is lost to them. The government has a vehicle fleet and not every vehicle needs to be insured 24 hours a day. Private vehicles are horses of a different color. Exceptions would be made for the police, fire department ambulance department and the Ministers. You may be surprised to learn that in such a setting the majority of the vehicles could be insured from 6 am to 6 pm. Wouldn’t such an approach lead to a substantial reduction in what is paid yearly in insurance premiums? Where is our brokers’ association in such an approach? Or are we only interested in maintaining the present status quo? Lately GEBE has been awful in its provision of that basic good called electricity. Tuesday, November 8, 2011 was a prime example. It is rumored that someone was digging in the Bell’s property and a cable got damaged, Shouldn’t permission and supervision be given and agreed to by GEBE beforehand? Are we a lawless country? Can the careless behavior of some for the sake of a dollar dictate that we should spend part of our day without electricity? What about the loss to business in these troubled times? Isn’t true that where there is a minimum wage system in place, there need to be maximum prices for the essential goods, including electricity? Where are our leaders to show us the way forward? Where is there sense of community and togetherness? If they have those senses, how can they make it a collective one (nation building)? Why are we the inhabitants, the masses, accepting these short comings? When will enough be enough? Must the standard of living deteriorate to a point of no return? Will that point of no return affect only the masses in Sint Maarten and not the affluent and politicians? Why do we have to alter the environment in Sint Maarten as much as possible so that someone can make millions? There is a parliamentary inquiry underway in the Netherlands to understand what caused the credit crises in 2008.
We need our own parliamentary inquiry into GEBE. What happened to the Inaquin deal? Further to that we need a thorough investigation into the functioning of government after 10-10-10. We are sure that missed opportunities will dominate both inquiries. We are a country where only the material aspects of life counts. Could incorporating the other aspects of life lead to the building of a better, firmer and more cohesive society? How would we know? Nothing beats a trial but a failure.
John A. Richardson on behalf of the Pythagoras-group.