When we reflect on our patriotic performance we may find that we are not as dutiful to the Territory as we should be.
Patriotism is an individual responsibility but we can encourage one another to increase their patriotic activities. This Wheatake is an effort to encourage someone to do so.
During the BVI's sojourn as a member of the Leeward Islands Federation it was isolated and neglected, and deliberate attempts were made to keep us as peons in our homeland. We fought for freedom successfully, but dragons of drugs, violence, greed, materialism, callousness and others infected the social , economic, and political order.We have not been vigilant enough and while we slept the enemy crept up upon us and we are back in the cold grips of our colonial status under John Agustus Cockburn Cruikshank in the 1940's.
We need a resurgence of the spirit of being our brother's and sister's keeper, an awakening to the fact that economic prosperity is not political advancement, and an understanding of the dance between the two. We owe it to ourselves and our forebears to kill those dragons which have contributed to the CoI recommendations and hence the current enslavement. Each of us should examine ourself and identify what we are capable of doing very well and stick to that. Keep above the level of mediocrity by enhancing your strengths.
There is hope for a bright future because our "rugged individualism" has not been destroyed though wòunded. The solution to our problem is not in rules, regulations, laws, and policies that you are led to believe, though they are important. I can testify that within the structure of government theŕe is no dearth of those guides. The problem to be addressed resides in the hearts and minds of those who work work within the systems. Some people are listeners, some are speakers, some are writers, some are readers, some are thinkers, some are supporters, and some are leaders. The challenge is to place people in appropriate employment where they can use their strengths and excel. Unless we invest meaningfùlly in our human resources, our people, we will continue to be slaves in spite of the clamour for independence, which is a goal worth aiming for. Now is the time let your patriotic energy motivate you to kill the dragons.
- Dr. Charles H. Wheatley