St. Maarten Private Eye

As another contributor posted in the Taxes Talk thread ( http://sxmprivateeye.com/node/12502#comment-19255 )
St. Maarten is facing several "fairly important" issues:

- rising crime
- rising cost of living
- talk of corruption
- infrastructure needing upgrades
- decline in educational excellence etc etc

When certain nations face similar sutuation, the party (parties) in power typically does EVERYTHING to distract the voters from the real issues! For example: imaginary terrorist threats, gay marriage, "war" on Christmas, and the list goes on.

The critical time for SXM and its current government is approaching. They may or may not lose the goose that keeps giving them the golden egg! (Not to mention that in the near future the egg may become a lot bigger!) I am curious if rooster fighting is one of those issues that will drive people to vote **willingly** against their own interest - rising crime rate, high cost of living, poor education, environment - just because someone promises them their traditional sunday entertainment (i absolutely do not mean any disrespect for the local traditions and people who follow them. i'm only talking politics here) That's what happened in 2004 in the USA, and it is a major factor in this economic recession that will harm millions of people. It also helped to split the people of the country, and there's no real hope for quick healing...

And now, sadly, people take offence when someone makes an analogy with (NOT a comparison to) slavery. This is the kind of help that those who have been trying to "dumb down" the people of SXM could never even hope for! When people feel deeply insulted and enraged (and when it comes to slavery - rightfully so, i'd be enraged too!) they will channel the anger straight to the voting booth!

By keeping people from voting their interest, by keeping them distracted with gay marriage and so-called War on Christmas, in just a few short years We The People of the USA are becoming slaves of the financial system, the banks that hold mortgages, the employers who move jobs to China and refuse to honor their healthcare and pension obligations. We are paying for both Blackstone and Blackwater, for Bear Stearns and for Halliburton and to give $6Billion tax break to home builders, who by the way were responsible for most of the crisis, so that they can build even more houses and then lobby the gov't for more tax breaks. Unless you're independently very wealthy, you're becoming a "slave of the system" in the USA. Don't you, dear indigenous people of soon-to-be Country of St. Maarten, see the parallel here?

Dear SXM Traditionalists: you have 100% right to demand bread, entertainment, or both, but are you sure that those that support this kind of violent entertainment CAN and WILL deliver both? Are you sure that senseless, violent games are diametrically opposed to the general prosperity, human rights and the respect for the value of the human life? Forget statistics. Don't you have a gut feeling that at least for some people, watching the animals fight for your entertainment makes those people more tolerant of other kinds of violence? Like human-on-human violence? The Roman Empire didn't last all that long, and as far as senseless violent entertainment goes, they were as good as anyone!

On a personal note: several years ago I overheard one 20-something hot-shot Wall street-type "dude" bragging about sampling different vices available in SXM. Trust me, he sampled just about everything. It was at the "old" airport, and I was wondering why such a "loaded" guy doesn't have a private jet. Nothing from his stories caused more anger and disgust from both "uptight" americans" and "liberal" europeans than his account of how he went to see a c***k fight. In fact, this was the only thing that caused any kind of serious disapproving reaction. Think about that...

Well, looks another ridiculously lengthy comment... I promise to do my best to keep them shorter next time....

Anyway, You, The People of St. Maarten have the power (I hope still do) to shape your country... Keep in mind what's been happening around the world, learn from OTHER peoples' misakes... Please do not get distracted with the "background noise" created by powerful people with ulterior motives and do what's best for yourselves, your families, and your country.

( Still ) USA resident