EDITORIAL

Looking Both Ways

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

It seems whenever two or more people are assembled in Cayman, it's never very long before the conversation turns to 'The Good Old Days."

And it is by no means compulsory for either of the two to be Caymanian for the rearview mirror to come into play.

Of course there is much to be treasured about those times gone by. The pace of life was much more relaxed, there really was virtually no crime and people had the time to be much nicer to one another. There were also fewer people around, so everyone seemed to know everyone else.

But maybe it's time to remove those rose-tinted glasses before taking the next retrospective glance.

Were those days really so great? Certainly, even if people were spiritually richer (and that point is debatable), there was less financial prosperity.

And if any of us is taken ill nowadays are we really prepared to trust to herbal remedies and hope for the best? Of course not.

If we happen to be victim of a crime do we say to the police, "don't rush round with the sirens blaring. Just use the old methods of travel? Of course not.

When we need to get in touch with our loved ones, not to mention our employer, do we spurn the use of cell phones or the Internet? Are we content to operate on legendary "Cayman Time?" Of course not.

When it suits us, which seems to be most of the time, we want all the advantages of modern living while hankering for a past to which virtually none of us would actually return if it came to the crunch.

The simple fact is, we can't all be fishermen, farmers or unskilled labourers. We can't cut ourselves off from the rest off the world and, above all, we can't turn the clock back.

So, if there's there's no going back, there only one other direction in which we can go... forward.

Perhaps we should consider doing that with a little more enthusiasm and a little less retrospective.

By all means be aware of the past, but let us use that past to learn lessons to take us forward to a better future, not as a target towards which we can regress.

Progress in itself is neither inherently good nor intrinsically bad. It is the nature of that progress which can be beneficial or flawed.

Equally, it is the use technological inventions which can be questioned, not the process of invention. Where would we all be if scientists and inventors had not pushed back the boundaries of our horizons? Still living in caves, if we'd managed to make it that far. No-one can seriously be advocating that, because it took Thomas Edison 200 'tries' not failures to perfect the lightbulb.

Because there have been unproductive political regimes in the past does not mean we do not need a system or government, it simply means we need good government.

Because there was slavery in the past does not mean we should not work, it simply means we need good employers.

Perhaps what we can gain most from our glorious past in Cayman is the strength to move forward at an even greater pace.

We can afford to consider radical solutions, whether they are to do with politics, immigration, housing, banking or communications, in the secure knowledge that we can draw on the great strengths and accumulated wisdom of our past to move forward.

So let's use that rearview mirror to take us forward not as a means of engaging our minds in reverse gear.

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