Burchall Report: I Am Bermudian
[Written by Larry Burchall] Sense of entitlement. Something, it seems, that Bermudians should and should not have. But what exactly is a sense of entitlement anyway?
For me it is the sense that I have some thing, or a right to something because it is specially and intrinsically mine. It is mine in a way that is unique, not just to me individually, but to all Bermudian who, with me, share this island.
I do have a sense of entitlement about Bermuda and things that I consider Bermudian. I have it and I’m not about to let go of it, ignore it, or downplay it. I have a right to feel the way that I feel, and I’m going to go on feeling that way regardless of who says otherwise.
Out of all the big islands – like Jamaica, the UK, and the even bigger island that holds Canada, the USA, Mexico and all those Central American countries – Bermuda is the only island that I can call home.
This is the island on which I was born. This is the land that holds my parents and my long buried ancestors. This is the land that gave me my DNA.
I am as attached to, and as much a part of this island, as any flag-waving ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ reciting American is a part of his or her America; or a Brit a part of his ‘sceptred isle’; or a Han a part of China.
Of all the land spaces and places on this globe, this 13,114 acre limestone rock at 32N64W is my home. I am a Bermudian and I am entitled to this rock and all that it has because I am a Bermudian.
I recognize, though, that as happens with the other six billion people elsewhere on this globe, I still have to do something in exchange for those things that I either need or want. If I cannot grow it, make it, or otherwise create it, I know I must buy it. If I buy it, I know that I must first get a medium of exchange – money – that I can swop for the things that I need and want. I understand that. I accept that.
However, on this, my rock, I believe that I am entitled to special consideration This Island is mine, and all that happens on it should ultimately benefit me and my fellow Bermudians and not – in the process – destroy or damage my Island home. My only real home.
Although I can easily fly to any other spot on this globe, I have no desire to permanently transplant myself from my island home. Even if I did transplant, I would still consider this limestone rock as my one true home. Perhaps my children, the generation after me, feel differently. Perhaps they do not. But that is how I feel.
Though Bermuda has never been fought over or fought for, I still feel as strongly about Bermuda as do those Americans who sent their armies halfway around the world to avenge America’s 9/11 deaths. Or those Brits who stood alone against Hitler in the dark days of 1940.
In Bermuda, I am entitled to be treated as a person whose needs must be met – first. In Bermuda, I expect things to work for my benefit. In Bermuda, I do not expect to be treated, ultimately, as if I am an appendage – some incidental person or thing that just happens to hang around on these 13,114 acres.
With all of that, I also recognize that I must play my part, to the hilt, if I am to gain maximum benefit from my special place as a Bermudian. I understand that the Good Lord no longer dispenses manna from his Heavens and that I must work for what I need and want.
I understand that the new bargain that us Bermudians have struck with the world around us is that we are service providers to global players who have, for the time being, chosen our rock as their roosting place. I understand that to keep them here, I must provide a world class service that is second to none.
I understand that. But I also understand that Bermuda – my home – must also work for me.
Because I am a Bermudian I am entitled to that. And that will never change.
EXCELLENT!!
Well said!!!