Bean: Celebrating Our People, Heritage & Culture
[Written by Opposition Leader Marc Bean] Happy Bermuda Day to the people of Bermuda and to everyone who loves our country. The past few years have been difficult for many of us, but for one day at least, I hope that each of us will be able to put aside our worries, our fears and our stresses in a celebration of who we are as a people.
Marcus Garvey once said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” Part of what has made us two Bermudas, divided by various isms and schisms, is our collective lack of knowledge of our history, our culture and our heritage.
We often say we understand that many of our children who have taken up arms against each other are, in reality cousins. We often say that we understand that some of the causes of poverty and wealth disparities in our country are a direct result of historical injustice. Yet saying we understand is very different from having an understanding that creates empathy and compassion.
Bermuda has been and remains a land of haves and have nots and the recession has exposed just how deep that division remains. Despite this, we have a golden opportunity to collectively decide the Bermuda that WE want to live in going forward. The celebration of our people, our history and our culture that occurs throughout the Heritage Month is one of the many ways that we can break down the barriers that continue to divide us.
A Bermuda that embraces, respects, teaches and celebrates its shared culture is one capable of producing a people of charity and compassion. It can create Bermudians who are able to see the humanity and shared struggle of their neighbors despite any physical, material or religious differences. A knowledge and understanding of our history can cultivate the collective wisdom to stop viewing each other as enemies, stop looking down on each other and stop looking at our own people with scorn and derision. It has been shown that shared experiences create a bond. Why can’t our shared history do the same?
When you learn and develop understanding about who we are, why we are here and where we have been, you are transformed. You are unable to refer to Bermudians as lazy, weak and stupid. You are no longer able to look at your neighbor with jealousy over his successes and you are no longer able to look upon the poor as if their circumstances are completely their own fault.
When you see the greatness that our island has produced, the obstacles that we have overcome and the progress we have made, it is impossible to remain pessimistic about Bermudians. You know that you can overcome racism and lack of opportunity, because it has been done before. You know that you can can overcome illiteracy or lack of skills, because it has been done before. You know that you can start a business and grow wealth because someone, just like you, has done it before.
As we celebrate Bermuda Day, let us not be limited to the enjoyment of the Half Marathon, the Parade and time spent with family and friends. Let us also commit to beginning the process of learning our shared history, appreciating our shared culture and taking pride in our island.
- Marc Bean
Two days away Bean, don’t you know it’s not here yet, just like the ferry wasn’t here yet…..Scott, better get Bean to apologize for MISLEADING us as SCOTT likes to put it ! Really people !
Well written Marc, I think a lot of us appreciate the work you are doing.
Er, the last few years have been difficult because your party made such a royal mess of things Marc! Culture, smulture if there ain’t no food on the table!
@Y-Gurl – I concur – a well written and thought provoking article, Mr. Bean. I enjoyed reading it and there is much I can take away and apply to my life. Thank you!
Part of what has made us two Bermudas, divided by various isms and schisms, is our collective lack of knowledge of our history, our culture and our heritage.
whats this mean?
@ sonso: It means that people are sick and tired of the ism-schism which means we are sick and tired of racism, democrat ism, class ism, socialism and all the other isms because these are being use as a game to control our minds.
“A Bermuda that embraces, respects, teaches and celebrates its shared culture is one capable of producing a people of charity and compassion.
and vice versa:
A people of charity and compassion is capable of producing a Bermuda that embraces, respects, teaches and celebrates its shared culture.
Actions speak louder than words but this does speak to all Bermudians. Whatching the PLP will it transform or will it nose dive back to the old ways come election?…………
LOL
You will always have “haves and have nots” Mr Bean. Its just a fact of life. Some “haves” have because they inherited and some “haves” have because they bust their @ss working hard and made sacrifices. The current government is trying very hard to revive industry in IB, contruction, etc so that we all can “have”. How bout you lot working together towards this end, rather than argiung about whether some f@#ing ferry is here or not..
There would be fewer ‘have nots’ if the PLP government had been competent.
The PLP has made us all struggle to make ends meet!
And the fools speak again…SMH why don’t you OBA cronies go and do something of benefit to the island instead of jumping on here every single day looking for something negative to say? The fact that you would take such a positive message and spew such hatred off of it shows the kind of people you are, and why we are so divided. You are a sad bunch and you make the good people in the OBA look bad.
Well written Party Leader Bean, we will truly rise as a people if we take heed to your words of wisdom. Lead on as we move towards a greater place for the majority. You have what it takes.
Well written Marc. It’s good to see the the PLP has taken on board the lessons of the election and that the new leadership has reverted to the principles on which the PLP was founded – to promote freedom, liberty, equality and empowerment of all Bermudians.
If this continues to be the mantra of the PLP I suspect that you will have a great degree of support at the next election, once the electorate realises they have elected a party that is primarily focused on promoting the interests of the 1% independently wealthy in Bermuda.
After a few years of the OBA selling Bermuda’s limited land mass and essential government services down the river to their international money men friends, and with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, Bermudian voters who actually have to work for a living will I suspect, be pretty desperate to have a government that actually cares about them!
Keep up the good work and keep holding the greedy, grubby fingers of the OBA to the fire while in opposition! Do all you can to keep them from selling out Bermuda from underneath us!
‘Equality to all Bermudians’, other than if you’re gay of course. If you are, Marc Bean entirely supports the idea of discrimination. So much for being ‘progressive’. Look forward to that being reversed if he ever gets in power.
‘The rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer”. Oh, a cliche, how original. And let’s look at the facts. During the last 6 years under the PLP the poor were getting poorer, the “rich” were leaving the island, the unemployment number was breaking records, and the deficit (not mentioned by Mr Bean) increased by 10x.
“Bermudians voters who actually work for a living…”. I guess you mean the ones who are not currently unemployed as a result of the PLP’s mismanagement?
“…A government that actually cares about them…”? The PLP… are you serious? They spent their whole time looking after THEMSELVES. Secret inside deals. $160k to write a report to yourself. Planning Ministers (including Bean) doing special deals for PLP Ministers and candidates. $60m wasted on useless condos.
Whatever Marc’s personal views are, I believe he supports a referendum on the issue of Gay rights. So your point is moot, as he is clearly willing to allow the wider population have their say.
As to your second paragraph – correlation is not causation. It is not reasonable to suggest that the PLP were responsible for the recession. The real issue was sure to outsourcing and the fact that as an undiversified economy no other sectors were in a position to take up the slack except for the government sector. Thank you PLP for not driving our population into poverty as it would seem that the OBA plans to do.
As for your last paragraph, that its just unsubstantiated rubbish.
Look around, smell the stench you are buying into. Unless you are an OBA “shareholder” then they have nothing for you.
Whatever you thought of the PLP in the past consider this, they were founded on the ideals of supporting and empowering all that live in Bermuda, not just the privileged few.
With the PLP at least our children might one day be able to afford their own homes. Without them, that grows more unlikely.
It looked to me like Zombie had it right.
Bean’s views on gays are “… as a home-owner, he does not believe that he should have to rent to a homosexual if he disapproves of their lifestyle and that they should instead buy their own homes: ‘In other words, gay people can go and buy a mansion, and they could have the biggest rainbow circle of gay parties and bashments [sic] on their property.”
In other words, he is quite ok with denying equality of opportunity to gays. He clearly said it.
Correlation is not causation? The USA has been out of recession for years. Same is true of Canada, Mexico, the UK, most of Europe, the Far East. The PLP loves the myth about how there is a worldwide recession, and it was ‘inevitable’ that Bermuda would be in recession for 6 solid years. It isn’t true. It’s much worse here than in most other places. They alienated IB, and other jurisdictions became more attractive. So we lost thousands and thousands of jobs. Thanks a frikkin lot, PLP.
What is ‘unsubstantiated’ about Zombie’s last paragraph? The $160k paid to Pastor Leroy Bean to write a report to a board of which he was himself the chairman? Even Paula Cox thought he should repay it (but he didn’t of course…). Didn’t Roban have to resign after giving secret inside planning deals to Zane and Furbert? And those $60m places on South Shore were in fact a waste of money. They have been empty for a year and a half, and continue to be a drain on government finances.
The stench you refer to is the sh!t you people talk. The PLP clung to power so they could enrich themselves. Bean still thinks ‘there is nothing inherently bad about debt’. What a crock of crap. He can’t even see the problem.
And they pretend to be concerned about disadvantaged people, while at the same time pursuing policies that make more Bermudians unemployed. Then they lie about the causes. The perennial whine…”there was a worldwide recession, what were we supposed to do”. They’re incompetent, they’re liars, and they’re in it for the money.
…. “you people” – well, that pretty much states your position.
Bermuda is unlike the rest of the world in that were heavily depend on Financial Services based international business and particularly on business support services for significant employment. Outsourcing of these jobs to other jurisdictions has meant a more significant effect on the Bermudian economy than in other jurisdictions.
You can stick your head in the sand and decry the PLP and it’s supporters as “you people” all you like, but it does not detract from the truth of the matter.
Scaremonger on behalf of the OBA all you like – do you think you will benefit by doing so?
‘you people’ means you people who defend the PLP no matter what. That does pretty much state my position.
The PLP hissy fits were responsible for the relocation of jobs elsewhere. If, as you admit, our economy was undiversified, it might have been an idea to do all we could to remain the most competitive and attractive jurisdiction. Instead the PLP spent years convincing expats to move themselves, and their business, somewhere else. At the same time the PLP wasted money. That is, as you put it, the truth of the matter.
And you still call it ‘scaremongering’. You have no idea, do you. The country is in a serious financial mess, and you call it ‘scaremongering’ when someone points it out.
I want to lower the debt in a thoughtful, meaningful way without disadvantaging people unnecessarily. Having listened to Bob’s plans and the remit of the SAGE commission I am worried for those who are not protected by wealth in our country. Bermuda is not a business it is a society. The disadvantaged will have nowhere else to go. We need to diversify our economy and allow for Bermudians to move from government to the private sector because it is attractive to do so, not because they are being hard done by and impoverished.
Cut and paste answer. Was it given to you by the PLP Politburo?
Pointless response – obviously hate driven.
Outsourcing is a global phenomenon which is caused by businesses making efficiency savings by using cheaper resources available elsewhere. The PLP could not have caused or affected this in any way. It is a cost decision, not a political one.
Give me a F break all the rich white Republicans are still hating on my black president, they hate to see a brother in the white house. What news have you been looking @. Stop being a dumb a__. The USA is still struggling but slowly improving thanks to my BLACK PRESIDENT.
Can you actually read?
If you are so unhappy:you can leave anytime.
Aside from this letter – have they?
@Berewjan – I would love for you to give examples of ‘the greedy, grubby fingers of the OBA’. It’s easy to make disparaging comments, quite another to substantiate them with factual examples.
How about “privatization”. That’s a fairly clear example.
The Government has no money left!
Thats why they should sell of the ferry,buses and trash
services.
Are you scared of working in the private sector?
have you ever worked for yourself?
You should try it.
I have been working in the private sector at a senior level for over ten years.
What are you going to do when the government has sold off services to their friends and let all the Bermudians go to hire cheaper resources overseas.
What are you going to do with all of those Bermudians out of work. Let them starve? Allow them to become an unproductive burden on the government, so costing even more to support than they do now, except that you have then torn down their self esteeem and created unrest in Bermuda?
What are you going to do given that Bob has said that Bermuda is an undiversified eceonomy and we are going to stay that way, even though the writing is on the wall for our IB tax based business?
Do you want rampant poverty and social unrest. Do you care so little about your fellow man or woman.
Try thinking about them, because if you ruin them do you really think that will benefit you?
A social conscience is a necessity if we are going to make it through this and the OBA have already made it very clear that it is not on their agenda.
Either we need to make sure as a country that it very quickly makes its way onto their agenda or desperately hope that they do not get the chance to sell Bermuda down the river before another election can be held.
I accept that the PLP needed a wake up call. IT really did, but we had all better hope that the OBA doesn’t run rampant in the time that the PLP are in opposition.
And you accuse the OBA of ‘scaremongering’…
Is that you, TCF?
No, it is not.
privatization is sometimes a way of getting services provided without making a constant economic loss. It isn’t greedy grubby fingers. An example of greedy grubby fingers was Pastor Bean paying himself $160,000 for writing a report to himself.
Privatisation is a way of tying the general population over a barrel for essential services and then milking them for ridiculously high fees while calling it “good business” – BELCO for example. What’s next – ferries? Buses?
Privatisation of essential services is never good for the people, it is only good for the money grubbers who buy the privatised companies to milk the electorate – oh look, do you think any of those people may be closely associated financially or otherwise with the OBA. Gee, I wonder.
We the electorate have given the OBA the opportunity to have a privatisation smorgasbord and we will be paying the price for years to come unless we can reduce the damage they are going to do while in office. Only the PLP is in a position to effectively speak on our behalf to keep the OBA in check in the House of Parliament.
That’s the simple truth of the matter.
You just want the government to get more and more in debt. “nothing wrong with debt” says Bean. Right. Tell that to the people in Greece and Cyprus. The spending spree comes to an end and the bills eventually have to be paid.
I want to lower the debt in a thoughtful, meaningful way without disadvantaging people unnecessarily. Having listened to Bob’s plans and the remit of the SAGE commission I am worried for those who are not protected by wealth in our country. Bermuda is not a business it is a society. The disadvantaged will have nowhere else to go. We need to diversify our economy and allow for Bermudians to move from government to the private sector because it is attractive to do so, not because they are being hard done by and impoverished.
You want to run a charity government paid for by the middle class. It never works, and it isn’t working for Bermuda. We will soon find out whether the overpaid, unnnecessary givernment ‘workers’ appreciate the handout they’re getting every week, or whether they want to be treated as though they have a proper job. If they want all employees to be paid as though it’s a real job, we should only contnue to employ those who are needed to do a real job.
Bermewjan… He doesn’t get it trust me, he really dont. Mad Dawg writes errant nonsense daily. Trust me.
It’s you lot that want to lower debt by employing more government employees. That’s errant nonsense.
@ Wow – I hear you!
Ok, now you are simply posting self-centred drivel.. clearly irrational.
But you still think ‘debt is good’, like Bean and Cox?