Contributing writer Dickson Igwe
Now commentary and activism are great for freedom and democracy. However, the ones with the power to decide on the great matters that affect a country are the mass of residents who may or may not have the vote, but who are the ultimate key players in a democracy.
One-error natives in the Virgin Islands fail to understand to their own detriment is that even non-voters and expatriate residents have the right to decide the direction of the territory. After all, they reside here, pay taxes, and contribute to the development of the Virgin Islands, as much as native Virgin Islanders.
Ignore the Silent Majority at your peril. These folk may not shout the loudest. But the silent majority are the residents, who silently decide where to place their votes at election time, who drive the decisions of purchasing managers of large stores, are critical to church offerings, man the hospitals, the construction sites, the marinas and hotels, the police force, the prison service, the key agencies of state, and much more.
The wise politician understands that the support of the silent majority of natives and non-natives is crucial to his power, and the unwise leader creates a barrier between himself and key elements of the silent majority.
For all the angst with the fact of Indirect Rule, the UK Cabinet fully understands that the Silent Majority in the Virgin Islands is very happy with the status quo. If it were not, so there would be no indirect rule at present, even after the years of maladministration and criminal misconduct by elements in the land who should have known better.
The Silent majority are the power that enable the big decisions, not the vocal minority who are very important, but who never really are in charge when the tire hits the road.
If there is one lesson to learn from all the shouting and bawling against the status quo presently, it is the reality that if the Silent Majority is not behind those cries, then these ‘’commentators, activists, and journalists, are simply wasting their time and energy, in any attempt to change the status quo.
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Dickson Igwe is an education official in the Virgin Islands. He is also a national sea safety instructor. He writes a national column across media and has authored a story book on the Caribbean: ‘The Adventures of a West Indian Villager’. Dickson is focused on economics articles, and he believes economics holds the answer to the full economic and social development of the Caribbean. He is of both West African and Caribbean heritage. Dickson is married with one son.
