If you drive from one end of the island to another wherever there is greenery, you will see fruits in abundance. But most of them are either on the trees or on the ground and frequently we rather buy them canned.
Some fruit trees have owners, some grow wild, but the fact remains that there is still an abundance of fruits everywhere.
If you dig deeper, you will also find vine crops and selected vegetables, just like our sea, where there are fish everywhere, but the problem is who is there to harvest it, or catch them.
Our children have become so modern that they are indoors on their gadgets, and our neighbors are too busy washing their cars, or gossiping at the rumshops or watching international sports on their big tv sets, to assist in that department.
So, we are in the age of buying, we spend all of our earnings at the supermarket, or at the food or fish market, because we cannot find the time to do anything for ourselves.
If you need support, it will cost you an arm and a leg, because all services now come at a high price. But it was not always like that, except that with development also comes selfishness.
We see no benefits in the simple way of life anymore. Going fishing is a major task. Caring for animals is an even bigger task. So, because life has become so relaxing and it affords us a certain status, we now sit back, relax and complain about the rising cost of living. But we never blame ourselves for our inactive lifestyles. We don’t walk anymore because it is more convenient to take a bus.
Rather than families sharing, everybody wants to have their own. All our gadgets and accessories are top brands, and If disabled, we discard and buy another — no time for repairs.
We dress in rags and consider it fashionable. We want to live like New Yorkers, speak with an adopted accent, and if we spend two years away, we start to think like we are foreigners. We have lost our culture, thrown away religion, lost all forms of mortality, envy is the now thing, hate is second nature, and we wonder why things are as they are.
There is plenty of information and means of educating ourselves, but we don’t read. We are now all experts on social media. Every person is now an authority on all subjects, and everybody criticizes each other and tries desperately to bring down another.
Nobody wants to lead, and nobody takes an active role in social development. Entertainment is all smutty, and getting high on something or drinking plenty of booze is now the order of the day.
I say all these things to remind ourselves we have created the beast that lives amongst us. Women have become like men, less-sensitive to the family cause and men have forgotten how to become fathers, and our children grow up on gadgets rather than on parental guidance.
As to if thing’s, or time will change things, only time will tell.
Today it’s all about having or making the money, so we can show-off our material progress, even though we are sick morally. Today, our eating habits are all about fast foods, no home cooking habits exist.
So, I dare say that the route we have chosen can only bring us more suffering in the long run. The present will determine our future, and as the world turns so will we. But, doing what is the norm may not be what is best for us, so it’s time to reflect on the past because the present is leading most people downhill.
We have a tendency to copy, we always think imported is better, we never see the good in ourselves, we value more, other people’s opinions of us, to determine our direction. Take for instance, our carnival: we are killing what was ours in replacement for what we think looks more international.
We think for tourists before for ourselves, and we stay divided politically because we like to take sides, rather than judge by performance.
Awah! We just can’t continue this way. That’s why I advocate that Going Back to Roots Living can save most families a big bundle.