DETERMINING WHERE OUR BEST INTERESTS LIE

 There is a choice coming up soon within the next year or so ... do we go with the devil we know, or do we go with the other devil that we also know? I guess the answer is that we should go with the devil under whose rule we were better off ... even if we have serious doubts and have to hold our noses while voting.

It is unfortunate that our system of government only throws up two choices. Sometimes, these choices can be very stark and sometimes (like right now) the choices can be so mixed that it becomes very difficult to decide where your best interests might lie. I say this because, quite frankly, there is little or no differences in policy between the two major parties. Both sides effectively go to the electorate with the same message: "vote for us because we can do it better". I challenge you to tell me where the real differences are between the UNC and the PNM - where exactly are the differences in say, health care, education, crime, the economy? List them. Clearly, your best interests lie with whoever might make things better for you personally. But how do you determine that?

All politics is personal and it all boils down to the question of where you think that you will be better off. At the end of the day, nobody really cares about which side "t'iefs" more, so long as the person voting is able to live his/her life in relative comfort and at an acceptable standard of living. Sometimes (as happened in 2010) all those opposed to the Government in power come together and the combined force prevails. At other times (like now) personal ambitions get in the way and the natural opposition to a Government is fractured thus making it easier for those in power to remain despite massive 'screw ups'.

While it is a given that racial voting plays a part in our politics, it is a great simplification to postulate this as the reason why the PNM has managed to position itself as the "default" party. Self interest is the biggest motivator of everything. When we recognize this simple fact, we can then determine what our next steps should be.

So, if you think that you will be better off under the PNM then stay with them. And if you think that you will be better off under the UNC, then vote for them. At the end of the day, it all boils down to where YOU think that YOU will be better off.